Remember the days when people listen to radio dramas. It is purely an acoustic performance, where radio artists portray characters and act out scenes using only their voices, sound effects, and music. It seems like decades ago and a long-time forgotten, but Netflix is hoping to bring such concept back!
Netflix features an Audio-Only option that will let their viewers listen to their shows and movies devoid of the visuals. Streaming on Netflix gives us augmented entertainment with hundreds of options to choose from, but the visuals add to the overall experience. This time, the audio will take the center stage.
The Audio-only feature is a pioneering Netflix feature among the streaming service platforms. It will turn off the video and only provide the sounds, music, and audio of the movies or shows you watch. The primary benefit is for users who simply want to listen to what the characters say while doing something else. It saves battery life, storage space, download time, and network resources.
How Does Netflix Audio-Only or Video-Off Mode Work on Android?
When you play a movie or a series episode, you will see a Video off button at the top of the screen. To turn on the audio-only mode, tap the button, and the video will disappear. You will only see the playback controls such as the forward, backward, stop, speed, and scrub bar.
There is also the Audio-Only feature in the Settings menu. To navigate to the Settings, tap the More button. Now, select the Audio-Only feature. When you tap the button, you will see different modes to choose from – Always On, Off, and Headphones or External Speakers.
The Audio-Only feature is available on Android devices. It will automatically integrate into the Netflix app. If you haven’t seen it on your app yet, try to update the Netflix app. When you have the latest Netflix app yet you still don’t see the new feature, it means that Netflix has not rolled out the Audio-Only mode in your region.
What do you think of the Audio-Only feature on Netflix? Is it useful for you or do you find it ridiculous? We would love to know your thoughts, so drop us a comment below.
I had this feature temporarily last year, but it seems to have disappeared and I’m so upset. If I’m “watching” Netflix on my phone, I’m almost always doing it with my earbuds in while I’m doing something else. I’m never really watching, only listening. Now that I’m being forced to play the video too, my battery is getting sucked dry. Plus, sometimes I want to “watch” a show while playing a game on my phone — this is very frustrating to do with a stupid little video in the corner that I have to push out of the way all the time! Using audio descriptions, I find it very easy to just listen to shows on Netflix, especially the old favorites that I’m just rewatching. I can only assume I stumbled onto a beta test last year and am now waiting for the feature to roll out to my area. I didn’t realize it was a beta test at the time because I’d only just downloaded the app for the first time — the audio-only feature is what made that app useful. Without it, I’ve been trying to decide if it’s worth keeping on my phone at all.