Netflix now lets you control data usage while streaming on phones

Netflix has announced that it will now allow users to control how much data they use while streaming on cellular networks. The company says that this will give users more choice when it comes to managing their data usage depending on the type of plan that they have. This feature is available on the latest version of the Android and iOS app. To choose their data usage plan, users will have to select ‘App Settings’ from the menu and then select “Cellular Data Usage”. From there, users will be able to switch off the default setting and pick a higher or lower setting based on their plan. 

Netflix says that the default setting will allow users to stream about three hours of TV shows and movies for each gigabyte of data, which is about 600 Kilobits per second. The company says that during its testing, they found this setting to offer the best balance between good video quality and low data usage. The low setting offers about four hours of content for each gigabyte, while medium and high settings offer about two hours and one hour of content per gigabyte respectively. The company notes that these settings only affect data usage while on cellular networks. Streaming on Wi-Fi is not affected, and nor is streaming when tethered.

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Shrey Pacheco

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