Netflix Is Testing a Major Change to Its TV App Redesign

Few streaming apps get redesigned as carefully as Netflix’s TV experience, because it is where most people actually watch. Every change to the home screen can shape how millions of viewers find their next binge, and the reaction is rarely quiet.

The last major overhaul was a big one. After testing the design starting in June 2024, Netflix officially unveiled its new TV experience in May 2025, with a global rollout beginning on May 19. It was the first major redesign of the app in over a decade, built around a simpler menu and bigger tiles.

Now Netflix is already experimenting with walking part of that design back. Starting Nov. 3, the streamer is testing a new version of its TV app that moves the main menu back to the left side of the screen, where it sat for years.

According to What’s on Netflix, which reported on the test, the new menu appears as a slim icon rail that expands into a full panel when you move to it. Your profile and a Switch Profile option sit at the top, with Search, Home, Shows, Movies, Games and My Netflix listed below.

Video also works differently. Instead of playing inside the title tile, it now plays much larger near the top of the screen, with the title’s logo, genre, season count, maturity rating and synopsis layered on top.

Taking video out of the tiles frees up room in the rows below, so more titles fit on screen at once. The assets show 6 tiles per row, with labels such as New Season and #1 in Shows carried over.

Not everything is going back. Rounded tiles, adaptive background colors and the My Netflix hub all remain in the test version.

The test also sits alongside special rows, such as Top 10 lists and seasonal categories like the Halloween-themed Netflix and Chills row. Categories and New & Popular, which were removed from the main menu in the last redesign, now live in a specialist category row and aren’t expected to return to the main menu soon.

That suggests Netflix isn’t throwing away the 2025 redesign, but adjusting the parts viewers liked least.

The current design drew criticism after its rollout. The main complaint was fewer visible titles, and some users said they preferred the old sidebar and static tiles to the top bar and expanding boxes.

Netflix has said that members preferred the bigger boxes, and when it unveiled the redesign, it described the experience as simpler, easier and more intuitive. A company that tests changes this quickly can clearly afford to adjust course.

Netflix is also not alone in its experimentation. Prime Video moved its top navigation tabs to the left side in 2022 and Hulu followed with a similar change in 2023, which means a return to the left-hand menu would put Netflix back in line with a trend it once moved away from.

The test began on Nov. 3, but Netflix hasn’t said which regions or account types are included. The details come from assets seen by the outlet, not from an official Netflix announcement, and Netflix hasn’t released a new statement about the test.

As with every Netflix experiment, it may not reach everyone, and it could change or be dropped entirely. For reference, the current design took about 11 months to go from its first test to a global rollout.

Netflix is running several experiments at once. It is also testing a redesigned TV video player and has launched a limited rollout of AI Discover, a new TV tab that suggests what to watch based on your mood, for some English-language members in the US on supported TVs.

If the left-hand menu sticks, viewers may find it quicker to jump between sections and see more titles at a glance. That would address two of the loudest complaints about the current layout.

For now, nothing is final, and Netflix will likely watch how test users respond before committing. After years of redesigns, it seems the sidebar has not gone away for good.

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