Ad-supported Netflix plan doesn’t work on Apple TV, “old” Chromecasts, PS3

Netflix’s newest offering, the $7/month “Basic with Ads”plan, has its inherent compromises of five minutes of ads per hour, one device at a time, no downloads, 720p resolution, and some inaccessible content. But there are also a few device compatibility issues, including newer devices.

On the Netflix Help Center page for people experiencing the “Basic with Ads Not Supported”error, Netflix notes that “Basic with Ads is not supported on Apple TV”. “You’ll need to upgrade your Netflix plan to a basic, standard, or premium plan,”Netflix advises, or “use a different device.”That last bit refers to the list of officially supported Netflix devices, which uselessly shows the Apple TV logo with no footnotes or other details about its limitations. Netflix told 9to5 Mac in a statement that Apple TV support is “coming soon”.

The same is true for any Chromecast except the latest Chromecast with Google TV. “Basic with ads is only supported on Chromecast with Google TV,”Netflix says, meaning that any model bought before September 2022 – like the 4K version that Google sold before that – is out of luck.

In addition to these big holes in Netflix’s “your favorite devices”coverage, there are other devices and apps that won’t support the cheaper ad-supported plan:

• iOS devices not updated to iOS 15 or later
• Android devices on versions below 7
• PlayStation 3
• Netflix App for Windows

On Linux systems, using Chrome (not Chromium) or Firefox (with DRM enabled in settings) should generally work with the Netflix Basic with Ads plan.

Why does Netflix’s ad-supported plan have so many stars for mostly streaming-ready devices? No immediate response from Netflix (we contacted the company for comment and clarification). One answer might lie in how advertisements are served: through Microsoft. Microsoft acquired Xandr’s programmatic advertising system from AT&T in 2021 and otherwise had far less experience with video ads than competitors like Google or Comcast, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, this doesn’t fully explain why the native Netflix app for Windows doesn’t support the ad plan.

Netflix also moved the launch date for Basic with Ads from early 2023 to early November, reportedly before Disney+ has a similar plan. Fixing compatibility issues during an accelerated project is not uncommon. It’s worth noting that when Netflix’s streaming services first launched, Microsoft was a key part of their limited compatibility. The tech giant’s Silverlight, a kind of DRM-rich pseudo-Flash, has been implemented to bring “Play Ready DRM”to the Mac.

Netflix said in a July statement that Microsoft’s ad network “offers the flexibility to innovate over time in both technology and sales, as well as strong privacy protections for our members.”Some people with perfectly reasonable streaming settings, perhaps looking to save a few dollars a month, may be hoping that agile innovation will take their place.