Official Netflix app unofficially works on rooted Dell Streak

Much to the delight of HTC EVO 4G, Nexus One and S, HTC Incredible, and G2 users yesterday, Netflix finally released its official Android app to the Market. Dell Streak owners (along with countless other groups) were understandably less enthusiastic during the hours it took for the internet to descend upon the "members only club" and break down the doors to let more people in. After that, they were very happy too.

And why wouldn't they be? It's Netflix! On the Streak!

There are several different variations of the hack (root required) floating around to get this working—one is even said to have originated in our very own forum—and what works for some doesn't always work for others. If you're worried about messing something up, make a Nandroid backup first.

The easiest method (and the one that worked for me on the first try on StreakDroid 1.9) is to install the app and reboot the Streak after changing these two lines in  /system/build.prop:

• ro.product.model=Dell Streak
• ro.product.manufacturer=Dell Inc.

to this:

• ro.product.model=HTC Vision
• ro.product.manufacturer=HTC

What this does is trick the Streak into thinking it's the G2, one of the "approved" phones.

There's more than one way to change the build.prop on the Streak, but I just used Root Explorer, tapped the system folder, long pressed the build.prop, tapped Open in Text Editor, made the changes, and tapped Save & Exit. A backup of the original build.prop was automatically created.

If your Streak isn't rooted, then there are always apps like Splashtop Remote to get your Netflix fix from while you wait for the official app to become available.

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