I cut the cable, and I may be cutting Netflix free

Back in the day, when Netflix had their blue logo and distribution houses only in California, we gave it a try. Too long a turnaround and many broken discs later, we took a break.

The new and improved red-logoed Netflix had a significant impact on our decision to “cut the cord” … as a result we’ve been cable and/or satellite free for well over a decade. We’ll stay at a hotel with cable once in a while, and use the time to remind ourselves why we have stayed severed from real-time television. Noise, commercials, lack of selection and control. Our cord-cutting apps do just fine.

Enter Autoplay Previews …

But a few days ago, the Netflix app on our Apple TV (current generation) started behaving just as badly as cable/satellite TV. It started autoplaying previews. Very annoying. Very loud. So we scrolled through the app options, scrolled through the online options, but found no way to turn it off.

We called Netflix. They told us to disable the “try new features” (aka free beta testing) option. We disabled it. We logged out of the app everywhere. We rebooted the Apple TV, and checked it again the next day. Still noisily autoplaying previews. No way to turn it off.

Called Netflix back. Lodged a complaint. Complaint noted. No advice on stopping it.

Other than the obvious, I guess. Netflix, is this goodbye? Or are you putting in an easy opt-in switch for this “feature”?

Update: As of 9/20/2017, the app was still autoplaying on our current generation Apple TV, so bye bye for now!