Until now you could only play the Netflix application on the iPad but a smart MMI reader figured out a way to port the app to the iPhone.
Here are the instructions on how to set up Netflix on the iPhone:
- Get the Netflix app from iTunes
- Locate and rename the .ipa file to .zip and extract it
- Go into the .app file, located at /appname/Payload/appname.app, (show package contents) and open the info.plist
- Edit all references of OS version to show iphone OS 3.1.3 (or your respective version). Save and close
Now, just copied over SSH (with permissions repair and a respring) this will show up on the phone. With Netflix though, it required the mediaplayer frameworks from the iPad.
- SSH, get the mediaplayer frameworks folder from an iPad, located at /System/Library/Frameworks/MediaPlayer.framework
- Copy that to the same location on an iPhone (don’t forget to back up the original from your iPhone just in case). Change permissions to 755 recursive for directories, and then go inside the folder and change the individual file permissions to 644. (Or just recursive 755 to all files/folders on the MediaPlayer.framework folder)
Now the mediaplayer frameworks are in place, all that’s left is a manual install of the app.
- SSH, go to /private/var/stash/Applications
- Copy the appname.app file there and change permissions. (I used 777 recursive for simplicity’s sake, but I’m sure the normal 775 would work).
- Launch and have fun.
These instructions were copied from MMI and slightly altered for reading purposes.
This great hack has some downsides. Apparently Netflix on the iPhone will drain your battery, crash repetitively and will be very slow on 3G, which is not very surprising. Maybe these reasons are why Netflix hasn’t released an official iPhone app yet.
I’m currently in France and I can’t get Netflix to work here but I’d love to hear your feedback if you try it on. [via MMI]