I recently helped a neighbor who bought an Apple iPad 1 running iOS 5.1.1 for his daughter so that she could watch Netflix. He was worried that he wasted his money because he was unable to install the Netflix App. When attempting to install the App from the App store, the install would not complete and said it wasn’t compatible with his version of iOS.
The solution was to login to iTunes with his Apple ID and then search for the Netflix app. Once we located the Netflix app, we clicked on the “Get” button. Netflix downloaded to iTunes on his computer.
We then returned to the iPad which is logged in with the same Apple ID and searched for Netflix in the App Store. This time, when we go to install the App, it says that an older version of the App is available and asks you if you’d like to install it. Press Yes and get ready to enjoy Netflix on your old Apple iPad 1 w/ iOS 5.1.1
Please note that you are NOT syncing the app from iTunes to the iPad. The iPad doesn’t need to be connected to the computer running iTunes for this to work. You will simply be given he option to download the older version of the App on the iPad 1 running iOS 5.1.1 after you’ve installed it in iTunes while logged into iTunes with your Apple ID.
So now that you’re enjoying Netflix on your iPad 1, what should you do now? Here is what you do – buy an Android or Windows tablet next time because they will automatically offer you the version of the App that IS compatible with your equipment.
