Netflix’s Internet speed-testing tool, Fast.com, is now available on Android and iOS, as mentioned in the online streaming giant’s blog. The app works in the same fashion as its web variant—released back in May—with even more simplified user interface. In other words, users will most likely give it a check every time they feel that their Internet speed isn’t up to what they paid for; thus, making it difficult for internet service providers (ISPs) to always keep the Quality of Service (QoS) at the high-end.
Since there is a myriad of ISPs who claim to provide the best service, the speed-testing tools were developed for the receiving end of Internet facility. It sends ping packets back and forth the Internet to calculate connection’s download/upload speed.
The app has neat ad-free interface, with a single button to measure speed in seconds. Reason of extending this tool availability on smartphones is to give users access to measure the Internet speed no matter whether they are, with a single tap. The fact that Netflix has rolled out this tool for mobile devices shows that it is heavily dependent upon users’ Internet speed. This being the reason, the handheld-tool will help users keep track of the connectivity at all times and the streaming giant will know what type of connections users are subscribed to.
There are several other options available on the Internet, but Netflix claims “Fast” is one of the most reliable and accurate tools. According to 9to5Mac, ISPs manipulate speed testing apps and sites to produce desired results, usually higher than the actual. However, this is not the case with Fast, as it directly downloads from Netflix servers.
Given that the app takes half or even lesser time taken by other tools to figure out speed, it only does half the job, but for Netflix it serves the purpose. It only analyzes the download speed and ignores the upload side of the data packet. Netflix details, that it is the download speed that matters to users the most; it is interesting to note that the streaming giant’s content has nothing to do with the uploading of content . Moreover, we believe with just a single option on the tool, the interface remains clean and encourages more people to use it, keeping ISPs on their toes; this would not have been the case if it was loaded with multiple options.
The service or its app extensions are not really anything extraordinary. However, it will certainly help the company gather data related to QoS provided by users’ ISPs. Once the streaming giant has the data, it can work to improve or customize the service for users with slow Internet speed; and if Netflix ever plans to go live with the list of such ISPs, it’d be hard for them to compete in the market.