You may be streaming Netflix day and night, enjoying the latest season of The Witcher or Stranger Things, wishing for the cast of Bridgerton, or solving a cold case with a true crime documentary.
But Netflix also has a range of little-known features that can make your browsing and viewing experience that much more enjoyable. Whether you’re looking for a specific entry from the best Netflix movie collections, or trying to improve your Netflix recommendations by selecting those series that didn’t have a chance to appear on Netflix’s best TV show lists, these tips and tricks quickies will turn every Netflix fan into a powerful streamer.
Allow Netflix automatic smart downloads
We’ve all been there: stuck in traffic or on a plane, train or subway with no mobile data reception and nothing to do but wait. However, Netflix can be your knight in shining armor for these moments of connectivity downtime, if you allow its Smart Downloads feature to run.
Smart Downloads requests an allocation of your mobile device’s storage capacity and will automatically start downloading shows and movies in the background while you use your app. Then, when you can’t access a network for streaming, your device is already full of stuff to watch offline when you need it most, curated based on your viewing habits. The option can be activated in the Downloads section of the Netflix mobile applications.
Remember that you can also manually make download decisions for offline viewing.
Enhance recommendations with a selection from Netflix history
Netflix’s recommendation system can easily pinpoint things you might like from the streamer’s extensive catalogue. But you can only make your recommendations based on the interests you fuel with your viewing habits. So if you share an account with a spouse or children, those recommendations may deviate from what you really enjoy watching.
You can sort what Netflix thinks you’ll like by removing the selections from your Netflix viewing history. Head to the ‘“My Viewing Activity” page in a browserand click the “Hide from view activity” button to the right of a program: it’s the button with the diagonal line through a circle, like the Ghostbusters logo. This will teach Netflix to stop making recommendations based on that show.
Find what’s on Netflix (and what’s elsewhere) with this app
Sometimes you want to browse Netflix aimlessly and land on something unexpected. But sometimes you want to watch an exact program at a specific time. Maybe it’s something you added to a Netflix watchlist a long time ago, or something you just wish you’d rewatched elsewhere years before, or you’re even looking for something new that you hope has already appeared on the service. .
You could manually search for that show on Netflix, sure. But if you use the JustWatch app (for both iOS Y AndroidWhat as well as desktop), you can not only search Netflix’s library, but also dozens of other streaming services, from Disney Plus through Amazon Prime Video to HBO Max and more. That way, if something isn’t available on Netflix, you’ll know exactly the other service where to find it, or alternatively the digital stores where you can rent or buy it. Select Samsung and LG TVs, and Amazon Fire TV devices, also have a JustWatch app, so you can browse from the comfort of your couch.
Use category codes for super specific searches
Ever notice how Netflix offers some pretty specific category recommendations? Like ‘Horror movies with a strong female lead’? Or ‘satanic stories’? Netflix’s library has a very deep category and file systems that drive it, but they don’t always show up right away, as the curation cherry picks what it thinks you want to watch.
You can drill down into these categories using a little search trick: each of these category combos has a unique numeric code, which can be explored by going to the URL https://netflix.com/browse/genre/xxxxxxx (replacing all those X with the corresponding number). To see a good selection of those codes, visit https://www.netflix-codes.com/ – or take a leap of faith and enter a random number and see what comes up.
Take Back Control of Playback: Netflix Playback Shortcuts
(Image: © Future)
While different TV apps and Netflix mobile apps have various control methods, if you watch a lot of Netflix on your computer, you can take advantage of a variety of playback control shortcuts in your browser to optimize your viewing and take full control over it. your streams Try these to get started:
- Right or left arrow key: A quick tap on these buttons will jump you forward or back 10 seconds, great if you just miss a line of dialogue.
- Hold down the right or left arrow key: As expected, holding down those buttons will skip 10 seconds in a row.
- Space bar or Enter: This toggles between pause and play.
- Up and down arrow key: Raise the roof or keep calm (Netflix and) by turning the volume up or down with these buttons.
- F-key: Pay your respects to this handy shortcut that jumps in or out of full-screen viewing modes with a tap.
- M key: Shhhh! The M key has the power to mute and unmute Netflix.
- S key: Skip those repetitive TV show intros with the S key.