Netflix has managed to annoy a good number of its users with an announcement about an upcoming update to its Windows 11 (and Windows 10) app: support for adverts and live events will be added, but the ability to download content is being taken away.
Netflix must realize that it’s a huge frustration for people who relied on offline downloads to watch content without internet access: on planes, trains, and campsites, and anywhere else where Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable.
There’s a small chance that Netflix will change its mind if it gets enough complaints, but the streaming service seems determined to add as many money-making features as possible, while taking away genuinely useful ones.
What’s the point of the windows app if you can’t download stuff with it? Might as well use the browser at that point
Well that’s mighty selfish of you isn’t it, won’t you think of the Microsoft shareholder who want to make more money from harvesting your data and Netflix for wanting to serve you ads to increase profits.
Microsoft doesn’t care if you use the app or the browser
You’re still on their OS
You’d never know it the way they try to make every Microsoft branded app the default
I’m certainly no desktop developer, but I would imagine a native application gives you access to more intrusive data than a browser, especially considering modern browser protections. Just a theory though
They could keylog everything or screenshot every x seconds and send it to them if they wanted
Log all network requests
The app is most likely electron which is just Chromium
You mean you’re not Edging?
Depending on the browser, you won’t get 4k. IIRC only works with Edge cause of DRM.
You know what doesn’t have shitty DRM? Torrents.
I think the only way to get surround sound is in the desktop program. I don’t know if that’s a limitation of browsers or if the Netflix guys are just assholes.
Makes sense, I don’t think it’s them being assholes, probably easier to interact with the hardware in a native app than through the browser.
I’m a desktop application programmer, and glad I don’t have to deal with web browsers.
I could imagine a technical limitation if they use some proprietary audio codec to send compressed surround sound that the browser somehow doesn’t support, but on the other hand why the fuck am I giving a big tech corporation any benefit of the doubt?
In my limited understanding, they almost certainly do not because if they did client devices would struggle to decode some non-standard format.
It’s probably a DRM limitation.
Piracy ship
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!
Install an android emulator. Problem solved.
Start pirating again. Problem solved.
Make your own movies and shows. Problem solved.
Start a company, get rich, buy Netflix, problem solved.
Stop watching stuff, do something else. Problem solved.
Found a secret society, infiltrate politics worldwide, stir chaos and destruction, let the world burn and built a new Netflix from the world’s ashes where you still can download stuff. Problem solved.
See? It’s not that hard!
(In case it wasn’t clear, I am joking.)
Best comment so far
You lost when you got roped into the Windows monopoly and compounded your loss by paying for Netflix.
Better luck next time.
honestly every single headline about how shitty streaming is getting, wantonly, willfully, feels like a hit of crack. nothing better than owning your own library.
“What killed streaming?” - article from 2026
“millennials are killing the streaming industry”
The next season of Bridgerton is cancelled because you selfish millennials wouldn’t drink your verification cans
Actually, that’s probably the one excuse that wouldn’t fly. The only company that cancels more stuff randomly and with no reason than Netflix is Google.
All of the major broadcast networks have always canceled stuff as fast as Netflix, maybe faster since they sometimes cancel shows before the first season has completed airing.
Yes, but they had the veneer of “low ratings” to hide behind. Netflix cancels their content with no warning and no explanation.
I still love that verification can reference. It was actually quite a bit ago but keeps getting more and more relevant.
There’s not enough guaranteed margin in a single combined streaming and production house to feed the employees, investors, and media moguls.
None of these companies are being outright assholes (well not more than normal). The business model is simply not sustainable and they’re doing whatever they can to slow the inevitable collapse. We’re producing 10 times the content we used to produce, and the revenue from the streamers is nowhere near enough to cover the bills.
- Netflix gross profit for the quarter ending December 31, 2023 was $3.525B, a 44.02% increase year-over-year.
- Netflix gross profit for the twelve months ending December 31, 2023 was $14.008B, a 12.54% increase year-over-year.
What?
Why would you use the gross numbers that don’t include the price of making the movies?
Netflix is in reasonably green but it’s the only one
Disney Plus is still in the red if you include their ESPN streaming.
Warner/discovery/max is barely in the green at 100 million.
Revenue in Q4 grew 12% year over year, to $8.83 billion, higher than Netflix’s previous forecast due to favorable foreign exchange rates and “stronger than anticipated membership growth,” the company said. Net income was $938 million, or $2.11 per share.
I’ll give you the silver star for participation award. Now you want to talk about how they’re the only truly profitable company or does that straight too far from your agenda?
Greed, same as everything else
Yup. Just surprised Pikachu faces all around at Netflix. “But we were assured by our marketing department that customers would just pay any amout we wanted!”
People have been making this comment for so long, with every anti-consumer change, and it’s never been true.
Killing VPN usages didn’t do it, canceling shows didn’t do it, the splintering of offerings across multiple platforms didn’t do it, killing password sharing didn’t do it, raising prices didn’t do it, including an advertising tier didn’t do.
And this will not do it.
Hell, this is barely going to tweak the dial. The overwhelming majority of people don’t watch Netflix on the desktop app, why should they fear kick back from the few that do? All they’ll say is the mobile versions will still let you download (because those file systems are sealed away from the user).
Consumers will accept anything if there’s no where else to get what they want. It’s why the “free market” has no power in the tech space: consumers are so addicted to their chosen platforms, apps, devices, and services that they will accept literally anything before they entertain the idea of using anything else.
That’s partially why enshitification is getting so bad: there’s no punishment for it. Users will not move.
Not enough uses for sure. I canceled all the shitty ones once they implemented these stupid as fuck changes.
It’s sort of like “Going All-In works everytime. Until it doesn’t”
It’s ads while I’m paying that would do it for sure for me. I think I pay $24 a month. About to go back to sailing the high seas regardless. Their content has been lacking for quite a while.
🏴☠️ 🏴☠️ 🏴☠️
I use a Netflix download app or a video capture app to store Netflix videos for offline viewing. They are charging a lot and not meeting my needs so I take matter into my own hands.
Y’all just need to cancel your Netflix, they are too expensive for far too little
I’m going to try doing that. My wife watches it a bit though, and my kids watch it occasionally. I’m thinking I’ll set aside $200 to buy whatever series they want, and if that lasts us the year, we’ve come out ahead.
I need to do the same for Disney+. We really don’t watch either enough…
Yup.
They told me I could choose between ads and a 35% price rise.
I replied “I have a better idea”
Can honestly say I’ve not missed out watching anything I wanted to watch
But they’re actually producing good stuff lately. I’ve watched more Netflix originals this year than I have in the past 10.
You can pirate, or if you want to do it the “right” way, you can sign up when there’s something you want to watch and cancel when there isn’t.
I cant, i share an account with my mom :(
I spun up a Plex server for myself, built a NAS, then started inviting friends and family. If I can get multiple users to drop their subs, I’ll be making a larger impact. Fuck streaming subscriptions, I’m pirating content until I die. Now I can pirate for multiple users 🏴☠️
I share my jellyfin with my mom
Must go through a lot of batteries.
No sad face friend, it’s not your fault or responsibility, you are already not supporting them!
I am, im the one paying for my mom ;)
I used to as well until I canceled it, I and my brother both setup plex servers so now they have more content without having to pay extra for sharing an account to a different address
Sure, but im not gonna be constantly trying to find stuff for her or get a constant messages of “can you get this for me?”
You can make it all automated with overseerr, they just search on plex and if you don’t have it they add it to their watch list in the plex app, overseerr will auto add it to radarr or sonarr and start searching for it automagically
If I could figure out an easy way for my partner to download content to my Plex library, I’d dump Netflix and Hulu in a heartbeat. I’m picturing an app where they can search for any show or movie, hit download, and it will grab it from my private tracker and toss it on my server. AFAIK something like this just doesn’t exist.
You need to buy blurays for that
I setup overseerr to auto add users added to my plex server and auto approve anything they request or add to their watch list, they just need to login once to my overseerr for their plex account to be linked after that as long as they have the online media thing enabled that is enabled by default they can just search for anything through plex and add it to their watch list and overseerr will auto add it to the arrs and begin the search and download. I have to get in there from time to time to manually do shows that are low quality or in a different language some times but other than that it’s all automated, you can even setup another tool that auto deletes things after a certain time so you can manage your storage easier
Very slow reply, but do you have a guide for setting this up?
I’ll second Ombi. It has a slick interface to search for any movie/tv show and when the user presses a download button the backend interfaces with other apps to download the media and provide it to Plex. Having your partner interface directly with Radarr or Sonarr just isn’t as user friendly
Ombi and Overseerr will do this.
You can use the plex watchlist feature to do this. Add the plex watchlist to the arrs and then when anything is added to the watchlist on plex the arrs will see it and add it to the queue. Works great.
I mean I can think of a super easy way for her to do it.
Text you the name. Lol
One of those -arrs can be setup to download automatically when someone adds a movie or show to their watchlist.
Canceled mine.
Sailing the high seas works just fine.
The one value streaming services provide is subtitles in languages other than English. Unfortunately there aren’t enough pirates in a lot of countries to make foreign media viable.
That’s hilarious, I used to have trouble finding the stuff I wanted in subbed English, could only find dubbed that was changed in significant ways usually.
Yes I was an anime nerd in the late 90’s and 2000’s
My small ass original country with 9m pop has its own subtitle pages for pirated content. You just need to search by title + release group (+episode, if a TV show).
I’m guessing most of them are created by some auto-subtitling services, because most are pretty horrible quality. But still better than nothing.
Is the release group the name of the people who usually upload subs? How would I find that?
For example, I’ve been trying to find Japanese subs for the show American Horror Story, but the only way I know to look is to search for the title plus subs. But the only result that even comes close is the opensubs site, which doesn’t have much Japanese content.
The release group or person is usually a tag at the end of the file name before the extension.
You could try auto-translating the subtitle files content, see how well a job some of the translation services do.
Oh yeah, good point. I didn’t think about translating the srt files myself-- I’ll see if I can make that work
Not sure if this is helpful but I’ve used this site for my srt for rough translations
Try https://github.com/morpheus65535/bazarr
Bazarr is a companion application to Sonarr and Radarr. It manages and downloads subtitles based on your requirements. You define your preferences by TV show or movie and Bazarr takes care of everything for you.
How does it find subs if no one’s created the sub file? Does it auto translate them from the original language?
No*. You can add providers which will automatically check for and download (all of) the available subtitles and it can automatically check for new and updated ones so that you don’t need to. It can also do synchronization and modifications like fixing uppercase and OCR. It greatly reduces the amount of work that you have to do.
*I just checked the OpenSubtitles.com provider and it has an option for AI translated subtitles in search results.
And start sailing the seven seas
It’s included with my tv subscription. I’m already on the cheapest plan
Sounds too expensive. You should cancel it
“While downloads will no longer be supported, you can continue to watch TV shows and movies offline on a supported mobile device,” the Netflix document says
So essentially Windows devices are no longer “supported” wrt this particular feature.
It essentially means the Windows app will be little more than a wrapper for the Netflix website.
It’s possible that the move means Netflix can save some money on licensing, which may cost extra if downloads are included – enabling users to take shows and movies around with them and watch them without an internet connection.
So once again everything devolves down to licensing - i.e. it sounds like they were pressured into this hard choice to leave those users in the cold, which they did. Probably bc the user base of Windows phones is so tiny?
Though that is one of the main advantages of Netflix these days, as opposed to e.g. piracy.
TLDR: Ultimately it is yet more enshittification, and while due to licensing rather than Netflix, still it is Netflix users (on Windows phones) who will bear the burden.
My advice would be to disable automatic updates and coast for a long while on the current app version, though that can be easier said than done due to multiple locations of automatic update settings. I have zero experience ever with Windows phones, but good luck if you want to try it!:-|
Is Windows mobile still a thing? I thought they meant the app in the windows store ( desktop/laptop).
Last time I saw somebody use a windows phone was 10 years afk :/
I wish this was limited to just windows phones. My travel device, a windows laptop with a removalbe keyboard, will no longer be able to download shows. Which means no more Netflix on airplanes for me.
I’m sorry to hear of your loss:-(. Ironically, mobile devices using iOS and Android look to still allow downloading.
Is it possible to simply not update the Netflix app on your laptop?
It really is sad when they push people to use piracy methods, even for things that we would have had access to using totally legal means, but which they choose to no longer support:-(. e.g. in the olden days, it was legal to rip a copy of a CD or DVD for your own purposes, so long as you did not distribute it and thereby prevent a sale to keep the industry running. Whereas by no longer allowing even temporary downloads, Netflix is keeping their same price but now delivering less features in return, which may lose them several customers.
You must be a time traveler because Windows phones don’t exist. This is about normal Windows.
Surely it’ll be supported on desktop Windows once Windows 10 is released?
I presumed it meant existing ones, even if they are no longer making new ones. But yeah, I see you are right, it does seem about the desktop, or presumably meaning laptops that could go offline.
Windows phone died 8 years ago. None of it is supported or used.
I edited my original comment with an apology. It looks like the last release was January 2020.
Hmm? 2015 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Phone
Its looong dead.
That refers to 8.1 Update 2 (8.10.15148.160), but down under Versions, it mentions an NT 10.0 with an EoL date of January 14, 2020 and the footnote says:
Originally scheduled on December 10, 2019, but delayed following one more security update due to the release of iOS 13.3. Supported until January 10, 2023 via the paid Extended Security Updates service.
And even then people could still hold onto their old phones (though I’m not sure if Windows allows bootloader unlocking and custom ROMs as readily as Android). I keep mine until the battery gives out, many years after purchase - even if only as a media device after removing the SIM, like to control casting to my TV. 8 years is actually normal for me.
Anyway, you are right I bet they were referring more to laptops with a desktop Windows OS.
If I had to guess, it might be because the people that pirate Netflix shows may be doing it from the Windows app using the download feature. After all, you have full access to the file system on Windows.
Meanwhile, iPhones have always been locked down to prevent the user from accessing the file system, and Android in the last couple versions has locked its file system down too, while Google continues to become increasingly fierce in trying to detect and block anybody with a rooted device.
Android in the last couple versions has locked its file system down too
Really!? I’m a bit behind, but somehow this surprises me. I mean, not the intention, bc Google’s motto these days is “definitely be evil”, but that it had gotten this far this fast.
Anyway at a guess all you’d have to do is download whatever you want, then root, profit, then turn off root and it wouldn’t even know? Plus the tons of ways that you can do things without even needing root access these days, and I haven’t even mentioned yet a custom ROM. And ofc piracy, where someone else obtains the video files, e.g. ripping from a physical medium. So they will most definitely lose that flight. And in the meantime, the most honest customers are the ones who suffer.
Overall I just chalked this up to: anyone who uses Windows (or iOS) basically is at the mercy of profit-seeking behaviors. You will own nothing, and like it - or else!:-(
Thanks for sharing!
Oh wow, so much going on there.
What if a malicious app decides to place child pornography or a crypto mining whatever onto your device - but since its space is “private”, can unethical people now legally do that, and simply blame that Google wouldn’t let them see into the space, hence they “did not know that it was there”? This would seem to open the door to so very many problematic issues…
On the other hand this seems related solely to “external” storage - I haven’t used external storage on an Android for… actually I’ve never used it iirc. For this Netflix case, would they disallow downloading onto your device unless you have an external SIM? Also, if you used external storage, then how da fuq could they control you popping that external storage into some other device entirely, like a rooted device with a custom ROM!? It would have made so much more sense for internal storage… or possibly I am missing something there.
In any case, that sucks that Google seems more and more to be buying into the “walled garden” philosophy - you know, “for your convenience”, aka selling YOU as the product to the investor class.:-(
A quick search seems to suggest there is no known way around this, except to use an older Android OS:-(. I would hope that this would absolutely wake people up to realize why Google cannot be trusted - as if what happened to searching wasn’t enough on its own.
Possession of stolen items and/or child porn is all that is required, no matter the reason. Crypto mining would probably be considered a you problem, unless your phone is owned by an employer. Each app has its own storage and can access shared storage.
https://developer.android.com/about/versions/11/privacy/storage
Access to data directories on internal storage
Android 9 (API level 28) started to restrict which apps could make the files in their data directories on internal storage world-accessible to other apps. Apps that target Android 9 or higher cannot make the files in their data directories world-accessible.
Android 11 expands upon this restriction. If your app targets Android 11, it cannot access the files in any other app’s data directory, even if the other app targets Android 8.1 (API level 27) or lower and has made the files in its data directory world-readable.
But these rules only seem to apply to apps that follow the rules. Or perhaps on an OS that does so. Hence a custom ROM would be able to bypass it, or connecting the external storage to a computer via USB or some such? At which point it seems needlessly restrictive. But, I am no expert, and it would indeed increase security for a naive user, so likely that’s what they are aiming at.
The OS seems to enforce this but is above my pay grade. A custom ROM no doubt would work.
Infuse let’s you download shows off your Jellyfin server and watch offline
Let’s not pretend that an “average” mobile user is capable of doing that?
Which is why we need to help one another to get there:-).
If we’re talking about mobile, the Jellyfin app lets you download to the device already.
If we’re talking about laptops, as far as I’m aware, the Jellyfin desktop app doesn’t have a download feature.
If there’s still downloads available on mobile it’s probably not licensing. Iirc the downloads were only available in shit quality anyways so as always, pirating is a better experience.
This is part of why I like Apple TV+ so much. I watched two episodes of Slow Horses in 1080p HDR on my iPhone while in an airplane. It was fantastic.
Only if the people that pirate the shows are able to obtain those higher quality downloads.
As these platforms become increasingly hostile to users, they’re going to be well aware of the subsequent increase in piracy, and implement even more methods of preventing their content from being pirated.
It will always be impossible to stop piracy completely, but you can make it increasingly difficult to obtain best quality.
Sure in theory but for all their posturing and obnoxious DRM methods it hasn’t seemed to work at all.
It probably depends on what “working” means - it won’t ever stop piracy but if they can make things more difficult, then that fact alone gives them a woody.
Also people trying to manipulate the corporate ladder - “hey let’s maximize our revenue stream by synergizing the… yeah just gimme a raise won’t’cha?” (and since they pay themselves, they won’t mind if they do… then use all their “initiatives” like this as justification for that fact). End-users aren’t the “customers” anymore these days, in giant megalithic corpos - we are the product that is sold, to whoever is willing to pay.:-(
It doesn’t really matter if you make piracy more difficult if you don’t make it impossible. Only one person has to figure out how to rip it, then everyone else can watch it
That’s why they will lose… but the authoritarians still keep trying, it’s just how they are built. They really aren’t intelligent enough to understand any other way, and those few who might seem not to care, being greedy enough to get what they can while they can, letting others deal with the fallout.
I am not certain I know what you mean.
Netflix hasn’t given any reason for ditching downloads on Windows: when Windows Latest asked about it they were simply directed to the relevant support document, which confirms that a new app is “coming soon”, without the download option.
The fact that downloading is still available on Windows is purely bc the update hasn’t rolled out yet.
They think (unproven) that this radical change might be due to the cheaper licensing options if they remove the ability to download. A cost-benefit analysis where Windows users will either take it and like it or else who cares about Windows mobile users anyway if they leave. Either way, a victory for licensing companies, or they’ll spin it that way regardless.
My worry is that it will embolden them to go still yet further, making it harder on both pirates and paying customers just bc they can get away with doing so.:-(
who cares about Windows mobile
This isn’t about a Netflix app on Windows Mobile. It’s about Windows, the desktop OS app.
They’re talking about the fact that Netflix isn’t removing the feature from their Android/iOS apps
Pirated movies don’t have this problem.
I’m just saying, ruin your own service, and lose to pirates who can provide a better one for free.
Yeah, Plex downloads work fine still, on all devices.
Lol downloads is the one thing that definitively does not work for Plex
Guess it’s time to use the other download feature.
This is no big deal because Windows users are used to ads. Sorry feeling snarky.
Downloads on my Surface for the sake of my vacation were the reason I resubscribed. Seems fitting it should be the reason I unsubscribe. I only worry about finding a good point of communication to let them know about this reason.
Enshittification follows its course.
