A Netflix support staff member confirmed to Windows Latest that Netflix’s new “app” is now available for Windows 11. I’m told the company briefly tested the update in early July, and it’s now rolling out to everyone via the Microsoft Store, after announcing the update in May 2024.
Netflix previously told Windows Latest that its native app would be retired in June, but the deadline was extended by a month. Netflix has been warning users about the upcoming changes through a pop-up. The pop-up is gone and a new update for the Netflix app is now available in the Microsoft Store for Windows 11 (and Windows 10).
Today’s update retires the Windows 8-era Netflix native app, which offered features like “Downloads”. Like mobile apps, “Downloads” on Netflix desktop allowed you to watch your favourite show offline, but this feature is no longer available. After the update, you’ll notice the Netflix “app” opens netflix.com in a Microsoft Edge container.
As shown in the above screenshot, when I opened the updated Netflix app, I noticed a new pop-up titled “App Installed”, which goes on to highlight that the app has been installed from the Microsoft Store.
You can choose to pin the app to the taskbar, pin it to the Start menu, create a desktop shortcut, and allow it to auto-start when you log in. These are the most basic features offered in Microsoft Edge-based web apps.
Web apps aren’t necessarily bad, but Netflix’s new app for Windows 11 is awful and it makes no sense to use it over the website or mobile app. In our tests, Windows Latest observed that Netflix hasn’t even optimized the Windows 11 app, which literally loads netflix.com in a Microsoft Edge container.
For example, if you right-click anywhere in the “app”, you can open the links in a new tab of Microsoft Edge. You can also open developer tools and use the “Netflix app” to browse any random website.
