For an original content creator, the hardest thing to tackle is piracy, that created a huge dent in their revenue. Netflix is one of the largest creators in the world and their content is hosted online only, making it even more vulnerable to piracy. Netflix is taking a number of steps, including the removal of support for rooted Android phones to bring down copyright infringement.
In a statement to Android Police, Netflix confirmed that their Android app will no longer be available for rooted Android phones. This also includes the devices that have an unlocked bootloader. This has become important for Netflix especially after it enabled downloading of its videos on its platform. For that, Netflix is now using Google Widevine DRM to curb piracy.
With our latest 5.0 release, we now fully rely on the Widevine DRM provided by Google; therefore, many devices that are not Google-certified or have been altered will no longer work with our latest app and those users will no longer see the Netflix app in the Play Store.
Netflix hasn’t said it directly in its statement but it does mention “not Google-certified or have been altered”. The company here is pointing towards the Android devices that are rooted or have their bootloaders unlocked. The changelog of the app on Google Play Store also mentions about this for the version 5.0.
With this implemented, if you have a rooted Android phone and search for Netflix on the Play Store, the app won’t show up. And if you manage to get to the listing using a direct link, you will be shown an error message saying “Your device isn’t compatible with this version.”
However, Android Police has confirmed that the Netflix is working just fine as of now even on the rooted Android phones. The company will soon implement the changes to make it inaccessible on the rooted phones.
If you still want to use the Netflix app on your rooted Android device, you will have to manually download and install APK files from APKMirror. The website hosts all the latest versions of the apps but it is just the added manual work.
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