Netflix is adding a new option to adjust playback speeds, letting users watch content faster or slower than normal. The new setting is coming to Android users first, starting this weekend, before it’s rolled out to other platform later this year.
If you’re familiar with YouTube’s playback speed settings, the idea here should be fairly familiar. The new option allows users to watch downloaded content at 0.5x or 0.75x slower than normal, or speed things up to 1.25x or 1.5x. Those choices are a bit less granular than YouTube’s settings, and users will have to select adjusted playback speeds on a per-title basis — each show or movie will playback at normal speeds by default.
The company floated the idea of adjustable playback speeds last year, but some content creators raised concerns about how that would affect their movies and shows. However, groups like the National Association of the Deaf and the National Federation of the Blind have applauded the move. Slowing down playback allows subtitles to stay on screen longer. Meanwhile, some who rely more on audio might enjoy content at a faster playback rate, a member of the National Federation of the Blind said.
Netflix’s Android-first rollout is similar to its recent deployment of a “Remove from Row” feature that allows users to drop titles from their Continue Watching list. That feature was made available to Android users back in April, and was then added to the iOS app roughly two months later.
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