Netflix beat the estimates and reported an addition of 2.41 million net global subscribers in the third quarter.
Want to remove your ex from using your Netflix account? Or a friend who keeps freeloading? Well, Netflix’s new announcement could help.
The American streaming platform has announced the launch of a new feature that will remotely log out of the devices that the owners do not recognize or no longer want signed in. The new ‘Manage Access and Devices’ feature comes amid Netflix’s efforts to deal with the subscriber growth problem.
“We’re launching Managing Access and Devices, a new feature in Account Settings that allows you to easily view recent devices that have streamed from your account and to log out of specific devices with just one click,” Netflix wrote in a blog, adding that the “much-requested feature” is available to all members across the globe on the web, iOS, and Android.
Users can go to account settings and find the ‘Manage Access and Devices’ option. Here, they will be able to see the most recent active devices on their account, their last watch, the type and location of the device as well as its IP address. Users can then sign out of the unwanted device after which Netflix suggest they change their passwords for additional security.
The new feature seems to be useful only if the account password is kept secret and not widely known. For example, the owner logged in to their Netflix account during a stay at a hotel or a friend’s house but forgot to log out. Furthermore, this feature could be useful to subscribers with cheaper ad-supported plans that only allow streaming on one supported device at a time.
It is safe to say that Netflix’s crackdown on password sharing is fetching results as the streamer has managed in the latest quarter to reverse its first reported loss of subscribers in over a decade in January-March. The company beat the estimates and reported addition of 2.41 million net global subscribers in the third quarter, the majority of which came from the Asia-Pacific region. The streamer also teased a cheaper ad-supported plan that was launched in 12 countries, excluding India, in November.
Previously, while announcing the first quarter results, the company unveiled its plans to monetize extra members and began testing a feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. Members on the standard and premium plans in these three countries were allowed to add sub-accounts for up to two people outside their household and were charged an extra fee. This feature is expected to launch in other countries likely by next year.
