Netflix finally allows people to speed up and slow down playback

Latest feature incites intense reaction from content creators, who claim it 'destroys' the watching experience

Anthony Cuthbertson
Tuesday 04 August 2020 05:34 EDT
Comments
(AFP via Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Netflix has introduced a feature that allows users to speed up or slow down their shows and films.

The new playback controls are in the process of rolling out across Netflix's Android and iOS apps, as well as its web browser platform, following a limited trial last year.

People will be able to choose to stream up to 0.5-times slower or 1.5-times faster on their phones, tablets and laptops.

The move was met with concerns by some actors and filmmakers, who claimed that offering a range of playback speeds could impact the quality of the content.

"Distributors don't get to change the way the content is presented. Doing so is a breaking of trust and won't be tolerated by the people who provide it," director Judd Apatow tweeted after the first tests of the tool were introduced last year.

Actor Aaron Paul said that allowing people to binge watch at higher speeds meant "destroying" the watching experience

In a blog post explaining its decision to continue with the full roll-out, Netflix vice president Keela Robison said customers appreciated the choice.

"Similar functionality has been available on DVD players and DVRs for years and the feature has been much requested by members," she said.

"Most important of all, our tests show that consumers value the flexibility it provides whether it's rewatching their favourite scene or slowing things down because they're watching with subtitles or have hearing difficulties."

Mobile Playback Speeds on Netflix was welcomed by the US National Association of the Deaf and the National Federation of the Blind, who noted that people who are deaf and have difficulty reading appreciate being able to slow down captioning.

Netflix also said that more than 80 per cent of its subscribers use subtitles or closed captions at least once a month, often to learn new languages.

Ms Robison said: "It's also worth noting that extensive surveys of members across several countries who watched the same titles with or without the feature showed it didn't impact their perceptions of the content's quality."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in