Possibly getting rid of Netflix?

[bisous]

DH wants to get rid of Netflix. He doesn't like a. the monthly cost and b. the way our Roku device plays Netflix. Specifically he doesn't like how it will show previews with scary and inappropriate parts to movies that can scare our kids and that this "feature" cannot be disabled. (If you try to watch the inappropriate movie it will not allow you without a password so that part is technically protected.)

I still would like to keep Netflix for a couple of reasons. a. It has unique content that we like. Everything from the Crown to Voltron. b. It is so convenient with kids. We can find whole shows that the kids really enjoy and have never heard of. My kids don't want a ton of screens but they do watch one hour of streaming from 5:00 to 6:00 everyday and occasionally I will put it on for my younger kids who don't have school full time when I need to get something important done (like for my job or an important conversation). c. Occasionally DH and I find a series that we like or we like the nature documentaries and stuff like that. d. We do movie nights where we watch films with the whole family on Friday nights.

I'm thinking maybe I can fulfill most of these and still drop Netflix. Are there any other channels on Roku that might have what we like? (Documentaries, kid shows, etc.)

We do have Amazon Prime (that's the one *I* would drop) and we have access to Disney Now through DH's work. I'm not a super huge fan of Amazon Prime though. What do you guys think? Do I need to give it another chance? I find it hard to search and find stuff to watch. We tried Hulu and it was fine but not any better than Netflix and it had commercials (and we don't really watch new shows).

Or maybe you've had success in just dropping streaming and only doing videos from the library?

Or possibly we need a new streaming DEVICE? We believe that Netflix doesn't do the preview thing on other streaming devices. We have all of our digital movies through Amazon and if I remember correctly Amazon does not stream through Apple TV. There is probably an Amazon streaming device (Fire stick?)

What do you use? Have you dropped Netflix and been fine with it?

Thank you!

[jgenie]

We have Netflix but I’m the only one that uses it. DH mainly watches sports, National Geo, History. My kids watch DVDs or Amazon Prime. We are low screen here and that might be why it works. My kids don’t get screens during the week and only in the late afternoon on weekends so maybe 4 hours total per week. My kids are 10 and 8.

[SnuggleBuggles]

For budget reasons, I’d drop it.
But if you keep it, can’t you just set up kid files so it will only auto play appropriate content?


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[pharmjenn]

We have Comcast and they now stream Netflix, but before that, we streamed through the blu-ray player and it did not have previews. You chose your show from a list of shows or movies and play. So possibly upgrading your dvd player to something that will stream Netflix to avoid the previews.
I agree that I like the exclusive content that Netflix has. We watch a lot of tv in our house, and my husband almost always has old shows running in his office while he works. (Old being Mash, Psych, Monk etc)

[lizzywednesday]

We stream Netflix directly on the TV (smart TV) but were using the blu-ray player and various gaming systems previously.
DD also has the Netflix app on her tablet.

DD has her own kids' profile so she doesn't see scary/inappropriate content or previews unless she's using my profile; perhaps you'd be better off creating a Kids' profile so your children don't see the previews like you've described?

It's not a sub-account; it's a different profile. I'm not familiar enough with Roku to know if this is even possible, but I don't see why it shouldn't be.

[cuca_]

We stream Netflix through Apple TV and in our iPads. Apple TV does stream Amazon Prime now. I like some Prime Original shows, but overall prefer Netflix. I find it annoying that some of the content that shows up on searches is not included — you can buy it or rent it in amazon, but that is an additional charge.

[georgiegirl]

We love Love Love Netflix. All of our kids love watching shows on it, and so do DH and I. We stream it from our amazon fire stick.


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[specialp]

We have both, but prefer Netflix. My kids have children sub accounts and go straight to their name/Favorite color. I just checked on the only TV we have a roku and the inappropriate previews do not run either at the selection screen where you pick a profile (Me, DH, Ds1, Ds2) or once you are on a children's account.

That said, I would drop it for budget reasons and try it without. It's me and DH who prefer Netflix. Our kids have limited screen time as well for now and I feel like I could easily sub that with library stuff at this point. Yours get 7 hours a week? Try it. My sister did and only buys Netflix on the months were there will be a lot of screen time like Christmas vacation or when DN had a surgery scheduled. That's the good thing about Netflix. You can drop and see how you do and then pick it back up for a month or two when you anticipate "needing" it.

[HannaAddict]

We use Netflix more than Prime. We wouldn’t drop it.


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[pastrygirl]

Do you use the sub accounts? We have an adult one, and then one for each kid. Whoever is watching chooses based on the youngest one in the room. This works on Roku, too We have to pick who’s watching.

[Zukini]

We stream Netflix directly on the TV (smart TV) but were using the blu-ray player and various gaming systems previously.
DD also has the Netflix app on her tablet.

DD has her own kids' profile so she doesn't see scary/inappropriate content or previews unless she's using my profile; perhaps you'd be better off creating a Kids' profile so your children don't see the previews like you've described?

It's not a sub-account; it's a different profile. I'm not familiar enough with Roku to know if this is even possible, but I don't see why it shouldn't be.

Yes to this. We have profiles for DH, myself and DS. Just today, I was paused on my own profile, and a few kid-inappropriate screens scrolled by (I don’t like scary stuff at all, so for sure, I noticed). But it doesn’t happen on DS “kids” profile. Double-check that if you have a profile labeled for your kiddos, that it’s indeed one with a kids setting. And yes, we’ve always been able to select between profiles regardless of the device accessing Netflix - Roku stick, Apple TV, iPad, etc.

We are only now getting into the programming on Amazon Prime but DH just finished a business trip with long travel and he’s come back raving about some new programs on there. I bet if you have to keep one, either one, you will find something of interest for the entire family especially since the kids don’t watch a lot of hours of television to begin with. And it’s no big deal to add Netflix back to the lineup in a few months if needed.

[squimp]

You should be able to set up a different kids profile that automatically plays previews for your kids' stuff, not yours.

[TwinFoxes]

DD has her own kids' profile so she doesn't see scary/inappropriate content or previews unless she's using my profile; perhaps you'd be better off creating a Kids' profile so your children don't see the previews like you've described?


This is the first thing I thought too. We have a profile called "twins" that they use, and they never get scary previews...trust me I'd hear the screams of terror if they did. If you can't set up different profiles and use them through your Roku, I'd try streaming a different way. I can stream directly through my TV, through my Fire TV, or through Tivo, not to mention on computers and i-devices.

I like Netflix streaming much more than Prime streaming, but I don't think I could do without the rest of the Prime services. I do a lot of two-day deliveries, read the free books, etc.

[o_mom]

Yes to this. We have profiles for DH, myself and DS. Just today, I was paused on my own profile, and a few kid-inappropriate screens scrolled by (I don’t like scary stuff at all, so for sure, I noticed). But it doesn’t happen on DS “kids” profile. Double-check that if you have a profile labeled for your kiddos, that it’s indeed one with a kids setting. And yes, we’ve always been able to select between profiles regardless of the device accessing Netflix - Roku stick, Apple TV, iPad, etc.



The ability to select profiles on Roku depends on which Roku device you have. Our use of Roku was short-lived because with the one we had, we could not select different profiles in Netflix. When I looked into it, it is only available on some devices. That, along with the complete lack of usable parental controls made it a no-go for us.

[wendibird22]

Another vote for netflix profiles...though I see Roku may not permit this. We have an Apple TV but before that we had the netflix app directly on our TV and via both we have always been able to select different profiles. DH, the kids, and I all have our own profile.

[bisous]

Thanks for all your replies. Maybe we’ll try living without it for a bit. It’s pretty easy to stop and start. (Gotta finish season 2 of the crown though first, lol. If I could only stay up til 10!)

I think what you’re saying is consistent with our experience—prime is just not as good. We also really love Netflix. I told DH that if we cut Netflix we might be penny wise and pound foolish. It’s pretty easy to spend more than $10 a month on entertainment and if we’re staying home more, it’s nice to have something to do! (Though this is not an entirely fair analysis because we didn’t go out much before).

Like you said, I think it depends on the Roku that you have whether it has that feature. We have a Roku 3. We do have kid profiles and the kids mainly use those. What concerns DH (I think) is the idea that the kids would go onto ours on accident (or purpose) and see stuff we don’t want them to see. (I guess?) That was mainly his issue. He hates having to mute the TV each time he wants to scroll through his profile. If we end up wanting Netflix again I suppose we can watch it through our SmartHub. It’s less convenient than the current interface but doesn’t show annoying previews.

Thanks for your opinions!

[div_0305]

Thanks for all your replies. Maybe we’ll try living without it for a bit. It’s pretty easy to stop and start. (Gotta finish season 2 of the crown though first, lol. If I could only stay up til 10!)

I think what you’re saying is consistent with our experience—prime is just not as good. We also really love Netflix. I told DH that if we cut Netflix we might be penny wise and pound foolish. It’s pretty easy to spend more than $10 a month on entertainment and if we’re staying home more, it’s nice to have something to do! (Though this is not an entirely fair analysis because we didn’t go out much before).

Like you said, I think it depends on the Roku that you have whether it has that feature. We have a Roku 3. We do have kid profiles and the kids mainly use those. What concerns DH (I think) is the idea that the kids would go onto ours on accident (or purpose) and see stuff we don’t want them to see. (I guess?) That was mainly his issue. He hates having to mute the TV each time he wants to scroll through his profile. If we end up wanting Netflix again I suppose we can watch it through our SmartHub. It’s less convenient than the current interface but doesn’t show annoying previews.

Thanks for your opinions!

This depends on your kids. My kids are only interested in their profiles; we use Roku for Netflix on one tv--the other is a smart tv which we watch Netflix on.

[schrocat]

This depends on your kids. My kids are only interested in their profiles; we use Roku for Netflix on one tv--the other is a smart tv which we watch Netflix on.

Yep ... our kids are only interested in the kids' profiles.