You spend a lot of time on Netflix. We’re not judging you… because we do too.
Netflix has changed the game. By offering thousands of TV and movie titles for such a small monthly fee, not only has the company raised the bar for their competitors, including movie theaters and TV companies, but they are also single-handedly to blame for a significant decrease in productivity across America.
Between regularly refreshing what titles are available and starting a whole range of successful orginial series, from Wet Hot American Summer First Day of Camp to Orange is the New Black, there are so many reasons to love Netflix.
However…They, like anyone or anything in this word, is not without faults.
There are some downsides to Netflix that are worthy of complaint. (First world problems, I know.) Fortunately, we bring you a few simple hacks that can make what is an already good excuse to stay in bed all day, an even better one.
Problem: Indecision.
I know I can’t be the only one who spends way too long scrolling through the endless options, only to look at the clock and realize that, within the two hours that have passed, I’ve watched the total first 3 minutes of 7 different movies, and have seen a total of 0 of them through to the end. Sometimes too many options is debilitating! How do you choose?!
Introducing Netfix Roulette, which allows you to choose an actor, genre or other factor, then decides your viewing fate for you. Just go with it.
Problem: Constant buffering.
Once you finally do select a show, it’s hard to get into it if you have to hit “pause” and wait for it to load or finish buffering every few minutes. This trick from LifeHacker.com might help:
While streaming a video, you can access a hidden menu by pressing Shift+Alt+Left Click (Shift+Option+Click on a Mac). Under “Stream Manager” you can manually adjust the bandwidth usage. If you’re having trouble with constant buffering, you can adjust it.
Problem: Unreliable ratings.
Have you ever had a friend recommend a title to you, only for you to add it to your queue and notice it only had one or two stars? Who do you trust? Oh, the predicament. If you are a fan of sites like IMDb or Rotten Tomatoes, and think they are a more reliable and accurate gauge of whether or not you’ll like a particular movie, then you can now have those incorporated into your Netflix account. With this Netflix Enhancer Extension, you can see the ratings with just a hover of the mouse.
Sure, it may not be a huge hassle in your day to just open a new browser tab and look up the site yourself, but why make your life any harder than it already is, ya know?
