Disney+ rolls out Verts short-video feed

Disney+ is rolling out a TikTok-style short-video feed called “Verts” inside its mobile app in the US, turning clips from its own films and series into an endless vertical scroll. According to TechCrunch, the feature adds a dedicated navigation icon and lets viewers swipe through moments, save titles to a watchlist, or jump directly into the full episode or movie.

The immediate pitch is “discovery”: a faster way to find something to watch in a catalog that is now too large to browse. But the product choice is also a shift in what a subscription service optimises for. A library service is judged by what it carries and how reliably it plays; a feed is judged by how long it can keep you swiping. Disney says early testing on Disney+ and ESPN suggested “additional engagement,” and it highlights an “advanced algorithm” powering personalisation—language that belongs to advertising platforms, even when the customer has already paid.

That matters because a feed changes the internal economics of content. When the interface is built around short clips, the most valuable unit is no longer the episode or the film but the excerpt that stops a thumb. Editing decisions, thumbnailing, and even what gets greenlit can tilt toward “moments” that perform in a feed. For children’s viewing, the same mechanics that make TikTok sticky—rapid feedback loops, autoplay, and personalised ranking—become part of a product historically sold on brand trust and parental comfort.

Disney is also signaling that Verts will not remain limited to in-catalog excerpts. The company says it will eventually include “content from creators that reflects our fandoms,” which would import the creator economy and its moderation problems into a paid streaming bundle. That is a different rights and compliance universe: music clearances for short-form edits, talent approvals for repurposed scenes, and a new set of brand-safety decisions when third-party creators appear next to Disney IP.

Netflix launched its own vertical discovery feed last year, and the convergence is telling. Streamers are no longer only competing on what they produce; they are competing on habit formation—daily opens, session length, and the ability to steer attention within a closed ecosystem. The subscription becomes the entry ticket, and the feed becomes the meter.

Verts is arriving as a new button in Disney+’s navigation bar. The company is betting that the fastest way to get viewers to commit to a two-hour film is to first keep them scrolling for two minutes.