Netflix has quietly gutted the ability to cast shows from your phone to your TV, and users are furious.
The change rolled out in recent weeks with no announcement. People just started noticing the cast button had vanished from their Netflix mobile app. One Reddit user reported it disappeared on November 10 without warning.
Netflix updated its support page to say the service “no longer supports casting shows from a mobile device to most TVs and TV-streaming devices.” This means if your TV has a remote, you can’t cast to it anymore. You have to navigate Netflix using that remote instead.
The only devices that still work are the oldest Chromecasts, the dongles from before 2020 that didn’t come with remotes. Even then, there’s a catch. If you’re on Netflix’s cheaper ad-supported plan, casting won’t work at all. You need one of the pricier ad-free plans starting at $17.99 a month (or the KES 1,100 plan locally).
This means modern Chromecast with Google TV devices are out. That includes the Google TV Streamer and most smart TVs with Google TV built in. Essentially, if you bought any streaming hardware in the past few years, you’re locked out of a feature that used to work fine.
Netflix’s explanation is not exactly convincing. A company representative told WIRED they’re retiring the feature because not enough people used it. They want to invest in features that provide more value instead. Netflix wouldn’t say how many people actually used casting or what resources it consumed.
That reasoning isn’t landing well. One Reddit user explained how this doesn’t make sense for customer experience, saying, “The Netflix app on my smart TV is so laggy as to not be usable and I do not kid when I say removing the casting feature will just result in my not using of Netflix entirely.”
People used casting for legitimate reasons. Some found it easier to browse Netflix on their phones and then beam their selection to the TV. Others only had Netflix access through a friend’s account on their phone and couldn’t log into the TV app directly.
This isn’t Netflix’s first time killing convenient features. Back in 2019, they dropped AirPlay support, claiming they wanted to ensure quality standards for viewing.
It appears Netflix has shifted from maximizing user convenience to maximizing revenue through price hikes, password sharing crackdowns, and now access restrictions.
Netflix insists this change has nothing to do with stopping account sharing. A Netflix representative said usage was just extremely low, and there’s no connection to password mooching. They suggested affected users check if their TV supports adding an old Google Cast device.
That’s cold comfort considering Google itself has essentially discontinued Chromecast, and newer TVs come with Netflix already installed – precisely the devices that no longer support casting.
