HBO Max is testing a new video feed called HBO Max Shorts for select iPhone users in the United States. The feature uses an in-house AI tool to pick short clips from shows and movies, but the final call is still made by human editors.
The hook? The videos are vertical, not the usual horizontal orientation.
HBO Max Shorts lives behind a new icon in the app’s bottom navigation bar. Similar to TikTok, it offers a scrollable feed of trailers, clips and bonus content pulled from the streamer’s library.
HBO Max Shorts, explained
HBO helped define the golden age of prestige television at the turn of the century by asking viewers to sit down, settle in and savor every episode of shows like The Sopranos and Deadwood. Now it’s borrowing a page from TikTok’s playbook to compete in a tumultuous media landscape, with the smartphone serving as a major discovery mechanism.
The streaming giant’s new AI-assisted vertical video feed reflects a broader shift sweeping the entertainment industry. Premium services increasingly embrace bite-size, algorithmically curated clips in the race to capture shrinking attention spans and turn endless scrolling into the next gateway to long-form viewing. Even Apple TV does it!
HBO Max says the new Shorts feed in its app isn’t random — it’s customized to the user’s watch history. If something in the feed catches your eye, you don’t have to hunt for it later. You can tap on it to start watching immediately and even add the title straight to My List from within the feed itself.
Behind the scenes, an AI tool built by HBO Max scans scene-level metadata across thousands of hours of programming. The tool flags scenes it deems compelling or high-impact for the vertical format.
Human editors then choose clips that represent the show well, and those are reformatted for vertical playback.
Deepna Devkar, HBO Max’s SVP of machine learning engineering, said in a press release on Tuesday that the company is excited to use AI like this. She added that AI speeds up the generation of the short clips.
For now, the HBO Max Shorts feature is available only to a small group of iPhone users in the United States. However, Warner Bros. Discovery, which owns HBO, already confirmed that it will expand the feature to more devices and markets over time. Moreover, sports content is also on the roadmap.
Going vertical
Vertical video has gone from a social media oddity to the dominant format for mobile viewing. Apps like TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts trained users to expect full-screen videos that fill a smartphone display without requiring them to rotate the device.
HBO Max and other streaming services are now moving in that direction to make it easier for viewers to discover new shows and movies through bite-size clips. By presenting content in a familiar vertical feed, HBO Max hopes to encourage viewers to start watching full-length programs with a single tap.
A conversational search tool is coming, too
Alongside Shorts, HBO Max launched another AI feature: Ask HBO Max. This experimental conversational search tool is currently limited to U.S. adult subscribers with Android devices.
Instead of typing exact titles, users can search for content using natural phrases. Think “in the mood for a comedy” or “dysfunctional family drama.” The tool uses natural language understanding to match the intent with relevant titles and even works when those exact words are missing from the show’s metadata.
Liesel Kipp, HBO Max’s EVP of product management, said the feature builds on subscribers’ existing habits by simply applying them to content discovery.
If Ask HBO Max works out, the feature will presumably make the jump to iPhone at some point.
Both features come as HBO Max leans further into short-form, algorithm-driven discovery. The trend has already reshaped other platforms like YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Whether prestige dramas translate into attention-grabbing, six-second vertical clips is another question entirely.
Anurag Chawake is a tech-focused writer specializing in smartphones, apps and consumer technology. His interest in computers began during the Windows 98 era, eventually leading him to explore everything from operating systems to mobile devices and PC hardware. Anurag previously contributed to The Indian Express, covering Apple, Android, gaming and the broader technology landscape.
