11 Ways to Improve Your Hulu Experience
Did you know you can set up Google to filter out junk? Follow these steps to improve your search results, including adding my work on Lifehacker as a preferred source .
Hulu, one of the most popular streaming services, is losing its standalone app . Next year, Disney will add the service to Disney+, even if you don’t subscribe to the latter.
Until then, however, the Hulu app is still alive and kicking. If you use it to watch shows and movies like Shogun and Paradise , there are a few ways to improve your viewing experience, save money, and keep watching when Hulu doesn’t want you to. Even after you close the app, some of these tips will help you enjoy watching Hulu more on the Disney+ app.
Increase the value of your subscription
If you subscribe to Hulu alone, you’ll pay either $9.99 per month (with ads) or $18.99 per month (without ads). However, there are other subscription options that will allow you to save more.
If you pay monthly for Hulu with ads and are sure you want to keep the account for a year, you’re better off signing up for a year’s worth of Hulu, which costs $99.99. It’s more expensive at first than $9.99 per month, but you’ll end up saving $19.89 per year, which is almost two “free” months of Hulu.
You might also want to consider one of Hulu’s many bundles. Disney+ and Hulu, both with ads, cost $10.99, which is $1 more per month than Hulu’s standard ad-supported plan. The same bundle without ads will set you back $19.99, which is also $1 more than Hulu’s standalone ad-free plan. There are other bundles that work this way, too, including ESPN or HBO Max, so it all depends on what subscriptions you really need and how much you’re willing to pay.
Pay for another participant
Once upon a time, you could share your Hulu subscription with anyone you wanted. Life was great. But fast forward to today, and a lot has changed . You can only share your Hulu account with people who live in your household. Everyone else will be blocked from signing in.
Hulu is far from the only company doing this, and it’s not the only one with an official (paid) solution: buy an extra account. If you know someone who doesn’t live with you but you want to give them access to your account, you can give them paid access.
There are several options, depending on the type of Hulu account you have. Here are the current prices:
-
Hulu (with ads): $6.99/month
-
Hulu Premium: $9.99 per month
-
Disney+, Hulu Bundle: $7.99/month
-
Disney+, Hulu Bundle Premium: $10.99/month
-
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle: $11.99/month
-
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN Select Bundle Premium: $14.99/month
Bypass password sharing restrictions
If you don’t want to pay for an extra member, there are ways to get around Hulu’s restrictions , but they’re not exactly convenient and depend on the type of device you’re watching on.
Hulu determines where your “family” is based on the TV you’re logged into. If you try to watch Hulu on a TV that’s not in your family, you’ll likely be flagged as unwanted. You can change the family location to your TV, but that’ll remove account holders, which isn’t great. Instead, you can choose the “I’M AWAY” option. A code will be sent to the account holder’s email address. Enter that code on the TV, and you’ll be good to go. (Hulu uses this feature for account holders who are on vacation or away from home, so use it with caution.)
Other devices, such as laptops, smartphones, and tablets, only need to be connected to your home Wi-Fi network to log in. So, use Hulu on your device in the account owner’s home as soon as possible, and you’ll be able to use it outside of the home without any problems.
Make sure you are watching in the best quality possible.
If you don’t need to limit your data usage, you’ll probably want to watch Hulu in the highest video quality possible on your mobile device. However, you won’t find this quality setting for individual shows or movies.
Instead, to change your video settings, go to your profile, then go to Settings > Cellular Data Usage . Change the default from Data Saver to Best Available, and Hulu will automatically choose the best quality based on your data plan. To download shows and movies in the best possible quality, go to Settings > Downloads and make sure Video Quality is set to High. Of course, this will increase your data usage, so only change these settings if you’re okay with it.
Manage your downloads
If you’re traveling somewhere without Wi-Fi or cellular service, or don’t want to overload your data plan, you can download Hulu shows ahead of time and watch them without any hassle. Unfortunately, you’ll need a Hulu premium account or subscription package to do so, and downloading shows to laptops and computers isn’t yet possible; for now, that option is only available for smartphones and tablets.
To download movies to your device, open the desired series or movie, then tap the Download button under the description. To manage your downloaded movies, return to the Downloads tab on the main screen. Unwatched movies are available for download for 30 days, and watched movies are available for download for 48 hours after you start watching.
To delete a download, click Edit, select the files you want, and click the Trash icon. Confirm your choice by clicking Delete.
Download via cellular
If you plan on downloading shows and movies to your device, make sure it’s actually possible! By default, Hulu doesn’t allow you to download content while using cellular data, in a good faith effort to prevent you from going over your data plan. But if you have an unlimited data plan or are just good at managing your data, you can download content anywhere, anytime. To do this, go to Profile > Settings > Downloads and make sure Cellular is set to On instead of Off, which is the default.
Teach the algorithm what you like
When you’re done watching something or come across a title you’ve seen before, give Hulu feedback by clicking the Like or Dislike button. (This feature is a little hidden on desktop; just click the three vertical dots next to the title and select the appropriate option.) If you’ve previously watched a show you don’t like and don’t want Hulu to count it as a favorite, you can also remove it from your My Stuff history. On desktop, go to My Stuff and click the minus sign in the upper-left corner of the show you want to remove, then confirm the deletion. On mobile, click the My Stuff icon in the bottom navigation bar, then the three dots in the upper-right corner of the show you want to remove, then uncheck My Stuff in the pop-up window.
Turn off autoplay to enjoy the subtitles in peace.
You know, streaming services, sometimes it’s nice to watch the credits after a great show or movie. It gives us a chance to reflect on what happened or appreciate the hundreds of people who worked on that content, instead of jumping right into watching the next exciting episode.
You can easily turn off autoplay to avoid this. Just go to the Settings section of your profile and make sure that the Autoplay Next Video option is set to Off instead of On, which is the default.
Disable autoplay for previews
Likewise, I hate it when I’m reading a description of a show and the preview starts automatically. Sure, sometimes it can be useful, but most of the time it’s distracting. If I want to see a preview, I click on the trailer, thank you very much.
On the same settings page, you can disable the “Autoplay previews” option. This will only affect previews on your current device.
Edit your Continue Watching list
If you start watching a series or movie but don’t finish it, it will go to your “Continue Watching” list. This is convenient if you want to continue watching it in the future, but not so convenient if you don’t plan on watching it any further.
You can quickly remove any title that appears here by clicking on the three dots and then selecting Delete or Remove from Watch History.
Pause your subscription
If you’re already using Hulu, but not quite there yet , you don’t have to cancel your subscription entirely. Instead, you can pause your payments to take a break without resubscribing.
To do this, go to your Hulu account settings on your computer, then select PAUSE next to the Pause Subscription option.