Netflix Introduces A Button To Lock The Screen On Android Phones

Netflix is also often used on the go on the smartphone (at least in times when you can get out). But sometimes it can happen that you accidentally touch an onscreen button, confuse the playback and then have to look for the right place.

Improved Watch Time

Such oversights are not a real drama, but at least an annoying inconvenience. However, the streaming service has come up with a simple but all the more practical solution or has already implemented it. The Android app from Netflix got a “Screen Lock” button.

This is located in the lower left corner of the expandable controls. If you press it, the screen is “locked” and the user interface is almost completely hidden, including the forward and back buttons and the timeline.

This means that only the actual video is in the foreground, so you can no longer accidentally “misclick”. When you touch the screen, a brief message appears at the bottom of the display that this feature is activated. Of course, you can undo this screen lock by tapping twice on the hint. This is also a good way to lock the screen for children when you have to press their smartphones in their hands to keep them busy. 

While toddlers are surprisingly clever about figuring out how to get around such locks, it should hold up for a while. This feature is currently only available to Android users and is distributed on the server-side. Netflix subscribers with iOS devices may have to wait, but it should only be a matter of time before this is also available for iPhone and iPad.