Netflix subscribers, we have good news and bad new for you this morning. The bad news is that millions of you are about to start paying more each month for Netflix and you probably have no idea. Seriously, your monthly subscription fee is about to increase and you can find out more right here. But like we said, there’s also good news: We’re going to help you get even more bang for your buck than you already do using five great tools and hacks for Netflix.
That price hike is still going to sting, but hopefully these great Netflix enhancements will make it sting a little less.
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If there’s one service you subscribe to right now that’s still worth subscribing to following a price increase, it’s probably Netflix. The company has a duty to investors that’s almost as important as its duty to users, and making money is obviously a big part of that duty. Plus, let’s be honest, $8 a month is a steal for the value Netflix provides.
With that in mind, precious few users are going to jump ship following this new price hike. But just because you’re sticking around doesn’t mean you have to sit idle. Here are five services and plugins that will help you hack your way to an even better Netflix experience:
Flix Plus
Flix Plus is an awesome Chrome extension that was built by the team at Lifehacker. It tweaks the Netflix website’s user interface to add a bunch of nifty new features.
The extension lets you customize Netflix to your heart’s desire. It includes 22 tweaks that can be turned on or off individually, such as:
* Makes it easier to navigate Netflix’s suggestions. You can tint or fade out shows you have watched, rated, or that are listed multiple times and hide entire sections.
* Hides episode spoiler images and text, and stops Netflix from shrinking your screen during the credits. (Requires HTML5 player.)
* Adds customizable keyboard controls to control the player and navigate the site. Press “?” for a list.
* Enhances the manual view of the “My List” page with an ability to write a note saying why you added a movie and highlighting titles that will expire soon.
* Export your ratings and My List to JSON files.
* You can show Rotten/IMDB ratings, watch a random episode, and read more about the title on sites like IMDB, Wikipedia, and Amazon.
* Keeps My List at the top of your home page and prevents interruptions from the ‘Who’s Watching’ dialog.
Netflix Party
Netflix Party is one of our favorite Netflix extensions because it brings people closer no matter where they are in the world.
Netflix Party is a Chrome extension for watching Netflix remotely with friends, e.g., for movie nights with that long-distance special someone. It synchronizes video playback and adds group chat.
Download Netflix Party for free
Super Browse
We’ve told you about Netflix’s secret categories that it uses to organize content behind the scenes, and this great extension for Chrome and Firefox will help you discover them.
Access Netflix Secret Categories
This extension adds a “Super Browse” hover link to the main Netflix Navigation. Hovering over this item will reveal Netflix’s extended categories.
If you’re having trouble, please either disable your adblock or add Netflix to your whitelist, clear your cache then restart Chrome.
Download Super Browse for free (Chrome)Download Super Browse for free (Firefox)
New On Netflix
Toward the end of each month, we tell you about all of the movies and TV series that are about to expire as well as all the new titles being added in the coming month. For example, here’s a list of everything new Netflix is adding to its catalog in April.
But with New On Netflix, you get daily updates of everything that’s coming and going each day. This site is for true Netflix addicts and it’s an awesome free tool.
What Is My Movie?
Last but certainly not least is What Is My Movie?, an incredible project by Valossa that we told you about not long ago.
This scary-accurate site helps you find any movie by simply describing things you remember about it. The site analyzes actual video content to build its data base, so it can work with fuzzy searches like “Tom Hanks has a volley ball friend” or “there’s a cartoon genie and a prince flying on a carpet.”
Then, once you find that movie you were looking for, you can check to see if it’s available on Netflix.
