Netflix is one of the best solutions when it comes to providing a huge number of TV shows and movies on-demand, based on a monthly subscription. Many of you already have a Netflix account and you enjoy it every day, but how many of you really get the most out of your Netflix subscription? Because of this, we made the following article where we are presenting the best Netflix tips and tricks that can really improve your Netflix streaming experience.
Netflix tips and tricks
Netflix was established in 1997 being a little company which offered a subscription-based digital distribution service. With the years it grew a lot, being now on more than ten markets, such as USA (where are the most subscribers), UK, Nordic countries, Mexico and more. Now, users can enjoy it on their PC, Mac, PS3, Wii, Xbox, Mobile, Tablet and more, being used by over 36 million people that are enjoying one of the best streaming TV network services.
How to put the Netflix subscription on hold
If you are planning to go in an extended holiday or somewhere for more time and you want to keep your movie queue, Netflix has the feature that can help you. Users can actually put on hold their subscription for a period that can go up to 90 days without having to pay extra charges. The single criterion which has to be completed is to have all the physical DVDs already returned to the store before putting the account on hold. Doing this you will save some money by not paying the period of time when you don’t use the service. Note that users can also cancel their account and reactivate it when they want to use it again, having their movie queue saved. To do this, just go to “Your Account & Help” and under “Manage Account” select “Put membership on hold”. Select the number of days and that’s all, enjoy your holiday.
Set up Parental Controls
If you have in your family small children and one of them is using your Netflix service, it’s very important to be able to set up parental controls. Netflix has the option to set them by choosing between four maturity levels: little kids, older kids, teens and adults. Every category includes the according MPAA rating that is suitable for each age according with every country’s laws. The settings have to be changed from a computer and they will automatically sync with other devices you may use the service from. Browse to your “Your Account & Help” and search for “Change parental control setting” which can be found under “Preferences”.
Use a remote control
It’s so hard to change the volume or to rewind the “tape” to see something that caught your attention, that’s why a remote control that does all the work could be very handy in this situation. Unfortunately, Netflix doesn’t have its personal player and runs into the web browser unlike traditional playback applications that have their own. The good thing is that somebody thought about this and created a way to allow users control their playback options when watching Netflix. In order to do this you need a program that is called Girder while for more information on how to operate the software can be found here.
Manage your queue remotely
If you are constantly struggling to remind names of good movies which your friends recommended you, it’s time to write them down. So what’s better than an application that can add them directly to your Netflix account? Thanks to the existence of the official application for mobile phones and the flexibility of their operating systems, developers created applications that can help users doing this. You can try PhoneFlicks – Netflix Queue Manager for iOS devices and Queue Man for the Android ones.
Use keyboard shortcuts for controlling Netflix
Netflix uses the Silverlight extension to run all of its movies, a plugin which has a series of keyboard shortcuts. Besides the classic customizing options, users can also find settings for improving their streaming experience. These are some of the shortcuts:
Space – Toggle Play/Pause Enter – Toggle Play/Pause Page Up – Play Page Down – Pause F – Full-screen Esc – Exit full-screen Shift+Left arrow – Rewind Shift+Right arrow – Fast Forward Up arrow – Volume Up Down arrow – Volume Down M – Mute toggle
Use the following ones only when you not watching movies in full screen mode:
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+M – Menu Ctrl+Shift+Alt+P – Player Info Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S – Stream bit rate and manual rate selection
Use Greasemonkey to sort your Netflix Queue
Greasemonkey is an application which permits users to change the way sites behave and look by fine tuning them with different scripts. Netflix users were never happier to hear about this, because using the Netflix Queue Sorter script, which was made by a fan, now they can automatically sort their queue based on advanced sorting options. Besides the options that can be found on Netflix, users can sort their TV shows and movies based on criteria like popularity, rating, year, genre, language and much more. This script can be installed only on browsers that are compatible with Greasemonkey. Fortunately, the most-known browsers are included in the list of compatible browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Opera and Safari.
Get US Netflix with your Netflix Canada subscription
Are you from Canada and you want to enjoy the hot offerings from the US version of Netflix?Even though Netflix was launched later in Canada, it doesn’t have so many new and interesting titles. That’s why, the next tip will be loved by all Canadian users which will finally be able to use their Canadian subscription account to log into the US Netflix. In order to do this, users have to download an application which offers VPN services, like Nord VPN (free or paid version) or ExpressVPN, set it up, log into the site and enjoy the diversity and awesomeness of the US Netflix offerings.
Start following Queue Noodle
The bad thing when using on-demand online instant streaming movies is that videos can and do expire. So, start following Queue Noodle on Twitter to know when the episodes from your favorite TV show or movie will expire. The Twitter account is based on a script and whenever a video is about to expire, the script automatically tweets alerts. Even more, the text contains the movie’s star ranking so that users can decide between two or more movies which one deserves the most to be watched. It represents the best way to be sure that you will not miss a movie because it already expired.
Use Instant Watcher
Are you searching for a title to watch, but you don’t know which video deserves your attention? Well, Instant Watcher comes into your help because it has all of the Netflix movies acquired and organized by genres. When you want to search for something new, just go to their site and choose the genre, sub-genre and other filtering options, such as rating, quality of the video, year of apparition and more. Also, every movie has its own description area along with the reviews written by Netflix users, rating and more information that is very good and nice organized. So, don’t hang in the balance more and bookmark this very useful website made for all Netflix users.
Use recommendations
The Netflix recommendations engine is constantly updating so that it offers the best and most accurate recommendations. Some years ago Netflix even offered $1 million to anybody who could improve their recommendations engine with %10, so they take this very seriously. When you make a rating for a movie, Netflix keeps in mind your choice and along with other user’s viewing habits that are similar to you, it makes the recommendations. Basically, more you rate, more chances you have for the accuracy of the recommendations. Also, you should take a look and refill you genre preferences from “Your Account & Help” and response the questions from here. Note that if Netflix recommends a movie that you for surely know that you will never watch, remember that you can always go to its page and click on the “Not Interested” button which will cut it off from the recommendation page.
Keep in touch with Netflix news
Are you really waiting for your favorite movie to appear, but you don’t know when it will be uploaded on Netfix? Go to HackingNetflix which is not a real hacking site, but it’s a place where users can find the new movies’ release dates, important information about the Netflix service and even some tips and tricks that are discovered. The site is up since 2003 and from then to now, it was the best place where Netflix users found the most important news about their favorite instant video service.
