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....
“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? (Edit: bc they are discontinued, though more likely they meant the desktop - i.e. laptops - sorry if I caused any confusion).
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 devices) 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 with Windows lately, but good luck if you want to try it!:-|
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!:-(
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.:-(
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.:-(
I don’t see that feature listed at f-droid.org/en/packages/org.jellyfin.mobile/? I have never used Jellyfin though - it looks quite awesome! - and so know nothing about it, I mention here to say that it might either depend on how you install it or perhaps it’s a plugin.
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.
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.
Well, websites can still be made, so not quite the same, but I get what you mean:-).
And similarly, a ton of written material was lost e.g. when a library was burned - often unique or rare material subsequently lost in other ways, so very much the same process.
But… he took the insecurity away from you, and he’ll hold onto it until you are ready to leave the club, at which point a different comment will give it right back, to you and only you, and even with interest.
Omg I can’t believe you actually bought that line I said when you went in - you are such a dweeb, next time just stay home dumbass!
So does he suck, or is he a master at the game? :-P
The Magats are a lost cause, but the like 2-3 centrists in the Midwest who control our entire nation at this point due to the Electoral College system (and Dems refusal to do anything once elected) might be persuaded this way?
Also, now I just want to see it done regardless of utility. 😎
The way I see it, which would be dumber: if they existed, or not? So yeah, they probably exist:-P. And they are needlessly used as excuses.
But the main excuse ofc is that is simply how the game is played. It seems like it would be wise for us to wake up and realize that, but we are all too self-absorbed as a society.
The OP graphic says “I followed the recipie exactly”, which they did not, so somehow I doubt that “facts” matter to them, who are making hyperbolic claims for emotional appeals rather than descriptive purposes.
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