The era of cord cutting is finally catching up, as we’re not limited to TV for video content. With OTT services we can stream video on our mobile phones, computers and tablets. People on the subway or in the waiting room love to catch their favorite Netflix shows on their phones. However, the Netflix app can override brightness and spoil the experience on certain Android phones.
Netflix app overrides brightness set on phones. The Netflix app is either too dark or light when playing a video, even if the brightness setting is different. For others, colors appear washed out on Netflix.
Let’s see how to get the great Netflix experience back by fixing the brightness issue.
Note: The Netflix app does not allow to take screenshots of content via the native Android screenshot process. That’s why the two screenshots in this post appear with a black background.
1. Reboot Phone
No troubleshooting procedure should begin without restarting the device in question. So, restart your phone before trying the fixes below.
2. Adjust Brightness in Netflix App
Many Netflix users don’t know that the Netflix app comes with a native setting to change the brightness. Usually this is responsible for the brightness issue on Netflix. You may have changed it and that’s why your Netflix colors are either dark or light.
You cannot find the brightness control inside the settings in the Netflix app. Instead, it resides on the currently playing screen itself. To use it, play a video on Netflix. Then play, pause, subtitle etc. Tap the screen once to show the controls. You will see a slider on the left. Swipe up or down to manually control the brightness, i.e. increase or decrease the brightness.
3. Use Picture-in-Picture Mode
Some Netflix users have suggested that switching to Netflix’s picture-in-picture mode fixed the dark screen issue for them.
Here are the steps:
Stage 1: Increase the brightness of your phone using phone settings.
Step 2: Launch the Netflix app and play a video.
Stage 3: Press the home button to play the Netflix video in a pop-up screen, that is, the picture-in-picture mode will be activated.
Step 4: Tap the full screen icon to open the video in normal mode.
4. Update the Netflix App
The problem could be caused by a bug in the Netflix app. To fix this, you must immediately update the app from the Play Store.
Fly: Are you constantly missing app updates? Learn how to keep track of which apps require updates on Android and iOS.
5. Disable Blue Light or Night Light
If the problem occurs at a certain time, you should check the scheduled feature of night or blue light. When night light is enabled, you will see an orange-yellowish tint on your phone.
To check this, go to Settings > Display. Tap on Night or Blue light. Disable the scheduled feature. Meanwhile, disable it if it’s currently enabled. Open Netflix and see if the video plays with the correct colors.
Pro Tip: You can enable/disable Night Light or Blue light from quick settings on Android too.
6. Disable Video Enhancer
On some phones like Samsung you will find a video enhancer setting. You should disable this to see if the issue with the brightness of Netflix is fixed.
To do this, go to Settings > Advanced settings. Disable the video enhancer. You can also use the search in settings to find a Video enhancer.
7. Check Battery Settings
You should also take a look at the battery settings. Many Android phones offer a high-performance mode that automatically increases the screen brightness. You should change it to a different power setting.
To do this, go to Settings > Battery > Power mode. Switch from current mode to other modes.
Fly: On Samsung phones, you will find the Battery setting inside the Device Maintenance setting.
8. Check for Third-Party Apps
Are you using third-party apps that control your phone’s brightness or monitor its temperature? You should disable or uninstall them to see if they are responsible for the Netflix brightness issue. If your phone has game mode, also check that for temperature monitoring settings.
9. Reinstall Netflix
If the solutions above fail to help, it’s time to uninstall Netflix from your phone. This will not affect your recommendations. To uninstall Netflix, open Play Store and search for Netflix. Tap Uninstall. Once uninstalled, reboot the phone and then reinstall it.
10. Install Netflix Using APK
If updating or uninstalling the app didn’t fix the brightness issue on Netflix, you should install a different version using APK. You can upgrade or downgrade the app to see which version works for you. Some Netflix users suggested that reverting to Netflix version 4.1 fixed the issue. Of course, the app would be different from the latest version and lack certain features.
Time to Change Plan
You can also try changing your Netflix plan to one that only supports HD, as the problem mostly occurs with HDR content (movies and TV Shows). Of course, this means you won’t be able to watch 4K videos, but it’s better than nothing until the problem is completely fixed.
Next: Wondering where to start with amazing new TV shows? Check out our handpicked list of the 7 best Indian TV Shows on Netflix that are worth checking out.
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