Disney is ready to take over the streaming industry with its massive catalog that it has built up in the better part of the last century. With more than 600 popular films at the launch date, Disney+ looks promising. Well, if you’ve already got the subscription or planning to get one over the upcoming holidays, you should check out all the features, bells and whistles of the latest Service. Let’s begin.
Disney+ Tips and Tricks
1. Watch it outside the US
Disney+ as a service would roll out in batches all around the world and if you live on this side of the pond then you’d either have to wait for the service to roll out in your country or just use a VPN like the rest of us. You can simply connect to a VPN server to the US where Disney+ is officially available and you should be fine.
However, if you’re trying to get your hands on that sweet $6.99/mo subscription from outside those countries, you can follow this guide to get Disney+ from anywhere in the world.
2. Watch it on every device
Once you get the subscription rolling, it opens up the whole world of opportunities and the number of devices you can watch Disney+ on. It is available on the following platforms.
If you live outside the US and want to watch Disney+ on devices that don’t support VPN apps then you can set up a VPN on the network and stream easily.
Desktops and Laptops
- Windows
- Mac
- Linux
- Chrome OS
Casting Devices
- Apple AirPlay
- Chromecast
Mobile Devices
- Android smartphones
- Android Tablets
- iPhone
- iPad
Smart TVs and Boxes
- Android TV Devices (NVIDIA Shield, Mi Box, Sony smart TVs, etc)
- LG WebOS Smart TVs
- Roku TV
- Samsung Tizen Smart TVs
- Set-top Boxes and
- Apple TV (4th Generation and later)
- Roku
- Amazon FireTV
Game Consoles
- Sony PlayStation 4
- Xbox One
3. Gift it to your Friends
Disney+ subscription starts as low as $6.99/mo but if you get it for an entire year, it costs just $69.99. If you have small kids who are a big fan of Baby Yoda then you can gift them an entire year of Disney+. It is only valid for new customers in the US so if they already have a subscription then this won’t work. When you purchase the gift card using the link below, you’ll receive an email with an in-depth guide on how to redeem it.
Get Disney+ Gift Card ($69.99)
4. Watch it PIP on Mac
Disney+ is available as an app for both Android and iOS but if you’re planning on binging your favorite shows on a Mac then watching it on a browser is not your only option. Clicker for Disney+ is a web wrapper app so that you can have an app-like experience with Disney+.
Simply download the file from their website, install it, and enter your credentials. It plays just like the browser but you can also enable Picture-in-Picture mode to watch it while doing other work. Pretty cool, right?
Get Clicker for Disney+ (free)
5. Give your Kids a separate profile
Disney has a lot of kid-friendly content and I mean a lot. Unless you want your main profile cluttered with kids’ movies, it’s a good idea to make a kid profile for your kids. You can turn any profile to a Kids’ profile, simply go to the edit page of a profile and enable the switch next to “Kids’ Profile”.
A kid profile has Autoplay disabled by default which would prevent Disney+ from playing the next episode automatically and eating through your data cap for the month.
6. Add to Watchlist
You’re going to rediscover and find some awesome titles on Disney+ and while it may look overwhelming, you can just take a deep breath and add it to the Watchlist so that you can easily discover it again.
To add it to the watchlist, click on the film or show you want to watch it later. Click the Plus button next to the Play button and you’re done. Whenever you wish to revisit your list, simply click the Watchlist button on the top, it would have the list of all the movies and shows ready to go.
7. Take Control of the Media Playback
The media controls on the web browser are very simple. Once a movie starts playing, you get a forward button, a back button, and a pause button. With the power of a Chrome extension, you can change the playback speeds, and add keyboard shortcuts so that you can conveniently skip the boring stuff without reaching for the mouse.
Add Video Speed Controller to Chrome
8. Adjust the Subtitles
It may be an unpopular opinion but subtitles are a necessary evil especially for non-native English speakers. If you watch Disney+ on a web browser then you can customize the subtitles to your preferences. You can change the font style, adjust size, opacity, and color of the text, and reduce the opacity of the subtitles.
9. Disable Autoplay on your Profile
While Disney+ automatically disables autoplay on the kids’ profiles, it doesn’t do that on normal profiles. If you have a habit of dozing off during binge sessions, turn the Autoplay off on your normal profile as well.
Hover the cursor over the avatar, click edit profile, and select your avatar to open the Profile settings. Click on the Switch next to Autoplay, if it is enabled and click Save.
10. Disable Background Video
When you’re casually browsing Disney+ looking for a movie to watch and every time you click a tile, the video automatically starts playing in the background. Well, if you’re not a fan of that, you can turn it off. Go to edit Profiles, select your profile, and disable ‘background video’.
11. Download the content offline
If you’re planning a trip, you can take the Disney+ catalog with you on your phone by downloading your favorite movies and shows. Unlike other services, your downloads don’t expire after a certain period unless you don’t log in to Disney+ on that device for more than 30 days.
To save a movie or TV show offline, simply tap the download button next to the Play button and it should start downloading.
12. Adjust Download quality
With no expiration date, Disney+ offline content would take up significant space on your phone. You can alleviate that problem by reducing the download quality from high, to standard. Simply tap on the avatar on the top right> select App Settings> Video Quality> select Standard.
You can set downloads to only start over WiFi so that you don’t accidentally burn a hole in your data plan. Enable the Switch next to Download Over Wifi only under Downloads in the App Settings.
13. Adjust Video playback
Unless you have an unlimited cellular plan and don’t care about the extra battery drain caused by excessive cellular usage, you should change the Disney+ app settings so that it doesn’t chug your data. Go to App Settings on your Disney+ app, tap Cellular Data Usage, and change the default option. You can choose among Automatic, Save Data, and WiFi only.
Disney+ Tips and Tricks
Disney+ is still a fairly new streaming service with a lot of promising features and perks. Even though there are a few issues such as unavailable content mainly due to exclusive deals with other companies, connection breaks, and limited availability. However, I would still keep my hopes up and look forward to what comes out of Disney+ in upcoming years. What do you think, let me know in the comments below?
