Netflix’s new password sharing feature is a real mess

Netflix’s new password-sharing solution, which is currently in testing, appears to be a long way from initial testing.

Netflix has been dealing with the password change problem for some time now, which is costing the company several million dollars a year. The streaming giant has deployed the solution, which is currently being piloted in Costa Rica, Chile and Peru. Unfortunately, it looks like all of this is far from worked out.

Netflix’s new password sharing solution is currently in testing

Netflix’s new password-sharing pilot program is simple: Users who share their password with someone outside of their family must pay more. The streaming service defines a household as all people who live with the account holder. This means that you can share your password with roommates, but not with a family that lives, for example, several hundred miles away. Users who want to share their account with people outside their home can add those people for a fee. This additional fee is around USD 2 but varies by country.

judging by the first tests, far from development

Netflix began testing this new program in March last year, and according to The Rest of the World, the reaction from users has been quite negative. Some users canceled the subscription completely, others continued to share the old password. In doing so, Netflix confirmed to the rest of the world that the test is “progressive”and that various versions are being tested in Peru, Costa Rica, and Chile.

In recent months, Netflix has been in a rather difficult financial situation. After announcing the loss of over 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of 2022, the company said it wants to integrate ads to boost revenue. Netflix shares also lost 30%. The platform also attributed this drop in shares in part to the password exchange. Netflix also significantly downsized its Tudum team last month after several months of work and closed several projects, mostly series.

The current competition from Hulu and other HBO Max offers users a real choice that Netflix didn’t have to worry about until a few years ago it was the only or almost the only one in this market…