Netflix button
The Netflix button is a button available on many modern remote controllers, used to directly connect to the popular streaming service Netflix. It was initially implemented in America in 2011.[1] In 2015, the button was added to European remotes.[2] This button sends a Netflix hotkey command to the television or streaming player and opens up the Netflix app.
Adoption
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Many popular TV companies have adopted the Netflix button, including: LG, Samsung, Sony, and Hisense. Some of the TVs have made it to a list that Netflix has dubbed the "Netflix Recommended TVs". These are TVs that have a Netflix button on them which Netflix recommends to their subscribers to get the best viewing experience for their service.[3] Some low-end laptop computers in emerging markets also ship with streaming buttons (or rather keys), typically including Netflix.[4] Brazilian OEM Positivo has been including Netflix keys on their laptops since 2018.[5]
Mechanism
[edit | edit source]The Netflix button only works on those TVs that support it, this includes: "Smart TVs, game consoles, streaming media players, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players".[6] Although hard-programmed on many devices, the Netflix button as of recent has been opening up to re-purposing. On the NVIDIA Shield, the remote has a Netflix button that can be intercepted and remapped using a third-party app.[7] But the resultant user experience is not as smooth as the native functionality.
Netflix, in 2015, had also open-sourced a design for consumers to create their own Netflix button with additional features.[8] Labeled "The Switch", this homemade device can dim the lights, silence incoming phone calls, order take-out, and open Netflix with one button press. The Switch is part of a series of DIY projects Netflix created, knows as "Netflix Make It" for their consumers to learn more about programming and create their own projects.
Criticism
[edit | edit source]The introduction of the Netflix button was criticized; an article from "The Verge" says that the button comes as a constant advertisement on a device you had already paid up to thousands of dollars for. Arguing that the buttons are "putting making money ahead of actual user experience or design".[9] Initially, concerns had been raised about whether the button violates the principle of net neutrality, by putting its streaming competitors in disadvantage.[10] A common complaint is that someone who is not a Netflix subscriber who accidentally presses the Netflix button is taken to a useless screen.
A popular option for streaming services, Roku, has 4 separate streaming buttons on their remotes. Each of these buttons cost the streaming service one dollar per unit sold.[11] The Roku has many different buttons for the consumer to choose, but most of the remotes feature a Netflix button on them.
By the early 2020s other streaming services and media, such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Samsung TV Plus, Spotify, Crunchyroll, YouTube, and Disney+, also had got their own buttons.[12]
References
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