By Kim Komando
Signal Contributing Writer
No doubt since the coronavirus pandemic hit, you’ve spent more time than you’d care to admit watching Netflix. The streaming service has great hits like “Stranger Things,” “Ozark” and “The Crown.”
Here are a few suggestions to have fun on the popular streaming platform.
More than a dozen sites with free trials can be found here: https://bit.ly/3hbjzSE.
Hide what you’ve watched
You told your significant other that you’d wait for her to watch the final episodes. But it was late, you were bored, and there was nothing else on.
Lucky for you, you can delete your Netflix viewing history. Open Viewing Activity and on the Activity page, click the icon next to the episode or title you want to hide. If you are hiding an episode, you’ll see the option to hide the entire series. To hide your viewing activity, select the Hide all option at the bottom of the page and confirm.
Be a tester
Netflix is continuously working on new features. You can be part of the testing and roll-out. Simply sign in, go to Account, Settings and turn on Test Participation.
Use special browser extensions in Chrome
Here are a few Netflix favorites.
No Netflix Originals
Not everyone is a fan of Netflix Originals. They only want to see the movies and TV series that have already circulated. This Chrome extension removes all Netflix Originals from your home screen, which clears up space to see what else Netflix has on deck.
A word of warning: Many popular movies and series have, or will soon, migrate to other streaming services. At some point, the No Netflix Originals extension may leave you with slim pickings.
Super Netflix
This extension allows you to pick the quality of video streaming, rather than using Netflix’s default setting. Why would you want lower quality?
Well, you can use less bandwidth on your Wi-Fi network or data on your phone. That way, you don’t slow down the other devices in your home, and you don’t have to worry about buying extra data from your carrier.
Never-ending Netflix
With this extension, you can automatically play the next episode of whatever series you’re binge-watching, skip title sequences and search more than 3,000 genres.
Best of all, you can disable that “Are you still watching?” prompt, so series will continue to play until they run out of episodes (or you hit pause on the remote).
Play Reelgood Roulette
Reelgood Roulette will offer new movies and shows when you’re ready to go off the beaten path. Go crazy and turn off all the filters and see what you get. Or, if you’re really in the mood to see the works of a certain actor or director, you can use those filters and spin the wheel again to see what’s available.
Besides being fun, it can help you decide what to watch. Also, if you don’t want to play roulette, the site is a one-stop place to see what’s on your services, what’s leaving and what’s new.
For information on Kim Komando on today’s digital lifestyle, from smartphones and tablets to online privacy and data hacks, visit her at Komando.com.
