If you’ve opened the Netflix app on a device running iOS 16 or iPadOS 16 recently, you might have seen a warning message pop up: it says support for the streaming service is coming to an end for devices running these software versions.
As spotted by 9to5Mac, as of now the latest Netflix app needs iOS 17 or iPadOS 17 to run. That doesn’t mean Netflix will stop working right away on older devices, but no more app updates will be issued for the older platforms.
You’ll still be able to run Netflix on iOS 16 and iPadOS 16 for now, but you’re not going to get any security updates or bug fixes from this point on, and those are both pretty important when it comes to the smooth running of an app.
Eventually, Netflix will stop working on devices that can’t be updated to the latest software, though we don’t know exactly when that will be. If you’re affected by this change, it might be time to have a look at our best iPhones and best iPads roundups for an upgrade.
Affected iPhones and iPads
The iPhones that can run iOS 16 but can’t run iOS 17 are the iPhone X, the iPhone 8, and the iPhone 8 Plus, all launched in 2017. These devices have long been taken off sale, but Apple still issues bug fixes and offers some repair options for them.
As for the tablets that are stuck on iPadOS 16 with no option to upgrade to iPadOS 17, we’re looking at the 5th-generation iPad model, released in 2017, and the 1st-generation iPad Pro released in 2016.
Netflix support will already have been discontinued for any devices older than those we’ve mentioned. The iPad Air 2 (2014) and the iPad mini 4 (2015) couldn’t be upgraded to iPadOS 16 for example, so support has already ended for those tablets.
Of course, iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 are about to be pushed out to millions of devices across the world, giving you another reason to think about upgrading your hardware – even if the Apple Intelligence features will take a while to arrive.