Watching Netflix on a TV Box

★★★

[Movies, TV Shows, Originals]

Netflix is probably the most popular subscription-based (paid) video streaming service. It offers a library of movies and TV shows, including those originals produced by Netflix in-house. Subscription plans start at $9.99 per month.

Netflix does not officially support common TV boxes. But there is a workaround to make it work, with some restrictions.

Pros

• Very popular video streaming service, with lots of great shows.
• Commercial grade service, very reliable and smooth.
• Can download a stream to a local file for offline viewing.
• Has quality subtitles.
• Can rewind/fast-forward using the arrow buttons on the remote control.
• Has an automatic viewing history in addition to My List (like favorites).
• Can resume playing from where you left off last time.

Cons

• Paid subscription.
• Only limited to movies and shows produced by or licensed to Netflix.
• Can only play 480p standard resolution on common unlicensed TV boxes.
• On common unlicensed TV boxes, the only working app is for mobile devices and requires a mouse.

Details

App Workaround

Netflix officially only supports devices they license for a fee. The licensed devices include major brands of smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs, and only a handful of high-end media streamers. That leaves most TV boxes unlicensed and unsupported. However, there is a workaround to get Netflix working on a common TV box by using an old version of the app.

Resolution Restriction

Netflix also imposes digital rights restrictions (DRM). As a result, the common unlicensed TV boxes can only stream content from Netflix at the standard 480p resolution (the resolution for a Basic account). Even if you have subscribed to an HD account (Standard HD or Premium Ultra HD), you will still not be able to play any HD streams on unlicensed TV boxes.

Downloads

Netflix lets you download video streams to your TV box for offline viewing. You can only play the downloaded video files within Netfilx and not using any other media player apps like MX Player or VLC.

Playback Features

Netflix has some nice features during playback:

• You can intuitively use the LEFT/RIGHT buttons on the remote control to rewind and fast-forward.
• It can resume playing from where you left off last time.
• It keeps an automatic viewing history. You can also manually add a video title to My List (like favorites).

Mouse-Oriented User Interface

Netflix has an app for Android TV but that app doesn’t work on common unlicensed TV boxes. The only working app for TV boxes is a mobile app primarily designed for touchscreen devices. And its user interface does not work with the TV box remote control. As a result, you will need to add a mouse or an air mouse remote control in order to use the app.

HOMETEQ has several voice air mouse remote controls that will work perfectly with the Netflix app:

Voice Search

Netflix supports voice search. The voice search button is part of the mouse-oriented user interface, so you will need to use the mouse to access it.

Subtitles

Netfilx supports subtitles natively as part of its streaming service. So the subtitles are nice and high quality.

Subscription, Not Ads

Netflix is a paid subscription. A subscriber can access the entire Netflix collection of video titles. And there is no ad.

Install & Setup

Netflix has two Android apps:

• com.netflix.mediaclient for mobile devices
• com.netflix.ninja for Android TV

But because Netflix doesn’t officially support common unlicensed TV boxes, Google Play Store will not show them to you if your TV box is unlicensed. The workaround is to sideload it from an APK file. However, not all Netflix APK versions will work. At the moment, the latest working version of Netflix for TV boxes is the mobile app com.netflix.mediaclient version 6.26.1, build 15 31696. You can download the APK from apkmirror.com.

If your TV box is from HOMETEQ, we already have the working Netflix version preinstalled. If you have an older TV box and you have trouble getting Netflix to work, you may consider upgrading to one of our latest TV box models. Our TX3 Smart TV boxes have high-quality and high-performance hardware, enhanced with a customized version of the SlimBOX firmware. They are very fast and reliable, and yet very competitively priced. The 4+32G model is only $65.

Useful Tips

• On a common unlicensed TV box, if the Netflix app prompts you to upgrade to the latest version from Google Play Store, do NOT do it. The latest version will display an error message and won’t work.