8 Netflix Hacks That Will Make Winter Telly Watching A Million Times Better

1. Use your smartphone as a remote

If your phone is connected to the same wifi as the device your watching Netflix on you can use your phone as a remote control. Just browse Google Play or iOS to find the right one to have the ultimate Netflix experience.

2. Netflix enhancer

Ever find those stars recommending a movie a bit misleading, or just totally incorrect? Well, Netflix enhancer can fix all this for you! This Chrome extension will give you an IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes rating when you hover over and select a movie. So you’ll no longer have to suffer through movies Netflix rate five stars that actually deserve, er, zero.

3. Netflix roulette

Hands up if you spend hours reading descriptions and trailers until you can eventually decide on a movie? Everyone? Thought so. Well, Netflix now have a way of helping you through the lengthy process, all you need to do is type in the genre, actor or other determining factor and you’ll spend less time deciding and more time watching.

4. Always watch in HD

Obviously it’s better to watch Netflix in HD, however, due to network and device limitations you may not always be able to get HD content. Luckily, we have the solution: go to Your Account, select Playback Settings and click Save. House of Cards is going to look unreal when it returns in March!

5. No more buffering

Buffering is one of the most irritating and unnecessary plights to using Netflix. Well, now you can put an end to this, thanks to this handy hack. Instructions:  While playing a title, hold down Shift+Opt (Shift+Alt for Windows) and left click to open up a “hidden” menu (called the Stream Manager) with buffering fixes and other streaming options.

6. Watch at off-peak hours

If you want to get the best quality videos its best to tune in either early morning or late at night when there aren’t as many people logged on. Digital trends found that the speed and quality of the videos vastly improved during off-peak hours. Finally we have an excuse to be late for work!

7. Clear your cringey viewing history

We’ve all been there. You watch something totally morto only to remember afterwards that the other peeps who have your password are going to find out what a total weirdo you are and if that wasn’t bad enough Netflix ends up giving you recommendations based on it. Well, you can finally cringe no more. All you have to do is head over to Your Account, then go into Viewing Activity and just hit X beside any shows or movies you want gone.

8. Watch it with your mates

Are you and your mate both totally obsessed with OITNB? Would your friendship end if one of you told the other a spoiler? Well, now your friendship is safe and you and your mate can watch it at the same time from the comfort of your own homes while giving each other a running commentary. You can do this using Rabbit, which is a video service that allows you to launch a window that can be used by all members in a chat. Happy watching!

By Laura Somers.

• Life Hacks
• Netflix