Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Netflix's Limited Free Access Works on Mac and iPad, but Not iPhone

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,836
39,777


Netflix is offering limited free access to a variety of original programming, reports OnlyTech. iOS appears to be inexplicably excluded from the limited free access, which is available on Android and in-browser.

IMG_35FF71DF225C-1.jpeg


The limited free access includes admission to "Stranger Things," "Murder Mystery," "Élite," "Boss Baby: Back in Business," "Bird Box," "When They See Us," "Love Is Blind," "The Two Popes," "Our Planet," and "Grace and Frankie."

The feature allows users to watch a movie or the first episode of a series for free, after which they will be prompted to subscribe for continued access. One 30-second skippable ad for Netflix is played before every title. The feature is available worldwide, no account or sign-up is needed, and the available content will reportedly change on a regular basis.

A Netflix help page spotted by Gadgets360 reveals that only browsers on computers, tablets, and Android devices are supported. iOS devices are unable to use the limited free access.

netflix-not-supported-iphone.jpg


The help page does not explain why iOS blocked from access. Given that the free access is available on macOS and iPadOS in-browser, it is unclear why Netflix has excluded iOS.

Amid an increasingly competitive video streaming market, free access to selected Netflix programming hopes to attract more subscribers to the platform. Last week it was reported that Apple is planning to extend the free trial of Apple TV+ in an effort to lure in more subscribers.

Article Link: Netflix's Limited Free Access Works on Mac and iPad, but Not iPhone
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/08/31/netflix-free-access-unsupported-on-iphone/
I guess the costs of a walled garden are starting to show. Who needs the fastest processor when you can stream AAA games to your android with xbox game pass? And why not go android when it comes with free netflix? More evidence suggesting that apple doesn’t have a monopoly or monopoly level control, but also stronger indication that industry is getting fed up with apple’s strict rules
 
  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: farkingdom, Groking, PickUrPoison and 4 others
Duh, it‘s pretty obvious why they don‘t do it on iOS - nothing „unclear“ about it. There’s no in-app subscription to netflix on iOS, because they don’t want to pay the 15-30% to apple (which makes absolutely sense, it‘s quite a steep cut if applied every month - especially when compared to a „pay once“ app that get‘s the same service from apple for a fraction of the price). so that free promo with the „buy now“-link won‘t work in the app store.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: whitedragon101, ignatius345, mw360 and 2 others
Jakewilk said:
I guess the costs of a walled garden are starting to show. Who needs the fastest processor when you can stream AAA games to your android with xbox game pass? And why not go android when it comes with free netflix? More evidence suggesting that apple doesn’t have a monopoly or monopoly level control, but also stronger indication that industry is getting fed up with apple’s strict rules
Click to expand...
We should thank Netflix as this will play out very well into the trial as showing Apple is not a monopoly and Netflix has a monopoly on the content they are allowed to distribute.

It's not a crime to not like the policies of Apple (google, facebook etc)
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: magicMac, true god, dguisinger and 3 others
I7guy said:
We should thank Netflix as this will play out very well into the trial as showing Apple is not a monopoly and Netflix has a monopoly on the content they are allowed to distribute.

It's not a crime to not like the policies of Apple (google, facebook etc)
Click to expand...
Netflix is available on every smart TV, PlayStation, Xbox etc. so there is no Walled Garden for them to climb.
 
You can request desktop site or change user agent. Though it seems the video has a technical issue on the iPhone Safari. Perhaps enabled a experimental feature will get it going.
 
ViDeOmAnCiNi said:
Is iOS excluded because they cannot link to external site for the subscription cost? I'm sure NF does not want to take that 15-30% hit from Apple app store...
Click to expand...
This is in the browser. It has nothing to do with App Store rules.

Netflix simply didn’t bother to make this work with the iphone browser. Hell, it might just work if you “request desktop site” from an iphone.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BigMcGuire
I7guy said:
We should thank Netflix as this will play out very well into the trial as showing Apple is not a monopoly and Netflix has a monopoly on the content they are allowed to distribute.
Click to expand...

You don't think Apple has a monopoly on their store which it uses to distribute apps for iOS (is there another store I can get apps for iOS from?), but you believe Netflix has a monopoly on the content they distribute? 🤣

You do know that you can buy Netflix shows and movies on disc, right? Netflix produced movies are sometimes shown in movie theaters too. So there's more than 1 way to watch Netflix produced content than through Netflix directly. You can't say the same about iOS apps.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CarpalMac, freedomlinux, dguisinger and 1 other person
sw1tcher said:
You don't think Apple has a monopoly on their store which it uses to distribute apps for iOS (is there another store I can get apps for iOS from?), but you believe Netflix has a monopoly on the content they distribute? 🤣

You do know that you can buy Netflix shows and movies on disc, right? Netflix produced movies are sometimes shown in movie theaters too. So there's more than 1 way to watch Netflix produced content than through Netflix directly. You can't say the same about iOS apps.
Click to expand...
Along the same lines, one can only get content from Netflix that they allow one to get.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: true god, CarpalMac and dguisinger
Stella said:
Does that make watching content on a small screen better than a larger screen? No. Your example is situational.
Click to expand...

The content does not change between a bigger screen than a smaller one. iPhones have lovely crisp OLED screens with good contrast and deeper blacks than a iPad or most televisions. There is no clear and definitive one is better than the other, nor should there be. No TV show or movie gets magically better on a bigger screen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5105973 and compwiz1202
cmaier said:
This is in the browser. It has nothing to do with App Store rules.

Netflix simply didn’t bother to make this work with the iphone browser. Hell, it might just work if you “request desktop site” from an iphone.
Click to expand...
I am curious if request desktop site works. Second thought, if you are a subscriber of netflix can you log in on the mobile site and still watch or is that not possible? If you can do that then Netflix blocking iOS users is completely deliberate and also I think I am on Netflix side completely if so because they are not violating any app store policy with this.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back