Exploring Disney+ mobile app design

When was the last time we thought about streaming  from scratch?
Mobile App Design

It seems as though since Netflix launched over a decade ago, steaming apps have all essentially followed the same overall design. There are plenty of good reasons for this (familiarity, ease of use, etc), but perhaps there's room to explore something different.

Current screenshots from Disney+, Netflix and Prime Video
Disney+
Netflix
Prime Video

Why the focus on mobile?

As of March 2023, nearly 70 percent of digital video watchers reported watching videos on their smartphones. This was the leading medium, with 59 percent responding to watch video on TVs (The previous leading category).

Now, it's easy to understand that much of this stems from the growing popularity of YouTube and social apps (TikTok, Instagram), which are popular for mobile devices. Regardless, it's important to meet customers where they are and give them what they want.

Some new ideas to explore

Here are a few ideas to help brainstorm some potential ideas and directions that the mobile app could explore to make the Disney+ experience even better.

Browse
Browse everything in one place
This screen doesn't require much of a lift. Perhaps more / better ways to find new and related content.
The biggest difference here would be to treat it more as a discovery page rather than an "everything" page (e.g. recently watched).
Charts
See what's popular across the platform
What happened to charts?! People love to see what's popular and trending, so lets give them an easy way to do that.
However, I can understand that these lists may not change as often as we'd like (e.g. Bluey and Moana remain at the top year-round)
My Stuff
One place for all your stuff
I'm sure I speak for many (especially if you have kids), that accessing recently watched / saved content is a must. Making it easy to find this content will save lots of time.
Upcoming
Showing people what's next
Getting people excited about what's to come is a great way to keep them from cancelling, get them excited and start talking about future content, and much more.
This could also be a good place for exclusive "drops" and trailer releases for upcoming movies and shows.
Customize
Give the people what they want
As much as we'd like to think we know what people want, sometimes they know best. Giving them easy access to the pages / content that they want the most can lead to stickier experiences.