Netflix update allows some people to speed up or slow down shows

Change draws intense anger from actors and directors

(Netflix)

Netflix is letting some people speed up or slow down their shows as part of a new test.

The company says that some users will be given the option to speed up films or TV to 1.5 times their normal speed, as well as slowing them down 0.5 times.

The change has only rolled out to a select number of people and may never arrive. But it has prompted intense anger from actors and directors, who argue that the change could ruin the watching experience.

Actor Aaron Paul suggested the feature would mean Netflix "completely taking control of everyone else’s art and destroying it". Judd Apatow said that he would "call every director and show creator on Earth to fight you on this" and that the company should leave things "as they were intended to be seen".

The outcry led Netflix to publish a blog post in which it defended the update and made clear that there was no plan to roll out the feature in the short term.

"This last test has generated a fair amount of feedback – both for and against," wrote Keela Robison, vice president for product at Netflix. "Given the questions being raised, I wanted to share more details about what’s happening."

Ms Robison stressed that the feature was limited only to mobile phones, and suggested that was at least partly because of the reaction of actors and directors. "We’ve been sensitive to creator concerns and haven’t included bigger screens, in particular TVs, in this test," she wrote in the blog post.

She also mentioned that the feature has "long been available on DVD players - and has been frequently requested by our members". She pointed to examples such as people looking to watch a scene again, or go slower because they are watching in a foreign language.

As well as those changes, Netflix stressed that the feature corrects the pitch in the audio. And users must select the different speed each time they watch, rather than being able to change the speed across all of their content.

The feature will not roll out "in the short term", Ms Robison wrote. "And whether we introduce these features for everyone at some point will depend on the feedback we receive."

While few TV and film streaming services offer the ability to speed up or slow down – though YouTube has long had the option – a number of other apps do include the feature. Podcast players in particular usually give users the ability to change the playback speed, a decision that occasionally prompts criticism from producers.