Windows 11 gets a new Netflix app – and it’ll make you wish you could keep the old one (spoiler alert: you can’t)

Windows 11 users, watch out – a new Netflix app has arrived for the OS (as was previously promised), but sadly it isn’t a step forward for those who enjoy watching the streaming service on their PC.

Windows Latest noticed that the rejigged Netflix app is now available for download via the Microsoft Store, but it’s a downgrade in many ways.

For starters, instead of a proper app, it’s now simply a web wrapper – in other words, it just fires up the Netflix.com site in a standalone Edge container. So, you’re basically running the website (in Edge) in what looks like an app window.

The second major blow to be delivered with the new app for Windows 11 is that Netflix no longer offers the option to download content. That ability allowed you to watch your favorite shows later, when offline, but you can forget about that now.

Analysis: All in the name of consistency, apparently

The download ability was one of the major strengths of the Netflix app, and as you can imagine, it’s regarded as a big loss. What doesn’t help is that the app itself feels very barebones and indeed as Windows Latest points out, it’s shoddily put together. Right-clicking anywhere in the new Netflix app lets you access the menu to open a link in a new Edge tab, so it’s painfully transparent that this is all running in a web wrapper.

On Netflix’s part, the firm has previously said that the new app is designed for a “consistent, quality experience” and that the “new version will now include access to live events, compatibility with ad-supported plans, and more.” Well, if consistency is the key aim, why remove the feature to download and watch offline which is present on the Netflix mobile apps?

As you can guess, most of the feedback online has been pretty (consistently, ahem) negative. And if you were hoping to avoid the new app, and just stick with the old Netflix client complete with its download functionality – well, eventually the old app is going to stop working. In other words, you’ll be forced to update soon enough.

All in all, this is a bit of a mystifying one, particularly given the apparently shoddy implementation of the web wrapper here, which feels rushed through to say the least.

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