Vertical Divider

Quibi Arrives with a Burst of 300K Subscribers
April 12, 2020

Quibi is out just in time for the ongoing lockdown. Quibi, short for “quick bites,” is a mobile-only short video streaming service, available for both Android and iOSplatforms (only) now*.

• Quibi has now officially launched in the US and Canada, and is available more widely too. I had no problems downloading it and tuning in here in Germany, 
• In any case, it’s free for now, with a 90-day free trial if you sign up before April 30. 
• Sign up today that runs through to July 5, 2020.
• After that trial, plans start at $4.99/month, $7.99/month for ad-free. 
• Quibi’s unique proposition and app have positives:
• The big thing is that Quibi’s content is mobile-first. It’s only available on iOS or Android devices (although Chromebooks work in portrait mode only).
• There’s also responsive video, which adapts to your viewing angle in portrait or landscape mode, which Quibi calls its ‘Turnstyle’ technology.
• In use, the responsive video technology adjusts without that hiccup you can see shifting orientation. It does add a slightly different perspective and titles and credits adjust as well.
• Apparently Turnstyle will allow for more narrative elements as you switch positions but launch shows didn’t show that off. 
• Otherwise, elements like the clock on your phone and GPS location will change how some shows look or evolve. Again, none of that is here on day one.
• Other neat tricks are the progress bar or a show running vertically down the right side of the screen as you watch in portrait mode (or left, for left-handers who choose that option).
• It does offer offline downloads too for watching while on mobile data or patchy connections.

On the negative side:

• There’s no profile setup yet, as Quibi is trying to be personal to each person.
• That means if you share your login details, you might be frustrated as there’s only one single concurrent stream allowed.
• I was getting some streaming hiccups on the first official day but that’s been the case for the likes of Disney Plus as well.

But is the content any good?

• Less than 10-minute episodes make everything so abrupt and rapid. It’s both compelling and difficult to really enjoy.
• On the good side, Dishmantled isn’t bad if watching crowd-sourced chefs try to recreate a meal shot at them from a cannon to win $5k is interesting. Episodes last about six minutes, hosted by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt star Tituss Burgess. It’s fun, light-weight, and that’s it. 
• Other shows like Shape of Pasta take themselves very seriously but the episodes are almost too short to really create feeling. Apparently, chef Evan Funke is famous, and that’s a big part of why I don’t get this at all. It’s too much.
• Survive with Sophie Turner starts slow but retains interest.
• There’s I Promise, a LeBron James-focused documentary about his school in Akron, which is like a LeBron commercial, but at least it is fundamentally good.
• Punk’d  with Chance the Rapper is revived but maybe it shouldn’t be?

Star power not always firing:

• The whole thing is based heavily on celebrity and star power, and it’s trying to appeal to a younger audience by being so snappy and loaded with pop culture.
• It sort of feels like YouTube paid what Quibi invested ($1 billion!) in content, and stars, and every possible idea being greenlighted.
• It both works and it doesn’t, and within about 15 seconds a decision to watch something or not can be made because of how lost cost it is to jump around. 
• Quibi feels like it was made for commuters catching a show. As Moe Szyslakmight say: ‘We called that "The Commute." They don't let you do that no more.’ But then again no one is commuting.