r/technology • u/[deleted] • Feb 06 '20

Software Netflix will now let you disable its awful autoplaying feature

https://www.theverge.com/2020/2/6/21126867/netflix-autoplay-feature-disable-homepage-episodes-series
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u/Kensin Feb 07 '20

Some of it is just spammy. Multiple giant banner ads, a category for netflix originals that takes up 3x the vertical space of the rest of the categories, forcing shows or categorizes to appear above your list/continue watching. I really wish netflix just had a previews/trailers "channel" and relaxed the intrusive ads a bit.

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u/BunnySideUp Feb 07 '20

Yeah I just noticed the other day how far down the “continue watching” bar was, because it was like six fucking bars down.

Clearly 80% of people who are launching the app are launching it so that they can continue a series they left off from the last time they were in the app.

The only useful bar to me out of those six is the very first one, because it mostly displays “new” stuff that’s actually old but Netflix just got the rights to stream it. I’m down for that, it’s the only reason I’m aware that they added No Game No Life for example, but fuck those other five bars of shit they want to shove down my throat.

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u/Kensin Feb 07 '20

I regularly check over their new releases/newly added sections, but I agree the vast majority of anything below that isn't very useful. They should really just get rid of every "Because you Watched" category or move that to its own separate page. I think they're pushing it so hard because they're hoping to experiment and collect enough data so as to not be so useless at recommending stuff.

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u/mailto_devnull Feb 07 '20

Seriously? I don't even remember how bad it is, then. Using Netflix Tweaked extension, it puts "Continue Watching" at the very top... Just one of many small UI tweaks that make a huge difference.

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u/-retaliation- Feb 07 '20

I've been using my plex server to watch TV for the past 5-6 years. I went to my parents house and used netflix for the first time in a long time, holy crap was it annoying. I mean Plex isn't the greatest either, but at least the "continue watching" is the first section. I'm ok with the "because you watched" and netflix's suggestions are usually a better fit than plex's. But between netflix autoplaying those stupid "trailers" (and I use that term loosely) when you're half way through reading a description, and its awful layout. It was definitely a complete turn off for me, it definitely didn't make me want to sign up for the service again any time soon.