Screenshot: Andrew Liszewski / Gizmodo
When I was younger I owned a handheld TV that had a mode where you could listen to broadcasts with the screen off, letting me secretly enjoy shows I wasn’t actually allowed to watch. According to Android Police, a similar feature is now being introduced for Netflix, essentially turning your favorite shows into audio-only podcasts.
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The feature was first discovered back in late October by XDA Developers who found evidence of the new feature allowing video to be turned off after tearing down an Android APK file, but at the time it hadn’t been officially implemented as a usable feature in the Netflix app. The feature finally seems to be appearing for some subscribers in the form of a “Video On/Video Off” toggle button when using Netflix in full-screen mode. All of the standard video playback controls remain, but the screen remains black when video is turned off.