My Mom lives on the West Coast while we live on the East. She's almost 70 and on a fixed income, so I pay for Netflix access for all of us and I'm happy to do so.
However, if they block her access I can't see any reason to keep my 4k plan. I can get anything we want on a Plex server and give her whatever she wants to watch that way.
I was already on the fence with the lack of content on Netflix, but this may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
I'm not you so I don't know your situation but the thought of having to manually download and share media whenever my mom calls me up sounds miserable. I'd rather just pay for her subscription.
I'm in a similar situation with my mother-in-law. I'd happily pay a bit more each month to support her Netflix account. If they block her, we may just cancel the subscription completely.
Thankfully I've already introduced them to Emby (similar to plex/jellyfin), and they are already familiar with the app that I installed on their Android tv box. They've been using it more than Netflix over the past few months, as the current show they are watching
Cancelling Netflix will be a very small disruption for us.
I'm angry about their offering. I'm fine with Netflix for me only, but I want the full quality.
If they force me to either pay for an entire family without being able to share it with my mom or to stream the content in subpar quality I will probably just go elsewhere.
Netflix is hiring roles for digital ads teams where they specifically mention wanting to push ads on the platform to subscribers.
Netflix got captured and is now in the process of killing its core user experiences paying customers enjoy. It's inevitable poor performance as a result of these unfriendly changes and the terrible content they create has enacted death by a thousand cuts we see for each one of the online platforms like Facebook.
I'm still waiting for Netflix to update their profile transfer tool to allow moving profiles to a new account. I was sharing an account and now also have my wife's account. I'd really like to be able to move my profile from the old account to my wife's account to avoid losing history, but the tool currently only allows moving to a completely new account.
I really think such a feature is necessary if Netflix really wants people to only share with those in the same household. People in a household change over time and their current model doesn't really facilitate that.
I'm not sure I care that they are trying to get people to stop sharing accounts. At large, that feels fine and I'm always curious the lengths people will go through to not pay a small subscription fee. Especially for things they actively use the heck out of. (Notably, I seem to only know of people that do this where both sides of the share watch a ton of television.)
I am not at all looking forward to it again thinking I'm sharing my account within the same household. Last time they were trying this, I had to setup the kids TVs, again. Was very annoying.
This is the thing, I pay for a family plan with 4 concurrent streams. I allow my mom and brother to use this account. They barely use it. But the service isn't worth $20 to me if they cut them off. I will just cancel it, and they wont pick it up either. If you sell me 4 concurrent streams, then I want to be able to use them regardless of physical location.
Because there are so many services just like Netflix, I cancel the ones I'm not using. Netflix is the only one I share with my in-laws, who watch a few episodes a week on it. But I also don't care to cancel it when they are using it. That's a human thing, not a money thing. Take that away, and I will happily cancel Netflix for at least half the year, and only have it active when a particularly compelling show comes along for binging. It is at least twice as expensive as the other services, so I'd prefer not to have it active 12 months out of the year.
Yes. Not to bothered about the account sharing but it’s looking like it may add a bunch of friction to use Netflix away from your primary residence/device.
If the friction becomes to much, Netflix looses its value and illegal downloads look more appealing again.
When current budgets are tight I can’t see how Netflix wins with this as likely will push away users as it’s a non essential service with declining content quality as they’ve gone for quantity not quality now and Netflix isn’t the only streaming provider in town now.
Sure. It's also fine for everyone they're betraying to cancel their subscriptions. I don't understand what your point is. Are you saying it isn't fine to be upset?
Netflix specifically promoted account sharing. Paying for multiple streams, "love is sharing your password," etc. And they made millions of dollars off that marketing during the pandemic lockdowns. Now they want to pull the rug out from under people. They deserve every bit of criticism they're getting.
If I have an apartment and I'm single, but the plan that best fits my needs has an allowance for streaming on two or four devices at once, then why should I not be able to share that extra device I'm never using but paying for?
As the person paying for a Netflix account used by my household, I don’t really care from a monetary standpoint.
However I don’t like technical barriers Netflix is erecting. Tracking IPs, Device-IDs and linking them to location info. I pay for the service and I’m not okay with these extensive measures.
Very curious to see how stringent they are going to be in enforcing this. This is going to disrupt a lot of multi-generational families who share an account but don't all live under the same roof.
What does "multi-generational" have to do with anything? My mom doesn't live under my roof, and also I have no business sharing my Netflix account with her.
I don't care. Netflix is free to run their business into the ground as they see fit. I've been thinking about cancelling anyway because their content just isn't worth the cost. This helps make the decision.
Coming soon to HN: announcement of massive layoffs at Netflix.
Yeah, same. Their plans included a number of active screens/supported devices a at a time. It seems pretty ridiculous to charge for the number of screens but then put restrictions on where those screens are.
Why’s that? FWIW, this isn’t something new, this household sharing rule/explanation has been posted for years, and Netflix has been enforcing it softly, not very strictly except for obvious and egregious offenders for a long time.
I'm ok with not allowing multi "household" sharing in principle, but I doubt this can be enforced without causing problems for even for single household users and seems like an odd way to handle this. Thinking about travel especially. Restricting the number of currently streaming devices makes way more sense to me and should support "add a screen" up charges. Rather than fighting the "sharing" use case - why not find a way to monetize it?
I can hardly wait to see how this plays out in my family.
2 adults, 2 kids, multiple devices (Phones/Tables/AppleTV/"Smart" TVs), multiple homes, one 4 stream subscription. On average i would say each user has about 3 devices capable of watching Netflix, and on any given day i would say 8-12 different IP addresses are in use, depending on commutes to/from school/work.
Add to that the summerhouse which also has AppleTV.
And while i don't mind them trying to limit password sharing, i will not spend my time defending myself over legitimate use, so the second this bothers me i'm hitting the unsubscribe button. I have enough "time robbers" to deal with, and i'm too old to deal with stuff that doesn't work by itself once setup. Keeping the internet/wifi running is work enough, i don't need the extra stress of signing in my kids devices every n days.
They already are restricting the number of devices and charge you for extra.
Im paying for the 4K plan in the UK which comes with up to 4 devices simultaneously.
We have Netflix installed on the TV, consoles, mine and my other half’s mobile devices and based on the T&C when I signed up it’s ok because it’s a single household.
However I don’t see how they’ll enforce no sharing whilst not breaking existing household account usage.
The add a screen up charge seems like such an obvious move. There's an up charge for 4k, so why not this? It just seems like an easy fix. Would it eliminate 100% of the problem being addressed, no, but it would go a long long way for PR moves.
Then again, it's easy to arm chair other people's decisions.
I have a decent television at my house. I don't need to watch Netflix on my laptop/tablet/phone at my "primary location". I only need to do that when I'm out and about.
There should be a clear exception for IPs belonging to hotels. Or if a lot of different accounts are all coming from the same IP. That should indicate a transient population and would likely mean that the account holder is the one trying to watch Netflix.
I fucking logged in. I pay for 4(?) screens at once. It's the same whether you're delivering 4 streams to one IP or 4 streams to 4 IPs.
Me and my friends watch netflix only on TV and subscribe to the 4K plan, one TV each. Now, if they make us buy our own plans, they should atleast make a single-device UltraHD tier.
Totally agree. I give out my password to friends because their current tiers (4k also means you get 4 screens) make it seem like I’m paying extra to be able to do so.
> Watch Netflix while traveling or from a different location?
> If you are traveling or live between different places, you can continue to enjoy Netflix.
> If you are away from your primary location for an extended period of time, your device may be blocked from watching Netflix. You can request a temporary access code to continue watching.
Vague answer. It's ok until it's not ok. How long is an "for an extended period of time"? A month? a couple of months?
How does this affect those with family plans through T-Mobile who get "Netflix on us"? It's Netflix at the account level, not individual line. Hopefully no change.
I used to think that every action these big corps do, has been calculated for months by a team of analytics professionals and even the most apparently nonsensical move has a calculated ROI. After seeing Meta burn money into their metaverse furnace and Netflix insisting on this, I'm starting to think that might not be the case.
Then again, Netflix has talked about shared accounts for so long that it only looks like China's final warning at this point.
I don't know why we are treating this article as news. Everyone in the comments seems to be wondering about how much they will enforce it in the coming days.
If I were Netflix, I’d first block simultaneous streaming in multiple locations.
So many comments below talk about giving parents/siblings access and they barely use it (I fall in this camp). If that’s true, you’ll almost never notice the restrictions.
But if it’s Friday night and your mom is watching Emily in Paris and you want to watch Seinfeld, you’ll decide to either watch something else, pay up for another account, or decide you don’t want to pay more for something you and your mom are both wanting (at the same time).
[+] [-] ZeroCool2u|3 years ago|reply
However, if they block her access I can't see any reason to keep my 4k plan. I can get anything we want on a Plex server and give her whatever she wants to watch that way.
I was already on the fence with the lack of content on Netflix, but this may just be the straw that breaks the camel's back.
[+] [-] dpkirchner|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dairyleia|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] beAbU|3 years ago|reply
Thankfully I've already introduced them to Emby (similar to plex/jellyfin), and they are already familiar with the app that I installed on their Android tv box. They've been using it more than Netflix over the past few months, as the current show they are watching
Cancelling Netflix will be a very small disruption for us.
[+] [-] joshspankit|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] m-p-3|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yreg|3 years ago|reply
If they force me to either pay for an entire family without being able to share it with my mom or to stream the content in subpar quality I will probably just go elsewhere.
[+] [-] revlolz|3 years ago|reply
Netflix got captured and is now in the process of killing its core user experiences paying customers enjoy. It's inevitable poor performance as a result of these unfriendly changes and the terrible content they create has enacted death by a thousand cuts we see for each one of the online platforms like Facebook.
[+] [-] michaelmior|3 years ago|reply
I really think such a feature is necessary if Netflix really wants people to only share with those in the same household. People in a household change over time and their current model doesn't really facilitate that.
[+] [-] taeric|3 years ago|reply
I am not at all looking forward to it again thinking I'm sharing my account within the same household. Last time they were trying this, I had to setup the kids TVs, again. Was very annoying.
[+] [-] nickthegreek|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] neogodless|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fbernier|3 years ago|reply
If someone has a secondary home like a chalet they go to from time to time, they'd have to pay for a second account?
[+] [-] BFLpL0QNek|3 years ago|reply
If the friction becomes to much, Netflix looses its value and illegal downloads look more appealing again.
When current budgets are tight I can’t see how Netflix wins with this as likely will push away users as it’s a non essential service with declining content quality as they’ve gone for quantity not quality now and Netflix isn’t the only streaming provider in town now.
[+] [-] torstenvl|3 years ago|reply
Sure. It's also fine for everyone they're betraying to cancel their subscriptions. I don't understand what your point is. Are you saying it isn't fine to be upset?
Netflix specifically promoted account sharing. Paying for multiple streams, "love is sharing your password," etc. And they made millions of dollars off that marketing during the pandemic lockdowns. Now they want to pull the rug out from under people. They deserve every bit of criticism they're getting.
[+] [-] spike021|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] V__|3 years ago|reply
Decreasing the value to their customers thrice is a bold strategy.. let's see how it plays out.
[+] [-] fredsters_s|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nfreising|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elektor|3 years ago|reply
Very curious to see how stringent they are going to be in enforcing this. This is going to disrupt a lot of multi-generational families who share an account but don't all live under the same roof.
[+] [-] das_keyboard|3 years ago|reply
I would have no problem with paying a little fee to allow a second primary location.
But I don't suspect my parents will go through the hassle to create and pay for a separate Netflix account.
Secondly, I don't know if I could justify paying for a Netflix account just for myself.
[+] [-] HDThoreaun|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tptacek|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gigabates|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] elashri|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] taylodl|3 years ago|reply
Coming soon to HN: announcement of massive layoffs at Netflix.
[+] [-] sourceless|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tedivm|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] masurus|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dahart|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lostphilosopher|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 8fingerlouie|3 years ago|reply
2 adults, 2 kids, multiple devices (Phones/Tables/AppleTV/"Smart" TVs), multiple homes, one 4 stream subscription. On average i would say each user has about 3 devices capable of watching Netflix, and on any given day i would say 8-12 different IP addresses are in use, depending on commutes to/from school/work.
Add to that the summerhouse which also has AppleTV.
And while i don't mind them trying to limit password sharing, i will not spend my time defending myself over legitimate use, so the second this bothers me i'm hitting the unsubscribe button. I have enough "time robbers" to deal with, and i'm too old to deal with stuff that doesn't work by itself once setup. Keeping the internet/wifi running is work enough, i don't need the extra stress of signing in my kids devices every n days.
[+] [-] dogma1138|3 years ago|reply
Im paying for the 4K plan in the UK which comes with up to 4 devices simultaneously.
We have Netflix installed on the TV, consoles, mine and my other half’s mobile devices and based on the T&C when I signed up it’s ok because it’s a single household.
However I don’t see how they’ll enforce no sharing whilst not breaking existing household account usage.
[+] [-] dylan604|3 years ago|reply
Then again, it's easy to arm chair other people's decisions.
[+] [-] bena|3 years ago|reply
There should be a clear exception for IPs belonging to hotels. Or if a lot of different accounts are all coming from the same IP. That should indicate a transient population and would likely mean that the account holder is the one trying to watch Netflix.
I fucking logged in. I pay for 4(?) screens at once. It's the same whether you're delivering 4 streams to one IP or 4 streams to 4 IPs.
[+] [-] vsskanth|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nicklevin|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] erickhill|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] flanbiscuit|3 years ago|reply
> If you are traveling or live between different places, you can continue to enjoy Netflix.
> If you are away from your primary location for an extended period of time, your device may be blocked from watching Netflix. You can request a temporary access code to continue watching.
Vague answer. It's ok until it's not ok. How long is an "for an extended period of time"? A month? a couple of months?
[+] [-] andsoitis|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _Algernon_|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ericmay|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gliiics|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] remram|3 years ago|reply
The truth is that the article has been up since at least March last year (http://web.archive.org/web/20220321152735/https://help.netfl...)
[+] [-] smugma|3 years ago|reply
So many comments below talk about giving parents/siblings access and they barely use it (I fall in this camp). If that’s true, you’ll almost never notice the restrictions.
But if it’s Friday night and your mom is watching Emily in Paris and you want to watch Seinfeld, you’ll decide to either watch something else, pay up for another account, or decide you don’t want to pay more for something you and your mom are both wanting (at the same time).
[+] [-] panda88888|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andyish|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hbn|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mc32|3 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ipython|3 years ago|reply