HBO Max Dips Toe Into Vertical Video With ‘HBO Max Shorts’

HBO Max is the latest streamer getting into vertical video — sort of.

The platform on Tuesday announced two new mobile features for the U.S. market. The headline one is titled “HBO Max Shorts,” and is “designed to help users discover something to watch by highlighting iconic and memorable scenes from the HBO Max library in a vertical, scrollable feed,” per the platform.

Right now, the feature is being tested with “select” iOS users in the U.S. More devices and more markets will come, HBO Max says, as will sports shorts.

For now, the lucky few users can tap the “Shorts” icon on the bottom navigation menu to “browse trailers, clips, and bonus content,” the announcement continues. HBO Max’s algorithm will deliver content based on watch history. The user can then choose to continue to the depicted series or film (in full) immediately, add it to their “My List,” or do nothing at all.

Here’s what HBO Max Shorts are not: original content. You can breathe a sigh of relief, ReelShort. The vertical videos are simply trimmings of existing HBO Max programming rendered into a new presentation ratio to push users toward long form consumption. Netflix is doing something similar.