Netflix for iOS updated with iPhone 5 widescreen support

If you upgraded to the iPhone 5 and have been using Netflix, you probably noticed that widescreen movies weren't taking full advantage of the iPhone 5's all-new widescreen display. However, Netflix just delivered an updated iOS app that fixes that issue, as well as added overall support for iOS 6.

A lot of movies and TV shows are filmed in 16:9 widescreen nowadays (or close to it), so Netflix was one app that desperately needed to take advantage of the iPhone 5's 16:9 display, and considering it's a big app that desperately needed a widescreen display to work well with, Netflix was surprisingly slow in adding iPhone 5 support, especially when they got beat out by Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Foursquare.

In this update, Netflix also touts an "improved browsing, searching and watching experience", but I haven't noticed a huge difference in the user interface while browsing the main menu and such. However, it does seem like buttons and adjusters appear a tad larger now in playback mode, making it easier to make adjustments and scrub through a video.

If you have an iPhone 5 and are an avid Netflix user, you probably already updated to the new version. But if you've been waiting around for some reason, there is no reason to not jump on the update to enjoy widescreen like it was meant to be. Netflix for iOS is a free download and the update is available now in the iTunes App Store.