The Netflix iPhone app is here and we’ve got a closer look!

When I first got my iPhone one of the first apps I looked for was a Netflix app. I just wanted to be able to add a movie to my queue as soon as I thought of it instead of waiting until later and forgetting all about it (which happens all too often). I was somewhat surprised to learn at the time that there was no official Netflix iPhone app. Flashforward over a year later and today Netflix has officially released their first app for iPhone/iPod Touch and it does a lot more than just manage your queue.

The app is free and all it requires is a Netflix membership (obviously) but once you download the app, you can immediately start browsing and watching movies on your device.

You’ll see your Instant Queue pop up on the menu bar at the bottom and you can start watching any movie you had previously loaded in that queue or resume a movie you had previously begun watching (I was prompted to finish FULL METAL JACKET, a movie I had started watching via Xbox Live a few months ago). If you’re looking for a new movie, you can browse their library of streaming films and either hit play to watch it immediately or add it to your Instant Queue for watching later.

To test the functionality out, I watched two very different movies: THE JERK and DISTRICT 9. As you might expect, the app moves much quicker over Wifi than 3G. Loading a movie over the 3G network took about 20 seconds compared to about 5 seconds over Wifi. The video quality is also superior over Wifi with noticeable pixelation when streaming at 3G. That said, I expected to see more stuttering and stops throughout the video when watching over 3G and it really only happened once. After that, things seemed to be working OK. I will say that the app seemed to be having an easier time with a movie like THE JERK than DISTRICT 9, which features faster motion and a larger display of colors.

One of the features that works really well on Wifi (and sadly not very well at all on 3G) is the ability to scrub forward and backward in the film fairly easily. Within just a few seconds of starting DISTRICT 9, I was able to fast-forward all the way to the 1:21:33 mark in the movie without any load times or lapses in quality.

All in all, it seems like a great way to enjoy movies on the go, especially if you’re on a plane, train or in an area where you have access to public Wifi. If you’re in a pinch or not much of a stickler for quality, the 3G will be good enough (though I caution that if you’re on a data plan with a cap, you’ll want to make sure you don’t go over your monthly limit).

Click here to download the free Netflix iPhone app