Netflix said it has heard “loud and clear” that many subscribers are unhappy with the use of autoplay previews and is now offering a way to turn them off.
Netflix automatic previews have been part of the service for quite awhile now although they have proven to be an unpopular feature for many subscribers. Each time a user opens up the Netflix app or heads to the web browser version, a preview of each of the videos automatically starts to play as the user scrolls through the content selection. If a user had previously started watching an episode or movie, then instead of playing the trailer, the preview would resume the content from where the user had exited.
In an announcement on social media, Netflix explained that although some users found this feature helpful, it appreciates that others did not. As a result, the subscription service has now added the option to disable them permanently.
How to turn autoplay previews on or off
By default, autoplay previews are set to on although the process for turning them on or off is largely the same. Users can only enable or disable the feature through the web browser version of Netflix.
Here are the steps to turn autoplay previews off:
- Sign in to Netflix from a web browser.
- Select “Manage Profiles” from the menu.
- Select the profile you’d like to update.
- Check or uncheck the option to “autoplay previews while browsing on all devices.”
- Click “Save.”
- Repeat the steps for any additional profiles.
Along with the option to disable autoplay previews, the option to disable ‘autoplay next episodes in a series’ can also be activated by unchecking the box above the autoplay previews option.
For those that don’t see either of these changes taking immediate effect, Netflix advises to switch to an alternate profile and then return to the original one. The change of profile should accelerate the updating of the settings.
Once the change has been applied and taken effect, the user will no longer see any live playback when navigating the Netflix home screen. Instead, each title will be accompanied by a static image.
Now all Netflix needs to do is actually add the option to ‘play trailer’ on title pages – like it does for its own Netflix Originals.
Source: Netflix
