Connect with us

Mobile

Netflix HD App Ported to Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Published

on

Though Netflix is officially available on Samsung’s recently released Galaxy Nexus with a 720p HD Super AMOLED display, the official app doesn’t stream content in native 720p HD resolution. Thankfully, for pixel-discerning users, developers over at XDA-Developers have been able to port the Netflix HD streaming app to the device, though early work in porting the HD app isn’t without compromises.

On a smaller smartphone screen, even with the Galaxy Nexus’ 4.65-inch display, you probably won’t benefit much from the ported app. The real benefit is when you display content on a larger HDTV screen. Users wishing to do HDMI output to an HDTV will need to grab an MHL adapter. The MHL adapter will allow users to plug in a micro USB cable for charging and a full HDMI cable for video and audio output to a larger HDTV.

The problems with the early port include:

1. Video doesn’t stretch all the way to fill the display of the screen. That means users will see black bars on the Galaxy Nexus display, but thankfully as the device uses an AMOLED-based display, blacks are rich and deep so you probably won’t be as bothered by the black bars where video doesn’t fully stretch as compared to an LCD-based screen, like that on the competing 720p HD display on the LG Nitro on AT&T or the HTC Rezound on Verizon Wireless.

According to the developer on XDA, “The app does NOT go full screen like the market version of the Netflix app, but the quality is 10x better. For a test I watched both Tron and Toy Story 3 for 5 minutes each on both apps to allow enough time to buffer. There is no graininess on the HD app and it just pops more. Test both out and see the difference!”

2. The APK may have compatibility issues with Android 4.0.3 and also with the international GSM variant of the Galaxy Nexus.

In order to install the Netflix HD application, users will have to go to the applications settings under their settings menu and check the box to allow installation of apps from unknown sources. You can download the APK from here and install on your device.

Via: Phone Arena

18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. Anonymous

    12/21/2011 at 3:07 am

    The developers say they tested with “Toy Story 3” and “Tron Legacy”.
    However, neither are available in HD for streaming via Netflix.

  2. Tim Davies

    12/21/2011 at 7:42 am

    I just installed this on my Samsung Galaxy Note and it works beautifully!

  3. Tim Davies

    12/21/2011 at 8:10 am

    I played the new Star Trek Movie and the Sorcerers Apprentice. Both look amazing.

  4. Bsems

    12/21/2011 at 9:48 am

    It does look more clear..slightly better skin tones and such. But at the expense of the soft keys area taking up space on the screen.. eehh.. I’ll go back to regular Netflix with the larger screen. The difference to me doesnt make enough ground to consider using less screen space.

  5. Dubw19

    12/21/2011 at 4:48 pm

    works perfect on my xoom full screen like the official app i tried it with the movie gamer

  6. Anonymous

    12/22/2011 at 7:22 pm

    Toy story 3 and Tron Legacy are both on instant on mine, yours is broken!

  7. Dacharn

    12/30/2011 at 10:28 am

    Looks exactly the same as Market app on my Samsung Galaxy Note

  8. Dacharn

    01/02/2012 at 2:40 pm

    Edit- I installed it again to compare and this version does look a lot better than the standard Market app. It isn’t pixelated on dark colors (on my Samsung Note). thanks.

  9. Liutszhobarry

    01/18/2012 at 8:26 am

    Thank you! This app made my day

  10. Monica

    02/06/2012 at 12:46 pm

    I’m not big on downloading out-of-market apps but I would be willing to risk it with this one if I still had Netflix. I had if for a while but the streaming library just wasn’t what I wanted. It felt like every time I looked for a movie, I had to settle for something else so I cancelled it. I really like streaming though so I found something else, Blockbuster @Home from my employer, DISH. Now I have more options and it even includes upwards of 20 extra movie channels.  I don’t think I’ll have a problem finding the movies I want to watch for a while.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.