Hey Hal! How do I save money on Netflix, Hulu + Live TV and Disney+?

MAVRick
The Hal Blog
Published in
4 min readJul 21, 2020
*Image courtesy of Techcrunch

The great thing about being a Hal is that you get to introduce so many people to ideas, apps, and cutting edge “stuff” (that’s the technical term) that can help them save time, money and effort. After all, Hal is a Personal Assistant app with a another human “at the wheel” to curate solutions and help solve problems!

With that in mind, as the shelter-in-place issues have resurfaced once again, some users are now sold out to having more variety in their TV viewing subscriptions. Of course, with more subscriptions comes the fact that it will be more expensive. And with unemployment still at record levels, people want to know how they can do more with less.

That’s where Hal can come to the rescue.

Best of all, it seems like this particular request, which has become much more frequent, has a really cool new answer that we have decided to share with all of you.

Like most scenarios we get, the circumstances vary. Some people live with roommates or housemates while other live with family and still others are using co-living services like Outsite to help with the whole COVID-19 issue at hand. Regardless of your situation, the quandary is how does one save money and get most (or all) of the streaming services they want without paying the whole thing by yourself — and without sharing your password.

In times past, there was an attempt at “password sharing” which has met with lots of downside, to include people sharing your password with others after the fact without your permission. Thereafter many logins were making their way to the dark web and compromising accounts of all types, which made headlines in several cities across the globe. Needless to say, the risks involved became a looming concern over time.

At one point, Netflix, who was allowing password sharing [past tense] within a “friends & family context” decided to put a stop to that service option and in a complete turnabout then began tracking people who were actively password sharing as a means to discourage the practice. In other words, you could actually lose your subscription to Netflix if you decided to keep sharing your password with others. Yikes!

The other big issue is that as we all end up at home more often for longer periods of time, the desire for variety starts to set in. So while Netflix was a dream come true for months, it seems that now many people are scrolling through an all too familiar list of options and still looking for other new content — which usually equates to considering more types of streaming services. But as we pointed out, that comes at a cost that could add up fast once you start using multiple services.

Fortunately there is a new solution that is now available and it’s called Keyring. It is among the first solution that gives an allowable, affordable way to have it all with the most popular streaming services out there and it is a really cool way to cut cost and get the variety you want. Here’s how it works:

First you connect the services you already own to a new Keyring account. Let’s say for this example you only have Netflix. Next, you send invites to people that you know who have streaming services as well, which could include Disney+, Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu + Live TV, etc. Ideally, these should be people you share a living space with…[but we won’t tell].

After they accept the invitation (UPDATE: this is in beta currently), you all can now share each other’s respective services while splitting the bill with as many as six people. That means you get your services and others for up to one sixth of the total cost! Of course, fewer people reduces the savings while six people can help maximize the savings.

The other cool benefit of this service is that no password sharing occurs. Keyring integrates an encrypted means by which the passwords are safeguarded but the subscriptions can still be accessed among your particular group of invitees. So with Keyring, you can safely save money and not get identified by the streaming services themselves for the password sharing concerns, since you’re not sharing your password across the internet!

Moreover, if you only had Netflix (as in the example), now you have access to several other streaming services that people can bring to the table — and in turn, THEY save on those subscriptions as well, since the group splits all costs for all services. Ideally, whatever you may be paying for one service now becomes a portfolio of streaming options for about the same money (or just a bit more), depending upon how many align in your particular Keyring group.

Image courtesy of Keyring website

Now that you have Hal’s open secret about saving money and getting more access to the entertainment you want, perhaps you may want to consider checking out the Hal App for yourself at some point. Ideas like these and so many others are awaiting you as a new customer if you opt to get a free trial and see for yourself just how handy it is to have your own Personal Assistant. You get download the Hal — Personal Assistant app at the Apple App store for free and then consider the subscription after you test drive it. Our team of Hals is always available to solve a problem, research options, curate information and do our best to exceed your expectations.

So…How can I help you today?

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MAVRick
The Hal Blog

Polymath. MacBook Pro Enthusiast. Narrator. Technophile. Orthogonal Thinker. Gadget Guy. Corporate Dropout. Crowdfunder.