A few days ago I was really bored and thought… Fck it, it can’t really be that bad and paid for a month, wouldn’t hurt to try…
Well that was a waste of money…
1st issue: Can’t stream over airplay.
A common thing i do because I’m a lazy piece of sh!t is I have a piece of software called “uxplay” which is a software airplay server that works way better than it has any right to. So what I do when I’m too lazy to get up from my couch is I connect my Mac with the uxplay server and just watch things that way. It’s a bog standard M3 MacBook air, nothing done to it, nothing…
So imagine my surprise when I tried to play Netflix while streaming over airplay and just saw a black screen… Yep, it just did not work… I couldn’t believe it at 1st but yep, apparently it’s a part of their DRM…
Issue 2: 4k is a lie…
Ok, I thought to myself, fine, I’ll watch it on my Mac directly… But the quality looked… Off. Sure enough, it was streaming at 1080p with a bit rate so low I could practically count the pixels… Ok, I thought to myself, I’ve heard of Netflix having issues on Linux (why I didn’t even try it on my PC) maybe I have something setup wrong… So I look at their docs and they state that safari should be able to play 4k full quality (yk, the thing I’m fucking paying for), I was trying to watch it on Arc (chromium based browser) so I thought, fair enough, I’m just gonna use safari… I log in do everything.
Still 1080p with an ass bit rate
Wtf
At this point I’m proper pissed off, I would have had less issues had I pirated the fcking show I wanted to watch at this point… But I gave it one last attempt, windows.
3rd issue: Windows… It’s by itself an issue
So, I have a stealth windows GPU passthrough virtual machine… The kind that most kernel level AC can’t detect. So I went “eh, if kernel level AC can’t detect it, surely Netflix won’t be able to”. And to it’s (the virtual machine’s credit) it was not detected… Problem is, 4k still didn’t fucking work. On Netflix’s own fcking website it states that edge should be able to play 4k no issue, so I relented and reinstalled edge to my debloated VM… Well that was a waste of time, the bit rate was a bit better but it was still 1080p… I tried extensions, changing flags, nope, Netflix just did not wanna stream at 4k… DESPITE ME FUCKING PAYING FOR IT… Ok, I thought, I have one last option, Netflix has an official windows app, except it’s only on the Microsoft store which just sat there for 5 minutes and then threw an error “unable to apply update” when trying to install the app…
Idk why people would ever pay for this shit, honestly. I didn’t expect anything and I was still disappointed. I didn’t expect it to work on Linux which is my daily driver but to be having issues on supposedly supported platforms, both Windows and Mac is completely unacceptable.
Afaik, their 4k plan is a straight up scam as I could not get it to stream at 4k, regardless of what I tried…
And I know it’s not my internet or my setup, I have gigabit internet ffs…
Sorry for the rant, I’m just really butthurt about having spent money on a service that doesn’t fcking work…
Have you tried an actual TV?
Have you experienced what passes for “an actual TV that plays Netflix” these days?
Miss me with that shit.
Always-online locked down ad-riddled spyware on cheapass unfixable planned obsolescence hardware.
I haven’t met anyone under the age of 40 that still uses a TV to watch stuff
Why use small screen when have big screen?
Then use small screen and big screen!
So, you are complaining that a TV streaming service, with primary focus on streaming onto smart TVs, don’t perform on devices which are not main devices it caters for?
Hey hey Felix! Back with your shit takes again, i see!
Another way of seeing it is they’re pissed about a service not working as advertised.
Examples for your reading comprehension impaired self:
So I look at their docs and they state that safari should be able to play 4k full quality (yk, the thing I’m fucking paying for)
On Netflix’s own fcking website it states that edge should be able to play 4k no issue
Obviously they’re the stupid ones for simply believing what the company stated. Next time they’ll know to ask you for your input first!
Big corps like Netflix only care about supporting the 90% of users to who operate in a bog-standard configuration. They really couldn’t care less about supporting things like reverse engineered AirPlay, debloated Windows, Linux running on a Mac, or anything else that’s not damn near configured exactly as it was when it was first removed from the box.
It is not worth the engineering investment to make it work. They would spend more money maintaining these features than they would earn from it.
You can have whatever opinions you want about that reality, but that’s just how it is. Blame capitalism.
“It’s just like that” isn’t good enough. Again, I’m paying more for 4k. There were no disclaimers that it only works on TVs or what I’d have to do to get it to work on my "unmodified* Mac… I expected to have issues on Linux but not being able to play 4k on my Mac is way too much for me…
Welp, guess the 7 seas are a more welcoming environment for rapscallions like me then. (I just wanna get what I’m paying for)
Go pirate. That’s what I do when shit doesn’t work.
I just don’t also fool myself into thinking they will ever change their ways so long as it’s profitable 🤷
I’m not saying you’re wrong. Nor am I telling you to accept the shitty quality stream as the best you can get. I’m just saying this is how the system is set up right now and it’s not a Netflix problem. It’s a capitalism problem.
kagis
It sounds like specifically 4k resolution requires a trusted hardware stack, and I assume that the things you’ve tried are going to result in untrusted components somewhere in the stack, as all of those would permit untrusted hardware to be able to grab the frames.
I doubt that Airplay provides a path under the control of trusted hardware.
EDIT: It sounds like some Macs should support 4k, at least playing directly:
https://www.pcmag.com/news/mac-users-can-finally-watch-netflix-in-4k-hdr
Say you want a ham sandwich. I’m going to sell you a ham sandwich. However the sandwich you get is missing the titular ham of said sandwich. There is still good bread and mayo and cheese. But did you buy a cheese sandwich? Would you complain?
This is the crux of OPs post. They’re not getting what they pay for.
Isn’t it more like buying a 4K texture pack dlc for a game and finding out your GTX 1070 can’t run it? The problem here seems to be getting max settings on unsupported hardware.
I think Netflix sucks and that OP should get a refund…but I also think Netflix provided what was paid for
No, the thing is, I never even mentioned Linux because I paid for Netflix, knowing it won’t work on it. My problem is that even on supposedly “supported” platforms like my M3 MacBook air, I’m still not getting 4k.
It’s an unmodified, unfiddled with, bog standard MacBook air. If that isn’t “supported” or “trusted” hardware I don’t know what is…
And if we’re talking hardware capabilities, this thing can play multiple 8k streams at the same time without even warming up so… I highly doubt it’s a hardware capability issue.
No, linux and Firefox are both capable of running 4k resolution.
If you want to use the gaming analogy this is like buying a triple star game but not being able to play it due to buggy performance from kernel level anti-cheat.
You cannot place the onus on the consumer with this.
You can see here that Netflix is throttling the bitrate even on compliant hardware.
https://www.flatpanelshd.com/news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1602743673
I honestly think that their 4k premium plan is a scam. I pay more for 4k but can’t use said 4k… SO THEN WHY EVEN OFFER IT
4k works great on most TV devices, that’s where they expect people are consuming it. I think the crux of the complaint is actually that they don’t make any of that clear before you waste money on it.
https://proprivacy.com/vpn/comparison/best-no-logs-vpns
https://github.com/Rick45/quick-arr-Stack
https://github.com/jellyfin/jellyfin
https://signup.easynews.com/bonus-offer/?a_aid=urz&a_bid=ef2f9ea1&chan=en_urz_nzb
https://www.howtogeek.com/66214/how-to-forward-ports-on-your-router/
https://shop.gandi.net/en/domain/suggest?search=netflixisacheesesandwich
https://www.paulcostan.com/2024/06/how-to-setup-dynamic-dns-with-cloudflare/
I get every resolution I download. Natively on my linux and mac machines. Follow the above recipe and you can too.
Edit: added vpn search. Honestly do some deeper research there. I went with https://www.vpnsecure.me/?xyz=3278 way back when but there might be better out there now.
Wrong community. You should join !piracy@lemmy.dbzer0.com ;)
Edit:
reinstalled edge to my debloated VM… Well that was a waste of time, the bit rate was a bit better but it was still 1080p… I tried extensions, changing flags, nope, Netflix just did not wanna stream at 4k… DESPITE ME FUCKING PAYING FOR IT… Ok, I thought, I have one last option, Netflix has an official windows app, except it’s only on the Microsoft store which just sat there for 5 minutes and then threw an error “unable to apply update” when trying to install the app…
Sounds less like a Microsoft/Windows rooted issue but rather your debloating process fucked with the fragile internals of Windows.
It’s the same as fucking with the permissions on /sbin (don’t have a better example) and being surprised why you can’t access binaries in there anymore.
You should absolutely not be pirating anything. That just puts a target on your back and isn’t necessary
