Netflix rolls out new feature system to stop password sharing

Yesterday, Netflix began rolling out a new feature which has the potential to change certain awkward situations with ex-partners and roommates forever. As reported by The Verge, Profile Transfers are here, giving users the option to move their profile from someone else’s account to their own.

Using Profile Transfer will allow users to keep all of their Netflix personalisations, including their recommendations and watch list, meaning that you won’t lose anything for breaking away from someone else’s account. Apart from the monthly subscription fee, obviously.

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“People move. Families grow. Relationships end. But throughout these life changes, your Netflix experience should stay the same,” Netflix’s product manager of product innovation, Timi Kosztin, wrote in a press release. “Today, we’re launching Profile Transfer, a feature that lets people using your account transfer a profile - keeping the [personalised] recommendations, viewing history, My List, saved games, and other settings - when they start their own membership.”

This isn’t the first step that Netflix have taken this year to crack down on users sharing accounts. Although Profile Transfer has been introduced seemingly as a more gentle approach, earlier this year, the streaming giant began rolling out fees in some countries for “extra members” - AKA, users who share a Netflix account across multiple households. People who live outside of the main account household (in affected countries) now have to pay around $2.99 per month.

Next month, many countries will get access to Netflix’s new “Basic with ads” subscription tier - a new, cheaper monthly subscription which, you guessed it, plays adverts before and during content. In the UK and US, this tier will become available on 3 November, and will cost £4.99/$6.99 a month - £2/$3 less than the existing Basic plan.