HBO Max Shorts brings vertical clips and AI search to streaming discovery
HBO Max is testing a Shorts feed on iOS and conversational AI search on Android to help U.S. users find shows and movies faster.
By Jordan Bell · Startups & Deals Reporter
· 3 min read
HBO Max Shorts is arriving as Warner Bros. Discovery tests a new vertical video feed inside its streaming app, giving viewers a faster way to sample shows and movies before committing to a full episode or film. For anyone tracking the streaming business, the move shows how major platforms are borrowing from short-form apps and AI search as their catalogs get harder to browse.
Warner Bros. Discovery said Tuesday that the new Shorts tab will appear as an icon in the bottom navigation menu of the HBO Max app. The feed will include trailers, clips and bonus material, according to the company.
The feature is personalized using a viewer’s watch history, Warner Bros. Discovery said. If a clip catches someone’s attention, the user can start the related TV show or movie right away, or add it to a watch later list.
What is HBO Max Shorts?
HBO Max Shorts is a vertical video feed inside the HBO Max mobile app that surfaces short clips tied to the service’s movies and TV shows. Vertical video means clips are formatted for upright phone viewing, the style popularized by apps such as TikTok and Instagram Reels.
Warner Bros. Discovery said the clips are selected with help from an AI tool that reads scene-level metadata, meaning information attached to specific scenes rather than only a whole title. The tool reviews thousands of hours of film and TV content to identify scenes that may work well for discovery, and HBO Max editors then choose which clips best represent the service’s catalog, according to the company.
The company is starting the Shorts test with select iOS users in the United States. Warner Bros. Discovery said the feature will expand to more devices and markets after that initial test.
How does HBO Max AI search work?
HBO Max is also testing a conversational search feature that uses natural language understanding, a form of AI meant to interpret ordinary phrases instead of only exact title or genre searches. Warner Bros. Discovery said the tool can recommend movies and TV shows based on requests such as “in the mood for a comedy,” “dysfunctional family drama” or “best movie for a girls night in.”
That test is available to select Android users in the United States, according to the company. Warner Bros. Discovery said it plans to bring the experimental search feature to more devices and markets soon.
The two features fit a broader shift among streaming apps trying to make large libraries easier to browse. Netflix, Disney+ and Peacock have added vertical video feeds that use clips from their content libraries, according to TechCrunch. Netflix also introduced an AI-powered search tool last year, while Amazon has an AI voice search experience on Fire TVs that can respond to open-ended questions about TV shows and movies.
For HBO Max, the bet is that short clips and more flexible search can reduce the time viewers spend scrolling without choosing anything. Warner Bros. Discovery has not said when the features will be available to all users.
This story draws on original reporting from TechCrunch.
