The New Ad-Supported Tier Of Netflix Will Remove Users' Abilities To Download Content For Offline Viewing
Netflix seems to be on the public’s bad side once again. This follows news that came out just a month ago saying that they had lost over a million subscribers in their last quarter and that the company would start charging for sharing your account with other people who are not in your household. The latest news is that Netflix is not going to allow users from its most basic tier (the one with ads) to download content to watch on their portable devices. According to The Verge, this was discovered by a developer called Steve Moser, who analyzed code added to the app.
All current, add-free Netflix plans allow the user to download content on their phones if wanted, a feature that helped the service be popularized in countries with bad/unstable data connections. The person would download movies and series at home through Wi-Fi, and during their commute to work or in a place with no service, would still be able to watch them. Even though other plans allow you to do this, it makes it even harder for people who want an entry-level Netflix plan to utilize the app. Per TechRadar, in an interview in July, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos stated that
“There are some things that [wouldn't be included] – that we are in conversation with the studios on – but if we launched the product today, the members in the ad tier would [still] have a great experience (...) We will clear some additional content, but certainly not all of it.”
Although this is a big blow to the user’s experience with Netflix, from the studio’s perspective it makes sense for there to be a reduction in available content. Ads make it possible for monetization, especially on a tier that would be probably cheaper than the existing ones. This does not justify the company’s actions. Netflix has been making bad moves for a while already, which resulted in a considerable drop in subscribers in the second quarter of the year. Other services like HBO Max (which has its own set of problems now) and Disney+ also made a name for themselves during Netflix’s reign, leading to a bigger competition for the company which used to hold a big share of the streaming world.
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