Windows 11 is getting a new Netflix app – and you’ll wish you could keep the old one (spoiler alert: you can’t)
Windows 11 users, take note: there’s a new Netflix app for the operating system (as previously promised), but unfortunately it’s not a step forward for those who enjoy watching the streaming service on their PC.
Windows Latest I noticed that the revamped Netflix app is now available for download from the Microsoft Store, but it’s a downgrade in many ways.
For starters, instead of being an actual app, it’s now just a web wrapper – in other words, it just launches the Netflix.com site in a standalone Edge container. So you’re essentially running the website (in Edge) in what looks like an app window.
The second big blow that the new Windows 11 app brings is that Netflix no longer offers the option to download content. That option allowed you to watch your favorite shows later, when you were offline, but that’s no longer an option.
Analysis: All in the name of consistency, apparently
The ability to download was one of the Netflix app’s biggest selling points, and as you can imagine, that’s seen as a big loss. Not helping matters is that the app itself feels very bare-bones, and indeed, as Windows Latest points out, it’s sloppily put together. Right-clicking anywhere in the new Netflix app brings up a menu to open a link in a new Edge tab, so it’s painfully obvious that this is all running inside a web wrapper.
Netflix has previously said that the new app is designed for a “consistent, high-quality experience” and that the “new version will now include access to live events, compatibility with ad-supported subscriptions, and more.” So if consistency is the main goal, why remove the download and offline viewing feature that is present in Netflix’s mobile apps?
As you can probably guess, most of the feedback online has been pretty (consistently, ahem) negative. And if you were hoping to avoid the new app and just stick with the old Netflix client, complete with download functionality – well, eventually the old app will stop working. In other words, you’ll be forced to update soon enough.
All in all, this is a rather puzzling story, especially considering the seemingly sloppy implementation of the web wrapper, which looks rushed to say the least.