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Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

help.netflix.com

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Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#161

Post by ljm »

slg wrote: post #158
philipkglass wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Netflix Prize competition launched in 2006, before they had started streaming anything. The problem was to recommend a huge DVD-by-mail catalog to millions of users. By the time the competition finished in 2009, streaming was already growing rapidly. Nowadays their DVD business is a small footnote to their streaming business. The streaming catalog is much smaller than the DVD catalog and the consequences for star…

You are certainly right about Netflix's catalog decreasing, but that doesn't explain why Netflix's recommendations have been downgraded over time. I am reminded of the show Tuca & Bertie. It was a new Netflix original from the same people who created BoJack Horseman. You would think it would be obvious to surface the new show to anyone who watched the old show. Except that never happened. The show's creator even comm…

Netflix’s recommended content has become so terrible outside things I want like Better Call Saul or Mindhunter, that I’ve cancelled the sub. Most of what they push to the top is straight garbage. Really badly written stuff.

Meanwhile I can pay the same for amazon and get more Picard, Mr Robot, The Expanse... and if the TV sucks there are plenty of movies on rotation.

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#162

Post by heleninboodler »

underbluewaters wrote: post #20

It's amazing it took this long. I can understand how some people might be okay with this feature but it causes me actual anxiety to use the Netflix app on my AppleTV. Before autoplay I could mindlessly browse looking for content. Now I hurry through to check if there is anything new and get out as fast as possible. They must know that people use the app less since this change... right?

Yes, agree on the anxiety. My girlfriend makes fun of me because I'll be browsing and while talking to her I habitually move the focus left-right-left-right just to prevent the annoying video from playing. She hates it too. Does anyone like this feature?

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#163

Post by m463 »

_bxg1 wrote: post #59
underbluewaters wrote: post #20

It's amazing it took this long. I can understand how some people might be okay with this feature but it causes me actual anxiety to use the Netflix app on my AppleTV. Before autoplay I could mindlessly browse looking for content. Now I hurry through to check if there is anything new and get out as fast as possible. They must know that people use the app less since this change... right?

I believe I read somewhere that it did result in an overall increase in viewership. There's no way they don't have those metrics. My guess is that for some majority of users who weren't super bothered by it it genuinely caused them to watch more things. Even though a vocal minority was extremely upset about it, the numbers still worked out overall. Of course adding a preference is easy, and people who aren't upset wo…

I can't imagine but think "viewership of folks who left the app open"

In other words, could you separate out:

- folks who naturally came to a stopping point between shows.

- others who ragequit because of annoying previews?

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#164

Post by m463 »

herodotus wrote: post #9

Interesting. I phoned and complained about this as soon as Netflix started doing it - I think it was about two years ago! What really got me (and I pointed this out to the cutomer service rep) was that the first preview that showed included several swear words. I thought that that argument alone would be enough, let alone how annoying it is to have a stupid light and sound show while I am browsing. So all I can say i…

I had the same complaint years ago. I believe they said "some people got this who were in special test groups" or some other nonsense.

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#165

Post by petee »

2bitencryption wrote: post #4

Didn't ever expect to see this capability. A bit unrelated, but: anyone remember in the "early" days when Netflix held competitions to develop the most accurate recommendation and ratings engines? Giving out million dollar prizes? And held possibly state-of-the-art tech for this? And then one day completely gutted the star rating system, replacing it with a much-despised "thumbs up/down" system, giving up their "so g…

Their catalog has shrunk so much there is no need for a recommendation system; their classics category only has 42 movies in it.

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#166

Post by matheusmoreira »

elamje wrote: post #101
2bitencryption wrote: post #4

Didn't ever expect to see this capability. A bit unrelated, but: anyone remember in the "early" days when Netflix held competitions to develop the most accurate recommendation and ratings engines? Giving out million dollar prizes? And held possibly state-of-the-art tech for this? And then one day completely gutted the star rating system, replacing it with a much-despised "thumbs up/down" system, giving up their "so g…

A small detail many forget is that Netflix pays very different prices for different shows. I don’t know the exact negotiated rates, but basically you can envision a blockbuster is going to cost more per stream then a Netflix Original. Eventually Netflix was/is bound to game their own recommendations since it saves them costs. The only case I can see where this incentive doesn’t exist is for shows that Netflix pays a…

> A small detail many forget is that Netflix pays very different prices for different shows.

Yeah, it's extremely annoying. Netflix essentially mocks its customers by keeping the best works just out of their reach. Almost every time I search for a classic film, I find its sequels instead. The film I actually wanted to watch was apparently too good for Netflix's pay grade.

Netflix has Terminator 1 and 3 but not 2; the first Mad Max but none of the others; Spider-Man 1 and 3 but not 2; several Hannibal movies and a TV series but not Silence of the Lambs; some Star Wars movies but not others; the list goes on...

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#167

Post by beepboopbeep »

2bitencryption wrote: post #4

Didn't ever expect to see this capability. A bit unrelated, but: anyone remember in the "early" days when Netflix held competitions to develop the most accurate recommendation and ratings engines? Giving out million dollar prizes? And held possibly state-of-the-art tech for this? And then one day completely gutted the star rating system, replacing it with a much-despised "thumbs up/down" system, giving up their "so g…

Star systems are largely trash anyways. What is 2 stars vs 3 or 4? but we know 1 Is bad, and that 5 is great.

If anything a 3 star system is better, 1 - bad, 2 - neutral, 3 - good. Simple.

Often the 5 star system just devolves into 1, 4, or 5 anyways. Or in the case of averaged ratings like your ride share apps, you get stuck as a floating point. Suddenly 4.3 is significant vs 4.8. It's all silly.

I fully support the thumbs up or down. It's effectively a 3 star system anyways. 1 - Thumbs down, 2- neutral enough to not warrant a response, 3 - Thumbs up

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#168

Post by m463 »

rconti wrote: post #16
coreyp_1 wrote: post #7

The Autoplay is REALLY, REALLY, A-N-N-O-Y-I-N-G!!! Actually, I hate most of the current design (UI/UX). It's really streamlined when all you want to do is push "play", but everything else is, quite frankly, laborious.

I know this is going to make me sound old, but so much UI/UX is getting worse. I can't even tell which tile is highlighted on my appleTV because it's only about 5% larger than the adjacent ones. The only way you can tell is by the change as you cursor around, you can't tell at a glance (and this is on a 75" TV).

I wonder if the UI developer pool is changing, or the influence of marketing and other groups is screwing things up.

Good user interfaces use timeless concepts. This might imply that conservative folks make the best UIs, which might not be as sexy.

And a good browsing experience shouldn't be held hostage to "featured promotions" or worse, advertisements.

Maybe there's a market for nice experiences.

I think of costco vs other stores -- at costco, you go get your stuff, pay for it and get out. At other stores there are featured products and advertising influencing the store layout and cluttering the checkout line.

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#169

Post by syshum »

syshum wrote: post #8

FINALLY I honestly stopped watching most netflix due to this feature. I would go there to watch something specific but I would not browse around because of that annoying auto-play crap

BOOOOOO it seems the setting has no impact on the Roku App

I am still getting AutoPlay on Roku

Re: Turning Off Autoplaying Previews

#170

Post by js2 »

aidos wrote: post #105

I was excited then for a second but I don’t think this means what I think it does. Does this mean it’s possible to disable the auto play on trailers for something unrelated when you finish a series? I literally finished Bojack Horseman after years of watching 30 minutes ago. End it’s left hanging there in a poignant moment but I have to jump up to stop the trailer for god knows what, and the a minute later I have to…

I actually hate that "feature" even more than autoplay. It's completely disrespectful to both the viewer and to the content that you're watching.

This option is to turn off autoplay when browsing. It would be great if it also disabled the auto play on trailers at the end of a show.

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