Netflix’s speed testing app lands on iOS and Android

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The new Netflix app reveals your internet speeds.
The new Netflix app reveals your internet speeds.
Photo: Photo: Shardayyy/Flickr CC

Netflix has created an all-new app for iPhone and Android users, only instead of letting you binge on all the video content you want, the new app simply checks if your Internet connection is up for the challenge.

The new app is basically just a native version of the internet speed testing site Fast.com that the company launched in May, only its hoping more people will use it in app form by offering it on the App Store and Google Play.

Fast’s super simple interface gives users the ability to quickly check their download speeds globally on any smartphone so you can see if your Internet Service Provider is the cause of your buffering woes.

Netflix Fast app on iPhone

The app comes with a few advantages over other speed test apps. Many ISPs optimize their network to perform better on tests from sites like SpeedTest.com, which means the real speeds you’re getting might not be quite as good during everyday use.

While networks engineers won’t find Fast to be incredibly useful because it doesn’t report on ping, latency, jitter and other stats, the minimalist app was designed to be so easy-to-use most normal users will take advantage of it, giving Netflix and its customers a new tool to pressure ISPs into improving connections.

Source: Netflix

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