Netflix announces rebuilt Universal Windows 10 app for PCs and tablets, coming to smartphones early next year
Netflix's new Windows 10 app embraces Microsoft's universal dream — Netflix is making the most of Windows 10 today. Netflix is updating its Windows Store app …
Context & Ripple Effects
This lands in the middle of Microsoft's campaign to fill the Windows Store with real apps: after the April SDK pair that lets developers port Android and iOS code into universal apps, Box and Uber both shipped Windows 10 universal builds last fall, with Uber's app spanning smartphones, tablets, and PCs with Cortana support.
Netflix is the biggest consumer name yet to rebuild on the Universal Windows Platform — and the momentum kept building after it, as Hulu followed with its own universal app featuring live tiles and Cortana weeks later.
First-order effects
- Netflix subscribers on Windows PCs and tablets get a rebuilt Windows Store app today, with the same app promised for smartphones early next year.
- Microsoft gets its highest-profile UWP endorsement so far from a top-tier streaming service, strengthening the pitch that one codebase covers every Windows 10 device class.
Second-order effects
- Rival streamers are pushed to match rather than cede the Windows 10 surface — Hulu's universal app with live tiles and Cortana arrived within two months, showing the competitive copy is fast.
- Consumer app makers like Skype face pressure to consolidate their fragmented Windows clients onto UWP, which Microsoft then did by reunifying calling, messaging, and video in a single universal app.
Third-order effects
- With Xbox One slated to run UWP apps and the Xbox Store merging into the Windows Store, the endgame is a single app catalog spanning PC, phone, console, and tablet — with adoption by anchors like Netflix deciding whether developers treat that as one platform or three.
- If the pattern holds, Cortana integration and shared UI conventions become table stakes for consumer apps on Windows, shifting differentiation from device-specific builds to cross-device presence.
The trend: Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform is steadily signing up flagship consumer apps — Box, Uber, Netflix, Hulu, Skype — as it tries to make one store and one codebase span PC, phone, and Xbox.