Unfortunately for regular travellers who want to play Netflix on hotel room screens, the streaming giant has just deleted the cast button from its app. — Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
LOS ANGELES: Travellers who arrive at a hotel or short-term rental ready to relax by turning on an episode of, say, the latest season of "Love Is Blind" can expect a few more steps than they're used to.
Netflix users recently noticed that the casting button is missing from the company's app when they try to play their favourite shows and movies on a television using a mobile device. The streaming giant is retiring the feature on devices that come with a remote, forcing users to sign in with their credentials directly on the television.
"Netflix no longer supports casting shows from a mobile device to most TVs and TV-streaming devices," Netflix said on its help page in December "You'll need to use the remote that came with your TV or TV-streaming device to navigate Netflix."
This means travellers will need to sign into a Netflix account to watch something on the platform in most hotels and many short-term rentals, regardless of their Netflix plan. However, they will be able to log in with single sign-on, which allows users to use a TV code to avoid typing their clunky passwords on the television.
The convenience of casting may have given peace of mind to travellers who didn't want to use their sign-in credentials directly on a hotel device for security reasons. On its help page, Netflix said hotels automatically sign users out at the end of their stay. Guests can also log into Netflix and remove devices from a hotel or short-term rental from their accounts.
The change has angered some customers. In a Reddit thread, one user said they filed a complaint, hoping the company would reverse the decision.
"I'm annoyed, as chromecasting is the main way that I watch streaming. It gives me all of the control to use my phone as a remote control and searching for stuff is so much easier. And I'm not sure WHY the change was made," techie1980 said.
There are reportedly a variety of reasons Netflix largely stopped supporting casting. It may improve the customer experience, since users have reported glitches with casting; logging in means all of Netflix's features are available to them. But it also removes potential loopholes around password sharing and keeping a Netflix account use to one household.
Casting is not going away entirely. The feature will still be available on devices that do not have a remote. Compatible devices include Chromecast 3rd Gen or older models without a physical remote, Google Nest Hub Smart Display, select cast-enabled Vizio TVs, and select cast-enabled Compal TVs, according to the help page. However, some Reddit users have said they still cannot cast on older models.
"I told them I did not have a remote for my gen 3 Chromecast. And they said that was too bad and I should go buy a different device," Reddit user Icy__Internet wrote.
Casting is not available on its ad-supported plan, according to the Netflix help page. – tca/dpa
