Netflix for Android officially introduces Smart Downloads.

Back in February, I blogged about Netflix testing 'Smart Downloads' after I noticed the feature pop up in the app on my OnePlus 5T. 4 months later, the feature is rolling out for everyone to use. As from now on, Netflix will delete episodes you've watched and then automatically download the next one for you. Of course, Smart Downloads works only when connected to Wi-Fi on your Android phone or tablet. Should you want to keep watched episodes, you can turn off Smart Downloads in the app settings. 



I've found Smart Download to be extremely useful and it's been turned on ever since Netflix pushed it to my device. If you do not see the feature yet, make sure you download the latest version of Netflix in Google Play Store.

Source: Netflix

Netflix introduces 30-seconds long vertical mobile previews on Android.

Who doesn't love trailers? Trailers are how producers get us excited and build momentum until the release of their movies. Trailers also help us, viewers, decide whether a movie or TV show is worth our time and money, and Netflix is capitalizing on that to get us to watch more series and movies.

In an update that is soon coming to Android, the streaming giant will add mobile previews to its app. The company says, "mobile previews present members with a fun, simple, and easy way to learn about all the content on Netflix - and find something great to watch even faster." The previews are 30 seconds long and are presented in a vertical format as opposed to the default landscape mode for viewing. 

"The previews are shown like a slideshow, so if you see something you like, you can tap the screen to advance to the next preview.", the company wrote in a blog post. Of course, Netflix will show the type of movies and shows based on your taste.

Again, this feature is not yet available on Android devices yet - although it made it to Apple devices already. Netflix did not say when the update will be available for Android, so make sure you check Google Play Store.

Is Netflix testing a new 'Smart Downloads' feature on Android?

'Smart Downloads' appears to be a new feature that showed up out of nowhere on my Android device. I'm currently watching season 2 of Van Helsing on the popular streaming platform and today, I went to check the status of the episodes I downloaded to watch offline when I saw a new feature on the 'My Downloads' page.

I check for app updates every day and Netflix is one of those apps that almost never publishes detailed change logs. The last time they did, according to my records, was in April of last year.  Anyway, there's a new feature on the 'My Downloads' page that will automatically delete watched episodes and download the next ones. Netflix will do that only when your device is connected to Wi-Fi. However, it is not clear how many episodes Netflix will download.

'Smart Downloads' is not enabled by default. To activate it, tap the hamburger menu at the top left corner of the app, then select 'My Downloads' and 'Smart Downloads' should be there at the top.  Use the toggle to enable it. 'Smart Downloads' can also be enabled in the app settings.

Since I only just noticed this feature, I cannot tell how well it works. I will update this post after I experiment with it. Also, 'Smart Downloads' doesn't seem to be available to everyone. My wife did not have it on her phone despite the fact that we use the same account. 'Smart Downloads' appeared about an hour later though. A friend and frequent Netflix user also confirmed not seeing 'Smart Downloads'. I'm running Netflix version 5.13.1 on my OnePlus 5T. The only difference on my wife's Samsung S7 Edge is the OS API. Mine is 26 while her phone has version 24. [Update] 'Smart Downloads' showed up on her phone about an hour later.

You can download Netflix in the Play Store for free and let me know if you see 'Smart Downloads' in the app. It appears to be a server-side update.

Google Photos now groups your pets photos alongside humans because they're family.

Hey pet owners! Google is rolling out an update for Google Photos that will let you easily search and group together photos of your beloved pets. These photos will now show alongside people photos in the app. You will no longer have you use search terms to filter out your pet photos as they will all now be grouped in one place.

Google is making it even more easier for you. Like with people photos, you will be able to label your pet photos by name “to more easily pull up their photos in the app, or create albums, movies or photo books using their pictures.” Additionally, the update will let you search by breed or by emoji.

Back in May, Google started rolling out a new feature that automatically made a movie out of your pet photos. Today’s update will allow users to create their own movies and use “six pet-inspired” songs available in the movie editor.

Google has started rolling out the update to most countries today. Show your pet even more love by downloading or upgrading Google Photos in Google Play Store.

Source: Google

Netflix replaces 5-stars ratings with thumbs to improve personalized suggestions.

In an update rolling out today, Netflix is retiring the familiar five-star rating system and replacing it with the much simpler thumbs-up and thumbs-down mechanism. In other words, you will either like or dislike a movie, with nothing in between. The five-star rating had the advantage of letting users moderately like something. However it was more of an indication of what customers in general liked or disliked, not really helpful to improve your personal experience. With the new thumbs rating mechanism, Netflix will use your ratings "to help you get better suggestions" and push those suggestions to your homepage within the app.

The new rating system will, according to Netflix, tell them "that you like something and want to see similar suggestions. A thumbs-down lets us know you aren't interested in watching that title and we should stop suggesting it to you." Furthermore, "using thumbs helps us learn more about your unique tastes so we can do a better job suggesting stories we think you'll love.", Netflix said in a blog post. The streaming company also claims they saw a 200% increase in ratings activity when testing thumbs rating.



I never rated anything in Netflix. Will the thumbs mechanism get me started? We'll see with time. 

You can download Netflix in Google Play Store.

Source: Netflix

Netflix for Android now lets users download movies to storage cards.

Not long ago, Netflix introduced a new feature in its app for Android allowing users to save movies to their phones internal storage for offline viewing, a move that proved to be very popular; but at the same time frustrating for those devices with limited storage and without microSD cards support.

Today, Netflix has published a new update to the Store that adds support for saving downloads to storage cards for offline viewing and saving precious space on our devices. iPhone users are out of luck because Apple devices do not have storage cards slot. 

Now, you won't be able to view the downloaded movies on another device. So forget about lending your storage cards to your friends to watch your movies.

Grab the update in Google Play Store and start saving your favorite movies/shows to your storage card.

IMDb for Android gets a new look in honor of Comic-Con.

With the Comic-Con only a few weeks away, IMDb for Android has been updated to look more à la page in honor of the popular event and added a new section dedicated to it. As a FYI, the Comic-Con is set to to begin on July 21 to July 24 in San Diego. 

While IMDb is celebrating the Comic-Con with its dedicated special section, not all new features related to the event are actually live in the app. Most of them, if not all, will become available mid-July, which is about a week away. Then, users will have access to the following:

• IMDb trending visualizes currently popular titles and stars.
• Fan IQ lets you test your knowledge and challenge your friends.
• Follow breaking Comic-Con news in our special Comic-Con section.

The update also includes the usual bug fixes and framework enhancements and is available in Google Play store for download.

Netflix on Android gets a new icon and that's it.

Old Icon

New Icon

What do you write about when the most popular movie streaming service updates its app on Android with just a new icon redesign? This is what Netflix did with its latest update. A new icon that changed from "Netflix" with a white background to a simple "N" with a black background. Add to that some bug fixes and you get a change log.

Grab the update in Google Play Store and enjoy the new shiny icon, courtesy of Netflix.

Netflix introduces cellular data controls in its Android app.

This year Netflix went global making thousands of movies and TV shows available to the world. The company did not sleep on its laurels and enjoy the incoming stream of cash, instead they analyzed how much people are streaming on their devices and "what kind of mobile data plans they have". I use a monthly 1GB data plan and never used it to watch Netflix, but according to them and their study, if I enable their new tool to control how much data I use when streaming, I should be able to stream "about 3 hours of TV shows and movies per gigabyte of data." Netflix says that "In terms of bitrates, that currently amounts to about 600 Kilobits per second. Our testing found that, on cellular networks, this setting balances good video quality with lower data usage to help avoid exceeding data caps and incurring overage fees. If you have a mobile data plan with a higher data cap, you can adjust this setting to stream at higher bitrates."

In order to take advantage of this new feature and set your cellular data usage, select "App settings" from the menu and choose "Cellular Data Usage". From there, you can select a higher or lower data usage. Remember, the default is automatic and, as stated above, will let you stream 3 hours of TV shows and movies. Something I'll definitely try as soon as possible.

Update Netflix for Android in Google Pay store.

IMDB for Android joins the dark side with a dark theme.

"Welcome to the dark side" is how IMDB introduces the new dark theme feature for its app for android, a feature they have obliged to after receiving requests from users. This update comes after the app received the Material design a few weeks ago and if you're wondering what's the use of a black theme besides probably helping saving some battery life, it also lets you use your phone while your partner is sleeping by your side without you causing him/her to jump to the dark side of the force and attack your device as the light them interferes with his/her sleep. Sorry about that, it's May the Fourth, so I had to come up with something.

Other than the black theme, the app received some UI bugs fixes "around color, spacing, and icons". Some changes have been mad under the hood to get the app ready for future enhancements.

Download the update in Google Play store.

IMDB for Android gets Material design aligment and bug fixes in latest update.

Boasting the biggest info database about movies, TV shows and celebrities, IMDB issued an update today for its Android app. No new features were added, but IMDB instead aligned itself more with Android’s material design with the addition of a bell icon in its notifications. Other than that, the app “sanded some rough edges” in their application of the material design. Some bugs were also squashed along the way, notably in the image galleries and another bug that caused videos to keep on playing after closing them.

These fixes should make the IMDB experience more pleasurably and let you enjoy trailers and gossips about your favorite celebrities. Head over to Google Play store to download the app or to update it.