Netflix: Cannot Play Title. Please Try Again Later, Fix
So you are watching a Netflix show on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and suddenly your movie stops and you see an error message saying “Cannot play title. Please try again later.” Sometimes you may see a very similar, almost identical, message with a number, like 40104, 30103, 5009, etc.. It appears that users may run into this problem trying to watch streamed or downloaded content.
Are you experiencing this problem too? It is important that you fix this. Because this problem will not let you watch a streamed or downloaded TV show or movie. This article describes some simple steps you can take to fix the error.
Please try the steps below. Please ensure that you check after each step to see if Netflix starts working.
1. Restart the Netflix app. Here is how you can do this:
- Exit NetFlix and go to your Home screen. Then:
- iPhone X, 11 or later and iPad with iOS 12 or later: wipe up from the bottom and pause in the middle of the screen.
- Other iPhone, iPad models: Double press the Home button.
- This will bring up the fast app switcher.
- Navigate, swipe left or right and find Netflix.
- Swipe up on the app card. Then reopen the Netflix and try again.
See also: How To Install Apps On Older Devices Running Older Versions Of iOS
2. Restart your iPhone, iPad. Restarting your device may fix your Netflix problem. Here is how you can restart your device:
- iPhone X, 11 or later and iPad with Face ID models: Press and hold the power (it is the side or top button) and volume up (or down) buttons together until you see the power off slider. Drag the slider. Wait 1 minute. Then press and hold the power button until you see the Apple logo.
- iPhone 8 or earlier and iPad with the Home button models: Press and hold the power button (again it is the side or top button) until the power off slider appears. Then drag the slider. Wait 1 minute until your device to completely turn off. Then press and hold the power button until the Apple logo appears.
3. Update your device. Please ensure that your device has the latest version of the iOS or iPadOS software installed. Here is how you can do this:
- On your iPhone or iPad, tap Settings > General and Software Update.
- This will check for updates. If there is an update available, click Download and Install and then follow the onscreen instructions.
- Alternatively, you can also update your iPhone or iPad using your computer:
- Connect your device to your computer using the USB cable.
- Open iTunes (if your computer is Windows or a Mac running macOS Mojave or earlier) or Finder (if your computer is running macOS Catalina or later).
- Click your device and select Update.
4. Check for the Netflix app updates. Make sure that your device has the latest version of the Netflix app on your device. This is really easy:
- On your device, open the App Store app.
- Tap your profile icon.
- Scroll down to find the apps.
- Do you see Netflix there?
- You can only update Netflix or update all apps.
5. Redownload the content, if you are having this issue with the downloaded content.
- Open the Netflix app.
- Go to the Downloads icon.
- Tap the (x) delete icon to delete the content.
- And then download the content again.
6. Check your connection. Watching Netflix requires a strong connection. Your connection may not be stable enough to stream Netflix. Here is what you can do:
- Turn on Airplane mode and wait 1 minute and turn it back off (Settings > Airplane mode).
- Make sure that you are not too far away from your router. You may also restart your router. To restart, unplug it from the power source, wait 1 minute and then replug it.
- Try a different connection, if possible.
- It is possible that your carrier is experiencing an outage. You may want to contact your carrier to check.
- Reset network settings by going to Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings. Please note that doing so will erase your network settings such as your saved Wi-Fi passwords.
See also:
If you are still having this problem, you may want to contact Apple or Netflix.