Netflix removes support for mobile casting and no-one knows why
It's now much harder to cast content from a mobile device to a television set. Annoying if you prefer the mobile navigation experience.
Netflix has removed the ability for most streaming service subscribers to cast content from a companion phone or tablet app to a television set, it has emerged.
The streaming giant revealed the change in an updated help page, explaining that it’ll prevent viewers browsing the app’s library on their phones before sending the content directly to their largest screen over Wi-Fi.
The feature was handy, not only for scrolling content but also if you couldn’t find the TV or streaming box remote. Sometimes, the touch-based interface was also easier for scrolling back through a show or movie to find your place if you had been distracted or nodded off. Unfortunately, without providing reason, Netflix is taking that functionality away and has gradually been doing so over the course of the last month, it seems.
“Netflix no longer supports casting shows from a mobile device to most TVs and TV-streaming devices. You’ll need to use the remote that came with your TV or TV-streaming device to navigate Netflix,” the updated help page (via Android Authority) reads.
There are some exceptions pertaining to older Chromecast devices or a TV that works with Google Cast. However, those with the ad-supported plan are excluded from using that feature. Those with newer TVs and streaming devices are also completely out of luck.
As Engadget points out Netflix hasn’t been too keen on casting for quite some time. Six years ago it got rid of AirPlay on Apple devices. Since that point AirPlay has been widely adopted by TV and set-top box manufacturers, so there are ways around that through screen mirroring, even though it isn’t a direct option within the Netflix app itself.
Chris Smith
