Netflix Won't Let Rooted Google Android Smartphones Download App From Play Store

Google Android power users have long been able to root their phones for extra functionality and customization. But now, rooted users will have to leap through an extra hoop if they want to watch Netflix on the go. Netflix has disabled its Android app through the Google Play app store on rooted Android phones, Android Police reported.

In a statement to Android Police, Netflix confirmed the move:

"With our latest 5.0 release, we now fully rely on the Widevine DRM provided by Google; therefore, many devices that are not Google-certified or have been altered will no longer work with our latest app and those users will no longer see the Netflix app in the Play Store."

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Google’s Widevine digital rights management is used to provide security protections to content providers who stream or offer multimedia content on Android devices. Rooting refers to unlocking access to a larger portion of the Android operating system. With a rooted phone, users can perform tasks like loading alternative Android operating system variants or customize core functions and aspects of Android.

The update is ostensibly designed to target piracy, especially now that Netflix offers local downloads for offline viewing on mobile devices. With root access, it’s conceivably easier to rip shows that are locally stored on a smartphone or tablet versus a stock Android device.

However, as Android Police noted, it’s still possible to install and update Netflix on a rooted Android device. To do so, you simply have to download the Netflix installation file from a third-party outlet like APKMirror and manually install it onto your smartphone. With this method, you wouldn’t have to go through the Play Store and you still could receive regular updates to the Netflix app.

In the larger picture, rooting smartphones tends to be reserved for power and enthusiast users. Reliable numbers on the percentage of Android users with rooted devices are unavailable, but a 2015 study from security company Lookout found only 7 percent of federal employees polled use a jailbroken or rooted device while at work.

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But the move still reflects the continued back-and-forth push between companies like Google and power users who want to customize and use their phones without hardware restrictions. Companies have an obvious incentive to ensure that their content is well-protected from piracy, but at the same time, users who root their phones to avoid headaches like carrier-mandated apps are caught up in the security update’s downsides.

At the moment, competing apps from services like Hulu have yet to announce similar moves. Downloadable shows also remain an increasingly popular option for streaming services. With downloadable shows and offline viewing, users can locally save shows or movies to watch in areas where they don’t have reliable data or internet access. These scenarios could include when users are on the subway or on a flight.