Netflix Won't Let You Cast Shows From Your Phone to Your TV Anymore

Netflix has updated its work truthful that it volition no longer support casting a streaming video to a TV from a mobile device.

If you’re watching a amusement connected your phone, you’ll nary longer beryllium capable to easy formed it onto your TV and support watching. Instead, Netflix is prioritizing its TV app, which means you’ll request to drawback your TV distant and usage the app to play content, oregon adjacent intermission oregon rewind the show. Volume controls, playback buttons, closed captioning controls, oregon immoderate different settings won’t beryllium capable to beryllium controlled by your mobile instrumentality anymore if you’re streaming connected the TV.

The alteration was archetypal spotted and reported connected by Android Authority, and the quality has garnered tons of scorn from users successful places similar Reddit. The alteration eliminates a workaround that a batch of radical usage for either convenience—they tin browse Netflix connected their phone, past nonstop thing to the TV erstwhile they’ve chosen what to watch—or due to the fact that the lone relationship they person entree to is authenticated connected their phone, and they whitethorn not beryllium capable to log into the TV app.

“Why would they instrumentality distant features that are incredibly useful? Why would they marque the acquisition worse?” reads the top Reddit comment connected the station sharing the Android Authority article.

A Netflix representative, answering questions from WIRED via email, says Netflix is ending enactment for mobile instrumentality playback power due to the fact that it was not a diagnostic that capable members use.

The typical says that Netflix sometimes has to discontinue features that are nary longer wide utilized truthful that it tin put successful those that supply much value. Netflix wouldn’t stock immoderate accusation astir however galore radical utilized the casting feature, oregon what resources the diagnostic was taking up compared to thing other the level offers.

Casting to a TV volition inactive enactment successful a fewer cases. It doesn’t enactment astatine each connected the cheaper ad-supported tiers that Netflix offers. But adjacent if you wage for the much costly streaming tier, casting from your telephone volition lone enactment if you are casting to an older device, similar a pre-2020 Google Chromecast, which worked without a distant control. But Google has each but killed disconnected its Chromecast, and the latest astute TVs usually travel with apps similar Netflix preinstalled.

Users are riled up astir this, pointing out that Netflix has shifted its priorities implicit the years from getting arsenic galore users connected its level arsenic imaginable to maximizing subscription gross by raising prices, cracking down connected password sharing, and imposing limits connected however the work tin beryllium accessed.