If you are eagerly waiting for the low-cost ad-supported Netflix subscription plan to arrive, you should keep this in mind, you can’t download content for offline viewing. Well, it is one of the major differentiating factors between ad-supported and usual subscription plans on Netflix.
Netflix’ Ad-supported plan will restrict downloads
According to a Bloomberg report, Steve Moser got his hands on the Netflix app codes on iPhones where he found out that ‘downloads’ is not supported on the ad-based plan.
To explain it further, the usual mobile, SD, HD and HDR plans on Netflix allow offline viewing. Users are required to simply download the content they want to watch later and voila, it is available even when there’s no network around. On the contrary, the ad-supported plan won’t have this feature and thus, users will have to be online in order to stream content available with commercial breaks in-between. As it goes without saying, these ads can’t be skipped (similar to YouTube unskippable ads). Users will not have any controls on-screen when the ads are playing which is how Netflix will eventually generate revenue.
Apart from that, the ad-supported plan won’t have access to the entire library of content available in that particular region. This is another differentiating factor between the two categories of plans that Netflix offers. It is rather being rolled out as a starter for new Netflix users who can checkip how amazing Netflix is without paying much before they eventually decide to convert their accounts into paid ones that won’t just remove the ads but unlock any and all hidden titles in the library available in the region in question.
Netflix India currently has four major plans – Mobile, Basic, Standard, and Premium at 149/-, 199/-, 499/-, and 649/- respectively. In the U.S., Netflix offers three tiers i.e. SD at $9.99, HD at $14.99 and UHD at $19.99. The new ad-supported plan will go at the very start allowing users to pay almost nothing and try Netflix before upgrading.
The streaming giant has partnered with Microsoft who will act as its ads and sales partner thereby managing all the infrastructure required to support the ad-based plan on Netflix which is due to arrive in early 2023. It could probably help Netflix gain traction after its rivals have started hurtling through the chaos to becoming bigger than ever such as Amazon Prime Video among others.
