One of the main reasons Netflix is so popular is because of its simplicity. It’s painfully easy to queue up a movie on your laptop, video game console, or mobile device and start watching in mere seconds. But that simply means there are a lot of features to Netflix that the average customer may not be using.
Here, we’ve rounded up some useful tips to help you get the most out of Netflix:
1. Put an end to buffering
Buffering time is the scourge of bingers everywhere. How can one be expected to navigate Mad Men’s dark themes and dramatic buildups, if the horrors of excessive loading snarl the climax?
There are some workarounds here, but they only work for watching on a computer: while playing a title, hold down Shift+Opt (Shift+Alt for Windows) and left click to open up a “hidden” menu (called the Stream Manager) with buffering fixes and other streaming options. If you are using Chrome, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt/Opt+S to access this menu. If you’re streaming on Wii, Xbox 360, or PlayStation 3 use the directional pad click up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, up, up, up, up.
2. Use a blocker to access the shows of Netflix outside Pakistan
3. Watch at odd hours for better quality
4. Customize your subtitles
5. Use Netflix Party
Netflix Party allows for full-screen viewing, and anybody in the session can hit pause, play, or scrub through the timeline. The stream adjusts seamlessly.
The biggest downside to Netflix Party is that if you want to watch a few episodes of something or another movie, you’ll have to create a new session every time. Even if Netflix autoplay to the next episode, it will kick everyone out of the course, and you’ll have to send out a new link to everyone.