Netflix for Apple TV Gains ‘Up Next’ Feature for Automatic Episode Playback [Mac Blog]

Netflix for the Apple TV was updated today to add a new “Up Next” feature, which lets users automatically select the next episode of a television show for playback. While easy playback of the next episode in a series has been long available on the web and in the Netflix app for iOS devices, it’s been noticeably missing from the Apple TV.

Prior to today’s update, Apple TV users were forced to return to the main series menu to initiate the playback of the next episode of a television show, a task that required several extra button clicks. As of today, playing the next episode of a series requires only a single click on the remote as the “Play Next Episode” option pops up as soon as an episode ends.

“Play Next Episode” on the Apple TV is slightly different from the playback feature on iOS devices and on the web, which begin playing the next episode in a series automatically after a short countdown timer. The Apple TV still requires user interaction to play a new episode.

Netflix’s new Apple TV feature comes as the company announces its Q2 financial results, with a total 50.05 million subscribers, up from 37.56 million in Q2 2013. Netflix saw $1.34 billion in total revenue during the quarter, with net income of $71 million.