i.TV's iPhone app gets deep Netflix integration

On Monday i.TV, the movie and TV show listing service for the iPhone, pushed out a really neat update that marries the idea of its live content guide with services that can take advantage of it as a platform.

The first service to be introduced into the mix is Netflix. I.TV users who are also Netflix subscribers can manage their queue right from the application, as well as start Netflix searches from i.TV's own listings.

If you find a movie in theaters, or recently aired TV show that you'd like to add to your Netflix queue, you can now do it from i.TV.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

An example of how this might work is if you're perusing the latest movie listings. If you see a film that you'd like to watch when it's released on DVD, you can simply cross-reference it with Netflix's library. If it shows up (which I found to work with all the latest releases at my local theater), you simply hit the "add to queue" option and it will go into your saved items. This is also helpful for wannabe movie aficionados, since if the film you're looking at is a remake, you can see and rent the older versions from the same interface.

More importantly, with the outcropping of Netflix streaming-capable devices like Apple computers, and soon the Xbox 360--there's going to be a need to help pick out streaming TV content. Using i.TV, you can easily add any content that has a streaming counterpart to your Watch Instantly queue.

As a Netflix manager it's not as competent as an app like Dashbuster, which is currently unavailable from the app store while it works out some bugs. There are no Netflix RSS feeds (which can be a source of rental inspiration), and it doesn't save box art in a local cache, which can give the app a slight speed gain. There is one big plus though--i.TV is free, whereas Dashbuster and several other iPhone-based Netflix queue managers are not.

[big.mouth]

Another iphone app no one needs. Page me when they allow streaming video from your netflix que.

[hevnztrash]

word.

[Hairy_Bagel]

I've downloaded and tried it, and so far it works pretty well. i noticed that the app is prone to crashing if you're trying to do things in your queue while the box art is still loading, and i wish you had the ability to choose the format of the movie in your queue (I think it just takes the format that's set in your account preferences). But still, a great implementation and it lets me add things to my queue when i see an ad on TV, which is what I wanted.

[rajid--2008]

I just use PhoneFlix on my iphone for netflix access. works just fine.