Netflix updates iOS app with cellular data controls & more 3D Touch commands

AppleInsider

Netflix on Thursday released an important update to its iOS app, enabling more control over streaming on cellular networks, as well as extending the use of 3D Touch gestures.

Cellular data is on an "Automatic" setting by default, offering about 3 hours of streaming per gigabyte. There are also five manual options, including "Off," "Low," "Medium," "High," and "Unlimited." While the first and last are self-explanatory, the middle three offer 4 hours, 2 hours, or just 1 hour of video per gigabyte, the tradeoff being image quality.

Recently Netflix admitted to throttling video for AT&T and Verizon subscribers, specifically because the company wanted to prevent people from exceeding those carriers' data caps. In fact, the Automatic setting uses the same bitrate -- 600 kilobits per second -- that AT&T and Verizon Netflix watchers have been subject to.

The added 3D Touch commands consist of shortcuts from the app's home screen icon. The app previously offered only peek-and-pop gestures for previewing videos.

Other changes include unspecified "VoiceOver navigation improvements," along with bug fixes, including one solving a problem with the app not recognizing an active internet connection.

The Netflix iOS app is a free download for any iOS 8 device, but plans cost between $7.99 and $11.99 per month.

irnchriz

Still no multitask mode, or video pip or video over mode, whatever it's called.

[Deleted User]

How about offline viewing like Amazon video? Not everybody has unlimited data plans or LTE/3G or even wifi coverage...!!!

seouleats

Yeah the app is kinda silly. Why can't they do multi view and PIP? The company is a bit behind the times. 

rigormortis

they don't want to do picture in picture for the same reason as sling . it will cause your usage to go up even more. this is what Major League Baseball found out when they enabled it. thats what i think

rcfa

Netflix has been nothing but a nuisance lately.
We have a multihomed internet setup, and all it does is complain about proxies and VPN.
They have gone utterly bonkers with their attempts at enforcing region based licensing to the point where every movie I watch gets interrupted at least half a dozen times by bogus error messages.
Their catalog gets worse and worse, too: ever less cinema and ever more recycled TV shit.
If things don't improve soon, they can consider me an ex-subscriber...

rigormortis

the way i figure it out. regardless if you are on t-moble and have binge on enabled or disabled, make sure you set it to unlimited mode, so netflix won't stream to you in 600 kbps, which is what AT&T and Verizon was getting

rigormortis

rcfa said:

Netflix has been nothing but a nuisance lately.
We have a multihomed internet setup, and all it does is complain about proxies and VPN.
They have gone utterly bonkers with their attempts at enforcing region based licensing to the point where every movie I watch gets interrupted at least half a dozen times by bogus error messages.
Their catalog gets worse and worse, too: ever less cinema and ever more recycled TV shit.
If things don't improve soon, they can consider me an ex-subscriber...

sounds to me your bent out of shape because you are breaking the rules and you want them to leave you alone. I've been a netflix subscriber since forever, and i am allowed 4 simultaneous streams and since we don't cheat and use a vpn to watch out of area content , i don't get any error messages at all!! what your saying is like ' I'm stealing dish network so i can watch radio shack television and wrestling shows from armadillo texas and if they don't stop sending my box ECM's I'm going to cancel my subscription ". your trivial foo foo minor error messages fail in comparison to a ECM sent from Dish Network or Direct TV

frankbillson

I think these are the most important measures taken by Netflix to help the users of IOS app.