15 Netflix Hacks You Aren't Using (But NEED To)

We're obsessed with Netflix! The streaming service ended 2016 with a massive 93.8 million members according to USA Today. It has become as much a part of our lives as watching TV was before streaming took over. So it's no wonder people are coming up with new ways to make the most of Netflix. There are tips and tricks that will make your viewing experience even better! And we've gathered some of the best tricks here.

Soon, you'll be able to pick a show or movie to watch with ease, instead of scrolling aimlessly unable to make a decision. You'll be able to watch Netflix with your long-distance significant other or friend who might not even be in the same city as you. You'll even be able to find the show or movie that matches your obscure taste.

If you're a fan of Netflix, (which I'm sure you are because why else would you be here?) why not make use of some of these hacks right now? After a long, tiring day you can make it even easier for yourself to watch something good on Netflix. Let the binge-athon begin.

12 Add Ratings And Trailers

There are a number of extensions you can add your browser in order to improve your viewing experience. The trouble with Netflix is there's a whole lot of choice and unless you get a recommendation from a friend say, then you have no idea what to watch. So you end up scrolling through aimlessly and having to research various movies or TV shows to find reviews and trailers etc. But by adding an extension to Chrome you can get access to reviews and trailers and the like directly on the Netflix page. Fix Plus, an extension made by LifeHacker shows IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes ratings next to each film. It also shows links to the trailer. So, it's extremely useful to add such an extension because it could save you a whole lot of time.

11 See What's Actually Trending

You know when you go on Netflix, there's a section where it says "Trending Now". But I often find that this section is similar to my "Recommended For You" section. It also favors Netflix originals and TV shows and films that have been recently added. I can't prove it, but I reckon the "Trending Now" section is more a combination of "What We Want You To Watch" and "What We Think You Might Watch". I'm sure you'll agree that you'd prefer an outside source to tell you what's actually trending on Netflix at any given time. That's where instantwatcher.com comes in. It has a list of the TV shows and movies that were popular in the last 24 hours. That way you won't miss out on those conversations at work about what you watched on Netflix over the weekend.

10 Watch Netflix While You Work

Do you like to have some background noise while you're working? If the answer is yes, you're not the only one who does. Lots of people concentrate better with the hum of the office, the TV or radio in the background. We have a real treat for you here which you can find at heliumfloats.com. Helium is an app for OS X which let's you have a floating browser, the translucency of which you can customize. This means you can have Netflix on in your floating browser while you work as you can see in the above image. It would be great to use it while you're doing those menial tasks that need to be done but don't require too much concentration. In other words you can have cartoons or Pretty Little Liars on while you're tip-tapping away.

9 Netflix Roulette

Oftentimes when you open up Netflix. You know you're in the mood to watch something, but what that something is you really don't know. And if you're a single lady like myself you have nobody to make that decision for you when it comes to watching Netflix before bed. So let me introduce you to the site netflixroulette.net, your online friend who can make a decision for you. It does exactly what it says on the tin. You choose movies or TV shows or both. You can even choose a genre, if you know you fancy a horror flick or a comedy etc. Then all you do is hit spin and it will come up with a movie for you to watch along with a synopsis and a link to the movie on Netflix. It makes things a lot easier.

8 Binge With Online Friends

Long-distance couples or friends that live far apart might miss the times they get to binge-watch their favorite shows together. When the new season of Orange is the New Black drops you might be gutted that you can't watch it with your bezzy who moved to another region. Well, we have a solution for you. There's a video chat service called Rabbit that allows you to pull up a window that all parties in the chat can view. You can do whatever you want in that window, so you can put Netflix on and watch it together while you video chat or message. You can find the service at https://www.rabb.it. What a nice idea! This simple piece of software can help you reconnect and do what you would usually do with your loved ones no matter where they are.

7 Unlock Hidden Settings

Okay, so this hack sounds a lot more mysterious than it is. But there is some keyboard magic you can perform to enhance your viewing experience. Hopefully, at home you have a strong Internet connection. But you might not always be watching at home. Let's say for instance you might be in a hotel and the connection isn't as good as you would like it to be. If this is the case hit CTRL+Shift+Alt+S or CTRL+Shift+Opt+* for macs and a menu pops up. From there you can change the audio and video bitrate to match your computer. This means you don't have to wait around for Netflix to buffer if the connection is slow. It's worth noting that older sources say it's Shift+Alt+Left Click button.

6 Find Super Specific Categories

There's a new hack that's getting serious Netflix fans all excited. Somebody has put together a list of all the super specific Netflix categories that exist and there are 76,000 categories in total. A couple of examples are "French-Language Thrillers from the 1980s" or "Suspenseful Action & Adventure based on real life". Each category has a unique code which goes at the end of the Netflix URL e.g. https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/4820, the code being "4820". But the site that has all the categories has links directly to them on Netflix anyway so you won't have to memorize several strings of numbers. You can find the list here: http://ogres-crypt.com/public/NetFlix-Streaming-Genres2.html and binge-watch to your heart's content. It's pretty useful because for every Netflix user who has no idea what they want to watch there's one who knows specifically what kind of film they want to watch!

5 Use Your Smartphone As A Netflix Remote

There are lots of ways you can watch Netflix these days. Aside from your laptop or mobile device, you can stream Netflix through the app on your TV or games console. But the trouble is that when it comes to searching through the app on your TV using the regular remote control it can be really slow, as you might have experienced. And when you want to watch Netflix using your games console, it's awkward getting the controls right and you often find yourself accidentally fast-forwarding the movie you're watching much to everyone's annoyance. So, arguably, the easiest way to watch Netflix on a TV is by using your Smartphone as the remote control. You do this by ensuring your phone and Smart TV are on the same Wi-fi network and then hitting the Cast icon within the Netflix app on your phone to send it to your TV.

4 Download Movies And Shows

We don't always have the time to watch the movies and TV shows we want to watch because of other responsibilities like work, ugh! But wouldn't it be great if you could watch Netflix on the go. Obviously you can watch Netflix from anywhere with the app on your phone or tablet. The only problem is that this requires a Wi-fi connection which isn't always available. And the only other alternative would be to let watching Netflix eat into all of your mobile data. But, thankfully, now you can download movies and TV shows when you do have a Wi-fi connection and watch them later online. In the app on your phone you will see a section under categories that says "Available for Download". Choose what you want to watch later and it will appear in your "My Downloads" section. It's brilliant.

3 Save Money

Netflix isn't exactly expensive. But we know that some people out there are real scrimpers. Good for them! Every little saving they make, adds up to mean big savings at the end of each month of year. The most obvious way to save money on your Netflix subscription is to share an account with one (or more people). It's totally okay to do that with your friends or roommates etc. Even Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said that people sharing account info is "a positive thing". This is because people often go on to pay for their own subscriptions later. So you don't need to worry about sharing an account with a friend and splitting the costs. The guys at Netflix don't even mind you doing that. Put that extra little bit of cash in your savings jar.

2 Keep Your Account Safe

What we watch on Netflix can be oddly personal. If you share an account with family or friends you might not want them to know what you have been watching. You might not want your nosy mom to know that you spent your Saturday watching ten episodes of Project Runway instead of doing something productive, for example. Fortunately, it's really simple to delete your history on Netflix. All you need to do is go to netflix.com/viewingactivity and there you can click the X next to any movies or shows you want to delete from your viewing history. You can also delete your "Continue Watching" list by deleting episodes from your viewing history in much the same way. You might do this because you want to hide what you have been watching or you might do this because that list at the top of the home page can be annoying.

1 If You Can't Find It On Netflix

Netflix has a lot of stuff, but it doesn't have every single show or movie that you might be dying to watch. So what do you do if there's a TV show you can't find on Netflix? Head to http://www.wheretowatch.com/tv-shows. That URL should work, but there's a problem with the home page at the time of publishing. Anyway, on the TV shows page there's a selection of popular shows that you might be looking for. Or you can use the search bar to look for your show. It will then show you which services are streaming that particular show whether it's Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or another streaming service. So if you can't find it on Netflix the site will show you where to go and you won't be missing out on the show you're looking for.