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Netflix Windows app is set to remove its downloads feature, while introducing ads (www.techradar.com)

submitted 6 months ago by ForgottenFlux to c/technology

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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.

Netflix must realize that it's a huge frustration for people who relied on offline downloads to watch content without internet access: on planes, trains, and campsites, and anywhere else where Wi-Fi is unavailable or unreliable.

There's a small chance that Netflix will change its mind if it gets enough complaints, but the streaming service seems determined to add as many money-making features as possible, while taking away genuinely useful ones.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I could imagine a technical limitation if they use some proprietary audio codec to send compressed surround sound that the browser somehow doesn't support, but on the other hand why the fuck am I giving a big tech corporation any benefit of the doubt?

[–] subtext 2 points 6 months ago

In my limited understanding, they almost certainly do not because if they did client devices would struggle to decode some non-standard format.

It’s probably a DRM limitation.