Netflix app becomes slow on Apple TV

Same issue here. Netflix slows to a near literal frame-by-frame crawl and only restarting AppleTV temporarily fixes is. It seemed to start within the last few weeks. Also, I've noticed that I cannot alter "My List" on Netflix at all. I cannot remove or add anything to it. We have two Profiles and neither one's My List works as expected. I'm wondering if that's some conflict between AppleTV accounts and Netflix Profiles. I dunno.

I've sent feedback to Apple via their feedback page for what it's worth.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/appletv.html

Netflix has been unbearably slow on my Apple TV since this summer. Lately it’s gotten worse. The app barely functions. I have to restart my device 2-3 times now before each watching session or it won’t scroll, show episodes, or play content.

I've had exactly this same problem with Netflix through Apple TV. Off and on for months since this past summer. It's particularly bad at the moment. When I called Netflix, they had me delete, then re-install the Netflix app. That seemed to help for a couple of days, but the slow-as-molasses interface returned today. It could be fine later tonight, or not. Other apps (Hulu, HBO) are fine. Just now I was cueing up a show on Netflix and the Netflix red circle of death started spinning. I waited a minute, nothing. Came back 5 minutes later and show had loaded. What a mess!

I wonder if the issue most of us are dealing with - slow response time when navigating Netflix menus - has to do with their fancy menu design. Anytime you hover over a thumbnail in Netflix the preview video automatically starts playing. Hulu and Prime just display a static image. Loading up all the preview videos in Netflix has got to be a heavy load on the servers or on our Apple TVs.

AaronSF, for sure the complex UI is not an help, and the issue existed, due to this, also in previous release.

But now I happen very earlier and after more time also in Prime.

There is something in the OS code the has a bad management of connections and/or pictures (and moreover the entire system is far slower)

Hmmm. So part of it might be Netflix's interface with the videos going all the time (a really annoying interface, BTW), or now a suggestion that there's something (missing?) in Apple TV's OS that can't handle Netflix code. Somebody's got to get their act together. Does Apple actually pay attention to comments on this forum? Apple and Netflix should be working on this problem together instead of tossing the ball back and forth.

What they both like to do is divert the blame onto internet speed, which is really annoying. My Comcast/Xfinity connection running through a UniFi router and UniFi AP signal extender provides more than enough speed.

At any rate, Netflix loads fine through the Netflix app built into my TV (Vizio P65-E1), but it's a clunky UI and I much prefer the Apple Box's UI. But I guess that's what I'll be using until this is resolved.

This slowdown in the Netflix app didn't always exist; it used to be fine. So it's either Netflix's more complicated new UI with all the moving images, or something amiss with the Apple Box's OS...or both. Ugh.

Just wanted to chime in with the same problem. For the last few weeks, the Netflix UI on my Apple TV (4th gen) is so painfully slow to navigate that it is barely usable. Restarting the device buys me maybe a few minutes of reasonable scrolling before it starts to crawl again. I've been happily using Netflix on this device for years without problem, but lately... ugh. Not sure if it's the new OS or an update from Netflix, but it sounds like this is a common enough problem that Netflix should be able to reproduce it and either fix it, or follow up with Apple.

I have been experiencing the same on an earlier generation Apple TV. There must have been an app update or something that made the Netflix go wonky. It's struggling to get scrolling and the show thumbnails take extra long to show up. If they don't fix it would definitely have to consider cancelling.

Reposting here:

Like any browser with too many tabs open, Apple TV uses memory keeping unused apps open. Netflix is affected more than others for some reason. The solution that works for me is to close all apps you currently are not watching. On your Apple remote, double click on the Home button (looks like a TV) and you will see all of the open apps displayed (similar to an iPad). Swipe left/right to select the apps, then swipe up to close the app. Netflix should run normally.

Thanks for this suggestion. I wasn't aware that the Apple TV box was keeping apps open like my iPhone does and that I could close apps using the Apple TV remote. What you say makes sense. I'll give it a try and see if Netflix behaves better.

Slow Netflix on Apple TV - fixed.

My Netflix took over 1 minute to start playing a selected item. My "My List" had 4 rows of items in it. After removing all but 5 from the list, the "play" response went down to a few seconds. On 18 Nov 2019, I notified Netflix of the problem and the fix at my end, so they should fix it at their end now instead of blaming Apple TV.

Following some of the suggestions on this thread. I closed all apps on my Apple TV, and removed everything from my Netflix Watchlist. Took a long time to delete everything from my Watchlist. Now I will say Netflix does seem to be operating normally even 1 day later. I'll continue to monitor and let everyone know the status in a few days.

I have two Apple TV (4th generation) models, and I have this Netflix issue on both for months. One is connected via WiFi, and the other is connected via Ethernet. I even switched the two so I could try them each on Wifi and Ethernet to eliminate my LAN from being the issue. After reading this thread, I signed out of both Netflix accounts and had a friend sign in that doesn't have a playlist or ratings. There was no lag for hours and hours, where as my account stops working properly after 5 minutes of browsing. I didn't even uninstall and reinstall the app through any of my test, so the app is good if your account is basic and has no ratings or list. This leads me to believe it's a profile issue that Netflix needs to fix in the app's code. I think it's the tailored suggestions from Netflix that is slowing down the app because of poor app development. This is not a good time for Netflix to ignore their Apple TV users now that Apple TV+ and Disney+ are available.

I’ve tried all of these solutions mentioned and the “fix” never lasts more than a day at most. Does anyone know if this issue persists on 5th Gen as well? At this point I may say screw it and move on to Roku.