Netflix will be making some big changes to its dedicated Windows 10/11 app in the near future, and some users will likely not be pleased that one feature in particular is going away.
Reddit users noted that they have been getting notifications in their Netflix Windows app this week, informing them of the upcoming update to the app. The biggest change is that after the update, the app will no longer be able to download videos of Netflix's movies and TV shows on their PC for offline viewing.
This change is also confirmed by a Netflix support page for the Windows app. The new version will add some features, including "support for watching live events, increased streaming quality, compatibility with ad-supported plans, and more."
However, it's the removal of the video download feature that will most likely be missed by Windows 10 and 11 users. In particular, people who travel a lot with their Windows laptop and want to watch the latest episode of Too Hot to Handle won't be able to download those episodes ahead of time so they can be watched if there's not a handy internet connection. In that instance, the new app will be about as useful as watching Netflix on its official website.
Indeed, most of the comments about this change to the Netflix Windows app center on losing the downloads feature, One user, "Huntracony", stated:
My internet isn't always reliable, having the ability to download shows is essential. Why even have a Windows app if you can't use it offline? Might as well use the site at that point, at least that gets updated.
So far there's no official word from Netflix on when the update for the Windows app will start rolling out. We will post the news when the new version of the Netflix Windows app, without the download feature, starts to become widely available.
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