Netflix does not plan to allow users of its new ad-supported plan to download shows and movies to their devices for offline watching. That is to say, removing a feature that customers enjoy on its regular subscription, according to code found inside the company’s iPhone app. The firm from Los Gatos, California, has already clarified that it won’t sell all of its material under the ad arrangement. Not even their popular cooking shows.
According to code discovered in the company’s iPhone app, Netflix is not planning to allow users of its new ad-supported plan to download shows and movies for offline watching. Thus, eliminating a feature that its regular service customers enjoy.
This shows that Netflix is doing everything possible to set the new service apart from its present ones. The streaming juggernaut, which has always shunned commercials, intends to introduce the ad-supported service in the first quarter of 2019. However, the coding of the iPhone app already contains hints regarding the new service.
The language in the program states that “downloads are available on all plans except Netflix with advertisements.” Moreover, developer Steve Moser found and shared this information with Bloomberg News. The code also implies that playback controls won’t be available during commercial breaks and that consumers won’t be able to skip advertising. This technique is customary in the streaming industry.
Netflix opted not to respond
Given that the service debut is still months away, the company’s plans may be still in the preliminary stages, and its strategy could alter.
Early signs indicate that Netflix may be reducing the number of supplemental features available on the ad-supported service. Users of its normal plans can get content for watching in places without steady Internet access, like airplane flights. By removing this functionality, Netflix could upsell consumers to its premium tiers after they’ve been hooked on the ad-supported version. The company, based in Los Gatos, California, has already clarified that not all Netflix material would be included in the ad-supported package.
With competition from Walt Disney, Amazon, and HBO Max from Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix is losing customers. During the past quarter, the corporation lost 1.3 million customers in its main market—the United States and Canada.
Competing services like Disney’s Hulu, HBO Max from Warner Bros., and Peacock from Comcast rely on ad-supported tiers to maintain growth. Additionally, in the least expensive tiers of services like HBO Max, the option to download is disabled.
