Quibi Now Lets Users Screenshot Shows – But There’s a Twist

Quibi — after being criticized for launching without a way for fans to easily share their favorite moments — now lets viewers screenshot content, Chief Product Officer Tom Conrad shared on Thursday afternoon. But as Conrad put it, this isn’t “your grandfather’s screenshotting.”

Instead of having users simultaneously press the volume up button and the lock button on their iPhones, for example, Quibi is doing screenshots a bit differently. Quibi’s version has viewers press and hold on a show they’re watching, allowing them to pick a still image from a menu.



To grab a screenshot on Quibi, press-and-hold on any playing episode to reveal a menu. Slide your finger over to the screenshot icon to grab a still. Voila. Screenshot.

BUT WHY? WHY? WHY would we go our own way on this? 3/6 pic.twitter.com/7qJ6RLlTB2

— Tom Conrad (@tconrad) July 23, 2020



Quibi has been widely mocked since its April launch, and Conrad poked fun at the bad press the Los Angeles-based company has received so far. He tweeted that this wasn’t done to “encourage 1000 think-pieces about how we dOn’t knoW wHAt we’Re DoINg,” but simply because of design restraints.

*Also Read:* 3 Big Moves Quibi Should Consider to Revive Fledgling Streaming Service

“It’s that products live with constraints & in this case we have to honor the [digital rights management] preferred by our content creators,” Conrad explained.

Having the option to screenshot content should be a welcome addition for Quibi subscribers. Several early Quibi users told TheWrap in May the app would be better off it was easier to share their favorite moments on social, among other complaints.

Quibi’s had a rough start out of the gate; out of 910,000 people who downloaded Quibi in the three days following its April 6 launch, only 72,000 users converted to paying subscriptions when their 90-day trial expired earlier this month, according to Sensor Tower. Making its shows easier to share with friends is one small step that could help drive more downloads.

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