Netflix Autoplay Can Now Be Turned Off
Netflix finally will allow you turn off autoplay, preventing episodes from streaming themselves when you aren't looking.
You and your Netflix account have been in the situation a dozen times. You (and hopefully a few friends) have had your fill after binging four hours of Stranger Things straight. It turns out there are more important things out there than learning if Eleven is going to save Mike again from a CG monster: things like sleep, other people, fresh air and sunlight. But suddenly you realize the remote is missing and there is a menacing clock counting down on the TV. Ten, nine, eight… and boom before you found the clicker the next episode has started spoiling material you don’t want to watch until tomorrow.
Such is one of the many annoying features about Netflix’s autoplay. But rest assured, the days of Netflix happily binging for you, even after you’ve left the room or closed the internet app on your phone, are over! The streaming service revealed, strangely on Twitter of all places, that it has implemented a new feature that allows you to turn off both the autoplay between episodes and films, as well as the autoplay that screeches trailers and bite-sized commercials to you every time you dare fire up the Netflix application of your choice.
“Some people find this feature helpful,” wrote the monolithic tweet. “Others not so much. We’ve heard the feedback loud and clear—members can now control whether or not they see autoplay previews on Netflix.”
By going to this page on the Netflix help center site, subscribers can be walked through the major steps of changing “autoplay next episode in a series on all devices” and “autoplay previews while browsing on all devices.” An example is broken down below.
To turn autoplay on or 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 next episode in a series on all devices.
There you go, freedom at last will be yours. Sleep well knowing you decide when you see Eleven kick the Upside-Down monster’s ass one nose bleed at a time without having to tear up your couch in a panic.
David Crow is the Film Section Editor at Den of Geek. He’s also a member of both the Critics Choice Association and the Online Film Critics Society. Read more of his work here. You can follow him on Twitter @DCrowsNest.