A few years back, it watching Netflix on Linux required tweaking your system, installing extra libraries, switching user agents in the web browser.
The good news is that Netflix is now completely supported on Linux. You don’t need to do any extra efforts to watch Netflix on Linux anymore. Well, mostly.
How to watch Netflix on Ubuntu or any other Linux distribution
Did I say Netflix is now completely supported on Linux? That’s only part true. Watching Netflix also depend on the choice of your web browser.
If you want to watch Netflix without any effort, simply use Google Chrome. Google Chrome is the one browser that supports Netflix without any additional requirement.
You install Google Chrome on Ubuntu or whichever Linux you are using, log into Netflix and start watching our favorite movie or web series. It’s been possible because Netflix now uses HTML5 playback by default.
What about watching Netflix on other web browsers?
You can watch Netflix on Linux using Mozilla Firefox as well. You’ll have to enable DRM content because Firefox doesn’t support it by default.
Other Google Chrome based web browsers should also support Netflix.
But watching Netflix on Chromium browser is altogether a different ball game. Chances are that despite your efforts, you might not able to run Netflix on Chromium.
Watching Netflix on older versions like Ubuntu 14.04
Running Netflix on Ubuntu 14.04 is the same. At best, make sure that you have libnss3 installed.
sudo apt install libnss3 libnss3-1d libnss3-nssdb
Cannot find libnss3 in Ubuntu 14.04?
Though libnss3 is already available in Ubuntu 14.04, if you cannot find it, you may use this unofficial PPA to install it.
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:leonbo/nss
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libnss3 libnss3-1d libnss3-nssdb
sudo apt-get upgradeRestart your system once you are done with these commands. You should also make sure that Netflix is using HTML5 playback. Expand the next section to learn how to enable HTML5 playback in Netflix.
Enable HTML5 playback in Netflix
This will be done when you are logged in your Netflix account. Go to your account settings and look for Playback Settings there:
Make sure that you have HTML5 viewing option checked:
That’s it. With nss3 and HTML5 playback, you should be able to see Netflix on Ubuntu 14.04 and other older versions.
Is there a Netflix desktop app for Ubuntu?
There used to be an unofficial Netflix desktop app for Ubuntu. This app ran Wine in the background so not really a native Linux desktop app.
This application has been discontinued and there is no other desktop app for Netflix anymore. The only way to watch Netflix on Linux is through the web browser.
If you want to watch US version of Netflix outside the US, you can use a premium DNS service like Unlocator to access it in any part of the world. In case you don’t have a legal or moral obligation against piracy, you can install Popcorn Time in Ubuntu. Popcorn Time is a torrent based streaming service that has Netflix like interface.
I hope this tutorial helped you to use Netflix in Ubuntu. Any questions or suggestions are always welcomed.
I just tried Chrome and it worked. My default is Chromium and like you said, it didn’t work. Told me to install something. Silverlight I think. Anyway, I got a call from an aid for a Wisconsin Senator. Off the subject but she told me the problems they are having in sending out those stimulus checks. They have to check the IRS list against the Social Security list, then against the list for Vets, and someone realized, a list of deceased people to make sure people only receive 1 check. I am sure you can see they are combining a number of data bases and doing some simple programming of check, then if, and record the results as send, sent, or deny. I am not a programmer. I took classes but only retained enough to talk to the tech guy to tell him I needed a program to look at accounting files to pull up price, mfg, installation, and other related costs, then link that info to my CAD system so I click a part in a drawing to access all that data. Stuff like that. So how long do you think it will take for the govt to create the program they need to send out checks? As I see it, the basics are there. It is a matter of putting them together and telling the computer to what to do.
Hi Dennis,
It might take 6-8 months, at least. As you might know, building a software is no simple matter. You can’t just write code and push it out. There is testing, hosting, QA checks etc. involved. Also, as you know, because of the POTUS’s policy to “buy American, hire American” many software firms had to fire their lowly paid Indian programmers and are now facing a shortage of manpower as American programmers ask for more money and do not work for more than 40 hours a week.
Also, the corona virus has created even more problems with the hiring process.
My advice is to wait till this thing blows over and we get Hilary Clinton as POTUS, so that the software firms can return to their former glory. Meanwhile, you can use your food stamps to survive.