Netflix with Ads was perfect for me until I discovered a Chromecast dealbreaker

When I canceled my Netflix subscription after the last round of price increases, I thought I was out for good. I had paid for my own plan after getting kicked off of my mom’s plan when geo-restrictions became more rigid (we live in different countries), but there was no way I could justify more than $15 a month for a single streaming service.

Then I noticed that everything I want out of Netflix is available on the cheapest ad-supported plan: HD streaming, two simultaneous streams, the incredible catalog of Netflix mobile games, and, most importantly, a healthy dose of My Little Pony episodes my five-year-old daughter has been nagging me to watch. It was an easy decision at less than half the Standard plan’s price.

The surprising thing was that the ads didn’t bother me at all. They’re hardly there, in fact, and the real limitations are more of a minor annoyance. One petty Chromecast-related omission, however, took me completely by surprise, and it might be a dealbreaker.

Before I get to that, let me list some of the things you’re not getting with the ad-supported plan. The big one is that some TV shows and movies are locked to higher-tier plans. They’ll appear with a lock icon in the upper corner, and you can’t watch unless you pay up.

The strange thing is that I have only seen the icon once in more than two months of using the new plan. Maybe it’s the shows I watch or the country I’m watching from (Spain), but nearly everything appears to be available. The only exception I’ve seen is House of Cards, but I soured on that show in 2017, for obvious reasons.

When it comes to watching content, the ads are fairly unintrusive compared to something like YouTube. For me, Netflix is mainly for background watching on a second monitor, so I can zone them out pretty easily.

Thankfully, there are no ads on mobile games, which do require more attention. Kids’ profiles don’t show ads, either, which is something everybody can get behind.

But recently, I discovered another limitation while trying to play the atrocious My Little Pony: A New Generation movie (who decided to give these ponies smartphones?) for my daughter on the big screen: Netflix Standard with ads doesn’t support casting to a Chromecast.

At first, I thought it was a problem with my internet, which can sometimes cause the little cast icon to disappear on my phone. So I loaded Netflix on my PC and tried to cast directly via Chrome, which displayed the error message above on my TV, revealing the culprit.

I didn’t see anything about this on Netflix’s guide to different plans, but a quick search showed the information tucked away in an obscure support page. In short, the ad-supported plan only works on the (slightly) newer Chromecast with Google TV models. I suspect it has something to do with not being able to play ads on older models, or with needing the full Netflix app to be installed (which is only possible on Chromecasts that run the full Google TV operating system), but it’s incredibly frustrating.

Obviously, I could upgrade my aging Chromecast Ultra to the latest Google TV Streamer, but apart from my issue with Netflix, I have no reason to. It’s served me well for more than five years now, and the last thing I need is another remote for my kids to lose in the living room.

So my solution was simple: Use the Netflix app built into my TV.

I know a lot of people do this anyway — there’s a big Netflix button on my TV’s remote for a reason — but I can’t stand it. It takes ages to load, searching is a nightmare, and worst of all, it gives me less control. When magic is restored to the ponies of Equestria at the end of the movie, I want the show to stop. My daughter, remote in hand, prefers to sneak a few more episodes before I can notice.

Ultimately, I have a feeling that I’ll cut ties with Netflix again as soon as my daughter’s pony phase is over. As far as I know, the issue is exclusive to Netflix, with alternatives like Disney Plus with ads working just fine with older Chromecasts. One thing is for certain though: I’m not shelling out $18 a month for the standard plan, Chromecast or not.