Ever logged into Netflix and been super keen to continue bingeing your favourite series, only to realise someone else had been watching it too so now you have no idea where you’re up to?
Well, it’s a good day for you because Netflix has this week announced an update that makes it that much easier to boot others off your account. The small but significant change is a feature called ‘Managing Access and Devices’, available in your account settings on the platform.
Launched November 15, it’ll let you see all the devices that currently have access to your account — and let you log them out with one click.
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“With the busy holiday season just around the corner, many of our members will be on the move and watching Netflix wherever they are travelling to see family and friends,” Netflix wrote in a blog post. “Logging in to your account while at a hotel or even your friend’s house is easy and intuitive, but occasionally people forget to log out.”
The streaming service says the feature was much-requested and that it’ll help members manage their account security.
Netflix did already have a feature called ‘Sign out of all devices’, which would let you boot anyone logged in out, but with the new ‘Manage and access devices’, you’ll be able to see exactly who is currently signed into it before you do. You’ll also be able to boot people off your account individually, rather than signing everyone out.
The feature is part of Netflix’s scramble to bring its profits back up. Within the first quarter of 2022, Netflix saw 200,000 people leave the service, which resulted in the company’s value plummeting.
They launched an ad-supported tier on November 4, with Australia as one of the first markets for the new product. Called ‘Basic with Ads’, it’ll set you back $6.99 a month, a four-dollar drop from their current Basic plan, which is $10.99 a month.
A Netflix statement said the ad-supported feature will feature “four to five minutes of ads per hour”, which “will play before and during shows and movies”.
Subscribers of the Basic with Ads tier will also not be able to download content to stream while offline, and “a limited number of movies and TV shows won’t be available due to licensing restrictions”, something Netflix assures everyone they’re “working on”.
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