A new Netflix app was supposed to release this month, but what did we get? A refresh app featuring modern design, animations and windows 11 style designs? Nope we got a downgrade, the new “app” is pretty much a web shortcut of Netflix.com that runs on your browser which is less efficient than an actual app.

When i read that they were going to remove downloads i already knew they’d replace the app with a web-app since those don’t allow offline downloads.

Overall this feels like a big downgrade and it’s disappointing cause a new Netflix app was released for windows to the world in 2016 for it to just end up being neglected when it comes to keeping up with modern app design like the competitors had.

Now we have a web-app that doesn’t cost Netflix any money to maintain cause now they only have to maintain their website instead of also focusing on making a proper app for windows devices.

Starting tomorrow all PC users will be forced to update to the latest version of the Netflix app, which is basically a lousy web browser with no support for surround sound, and I believe 4k and HDR as well.

Wondering if there are any legitimate alternative apps for us to use with proper support of the above mentioned.

Cancelled Disney plus because they went this route, hoping I don’t have to with Netflix as well.

Just to sums up:

• No 5.1 sound

• No 4k

• No HDR

These were huge reasons why I used old metro-style Netflix App. Now all is gone

Just why?

Why this company so much hate its own customers?

P.S.

New app is Edge gimmick, and Netflix proclaims that Edge should support 4K, HDR and 5.1 sound, but that shit never worked, as now is not working in "new" app

I am making this to hear other people's opinions. I like using the official app for things, so I looked into if Netflix has their own app on Windows and sure enough they do.

But after barely watching 2 episodes of something, I couldn't stand it. The show I would watch has no setting to change quality, so I would sometimes be forced to download it to view it in HD. If it has subtitles and I need to pause or go back for a second, the black boarders on top and bottom bother me to no end. There is no setting for quality on the website too but it feels like the quality is more consistently higher/stable. If I look for a show that is available in another country, I am almost forced to download the show in order to watch it in HD.

I don't like to just say something is bad and I am unaware of the Windows app being universally accepted as bad so what does everyone else think? Do most people just use the website on PCs?

EDIT: Speaking of which, there should really be an easier, manual method of changing video quality. Every video service out there gives that option except Netflix.

Why? Why would you do this? And now I have to re-login (key in my email address and password) everytime I decide I wanna watch Netflix on my own computer? Wtf Netflix?

Okay, I really hope I'm not the only one who has noticed and is disturbed by how apps from the Microsoft Store now work. Specifically, Netflix, Crunchyroll, YouTube Music, Facebook Messenger, and who knows how many others (probably plenty more).

The way these applications now function is by essentially using the Microsoft Edge browser. Instead of opening an app, you're basically just opening a browser tab. These "apps" rely on Edge's settings and even redirect links to Edge when it's not your default browser. In other words, you no longer get any of the functionality you'd expect from a standalone app. It's literally the same experience as opening the webpage in Edge. How does that even qualify as an application?!

What's worse is that if anyone somehow manages to uninstall or delete Edge from their computer, or if a buggy update breaks it, I bet all these so-called "apps" will stop working entirely.

I really hope nobody tries to defend this practice because it's indefensible.

Right now, I'm furious about the disappearance of the Netflix app. The app used to let me directly connect to my home theatre receiver and send high-quality audio with surround sound support. That’s gone now—thanks a lot.
On top of that, I'm facing a huge issue with Netflix lowering the resolution when playing via the browser (or the "app") for absolutely no good reason. I can see how it quickly buffers about 4 minutes of video, but after playing for just a few seconds, it drops the quality, it stutters, rewinds a second, and starts redownloading another 4 minutes of video. This cycle repeats, and the quality keeps dropping until it hits the lowest resolution, which in my case watching on a big screen makes it unbearable.

And yes, before anyone asks:

• My profile is set to high-quality playback.

• I have a fast, stable internet connection (110 Mbps is more than enough).

• I'm using a solid gaming build, so there are no hardware issues.

I even tried installing an old Chrome extension called Netflix 1080p made by Truedread, because this problem has existed for years. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked yet, I will play around with settings and source code further in attempts to resolve this.

I am new to posting on reddit so if I have not done something right please let me know ( I know you want to).

Got a notification on my Windows Netflix app that an update is coming and downloads won't be a thing anymore on PC. There goes taking my laptop on flights loaded with Netflix shows

So I have Netflix app on my laptop and just recently got the update. I had downloads on the app and can no longer access them. Did they automatically get rid of the downloads or do I have to wait for them to expire?

I just want to complain and vent here, because an actual human might see this.

The Netflix windows app is extremely invasive on the computer, it constantly crashes the entire PC in many mysterious ways. I have now resorted to watch netflix on my tablet, because running it on my second screen freezes/crashes or makes all of my PC screens go completely black. I have spam press ALT F4 + Esc until I end up closing the app.

PC specs: Ryzen 1700X, Gforce 1080TI. Used to watch Netflix on Screen nr2 while playing World of Warcraft classic and hanging out on Discord. If I do the same with Twitch, everything is fine, so I am certain it's Netflix.

UPDATE: The issue was my On-Board soundcard/Sound drivers. I bought an external sound card and haven't had a crash since. Something from Netflix DRM and my mother board soundcard just didn't get along at all.

It's very small update (2 MB), and looks like it didn't change anything. Version number went from 6.98.1805.0 to 6.99.5.0.

Nice to see Netflix haven't "completely" abandoned the app (yet)

I'm kinda new to Netflix and I'm wondering. Why is the desktop version of Netflix so much worse in terms of look and video control than the browser version.

The browser version works pretty much like you would expect from a modern Video like we now from platforms like YouTube where you can press in the middle of the screen to pause the video. Press f or F11 to enter full screen mode, press m to mute, andjusting volume with arrow up and down keys, etc. Only thing that's bothering me a bit is that the video control icons are absolutely huge.

Now on the desktop version (which I got from the MS-Store if that matters) you can't click in the middle of the screen to pause, you can't press f or F11 to go to full screen mode, there's no skip button, you can't press m to mute, the arrow up and down keys only move the video forwards and backwards just like the arrow right and left keys and on top of all that the UI looks much older than the web version. The only benefit I see I get from the desktop version so that I can download films and have a native PIP mode where I have a 10s back button compared to the web version which doesn't have a PIP mode and I have to use the browser one.

So why doesn't Netflix improve their desktop version, even if it would just be copying web version, making the video controls smaller and add the download functionality and PIP mode?

Anyone actually use the store app?

I've gone back to it a couple times in the last few years and it seems incredulous that they still haven't fixed anything. Play position is lost, my list doesn't update correctly, ui/x stops responding, bitstream issues regardless of bandwidth, etc.

How is this acceptable? The same simple bugs exist YEARS into the app's dev. Regardless, Netflix via Edge has ui/x issues, and chrome doesn't support silverlight so you need extensions to get 1080p...in other words with problems across so many platforms the MAJORITY of customers are using workarounds to access their content.

It's becoming increasingly obvious Netflix customer service is basically conjecture at this point.

What is the better way to stream on a laptop? Through chrome (a browser) or the actual Netflix app in the Microsoft store

I cannot for the life of me get 4K working on my laptop via Netflix app. I’m sure I meet all the reqs but it’s not working. Does anyone have any ideas? It’s an HP laptop with a 4K screen but had the integrated gpu / nvidia gpu. Could that be causing an issue? Details below

I7-7700HQ Windows 10 Home 21H2 19044.2130 Intel HD Graphics 630 / Nvidia GTX 1050 TI 4GB Nvidia driver version 522.25 HEVC codec installed 60Hz/4K resolution selected Using MS store Netflix App Forcing Netflix App to use Nvidia gpu via windows graphics settings HDCP 2.2 compliant

Don’t know what else to say. Does it just not work on laptops and/or with integrated graphics?

I just want to add a shortcut on my desktop. But for the life of me I'm having a hell of a time with it. Right click on it in the start menu? That lets me pin it to the taskbar. Ok, lets go find the .exe and create a shortcut for it. Search C drive for Netflix? None of the results make sense. It's bad enough that I even have to use the "app" to watch stuff above 720, but why make it so damn hard to use?

Basicay the title, want to know the best way to get the best quality on PC using Windows 10.

Need to get 250 characters so bot doesn't delete lalalalalalala, is this enough? Maybe a bit moooooore tralalalalalalalallalalalalaalal should be good enough