Solving Netflix and Apple TV+ Flickering on macOS

I notice lately it’s awfully annoying when streaming some videos on macOS. It’s constantly flickering when in full-screen mode.

First thing I notice is when I stream Netflix with Safari in full-screen mode. Then another thing also happened when I stream Apple TV+ using their new TV.app, which is also in full-screen mode.

I was wondering what could possibly be cause this.

Some forums said that it is a bug on macOS when you turn the subtitle on. I tried to disable the subtitle and yes it doesn’t flicker.

But I can’t do that forever. English is my second (if not third) language. So I really can enjoy the streaming full experience if I turn on the subtitle.

I was about to give up until I found this Apple Community thread.

Here I quote the answer from the user geezwhiz:

It might sound crazy but I’ve read on a reddit forum that resizing the mouse pointer to a larger size and then returning it back to normal size will fix your issue. This is a temporary fix but it’s better than having to reset the whole system again. It worked for me.

At first I thought it might not work, since it’s a silly solution. But then, why not try it?

I was surprised it actually works!

I didn’t notice the flickering anymore when I stream Netflix with subtitle on and full-screen mode.

Here’s the step you can try:

1. Open System Preferences of your macOS.
2. Select Accessibility menu.
3. Select Display from left options.
4. Select Cursor tab.
5. Change the Cursor size to Large then return it again to Normal.

That’s it. Check if it works by streaming a movie on Netlix or TV.app.

Here is a video I made to help you visualize on how to do it correctly.

Hopefully this simple tutorial is helpful for you. Let me know if you still face the same issue. Thank you for reading.

❗Update: Just use Firefox for better Netflix experience

Somehow the problem is still there when I restart or update my macOS. I’ve tried other browsers just to watch Netflix. Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browser still flicker because it looks like they use macOS built-in subtitle engine.

So far, the one that never flicker is Firefox Developer Edition. Just install and use it, and you’ll never experience flicker again on macOS.

It’s a peace of mind. Enjoy your experience watching it on macOS.

References

• Screen flickering on Netflix - Apple Community

Cover Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash