Earlier this month, it was reported that Netflix was running through the possibility of an offline viewing feature, much like Spotify’s offline listening mode. The company stated that it was in the process of figuring out how to provide the service for low-speed areas across the world that rely more on downloading content.
This actually was not the first time that such a feature had been considered by the company, either. Users have been requesting something like this for a while now, but Netflix officials were unsure on how to handle storage, or whether or not the profits would be worth the endeavor.
In an announcement today, however, Netflix disclosed that an offline viewing feature is now available for users of the company’s app.
While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their House of Cards marathon while on the road, in the air, on a train, or, wherever else they may find themselves.
To download, it’s as simple as clicking the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an internet connection, which we at Consider The Consumer find pretty nifty.
Netflix has said that many popular TV series are already available for download. Users simply have to make sure that they’re running iOS 8.0 or later or Android 4.4.2 or later on their devices and that their Netflix app is updated to the most recent version, and all should go smoothly.
Gizmodo reported that the amount of storage space that will be needed varies depending on the show or movie that is being downloaded. The site says that a 1 hour show takes up approximately 280 megabytes in standard definition and about 440 megabytes in high-definition.
This means, if you’re planning to binge watch a ton of new shows, you’ll likely need gigabytes worth of storage space on your device.
Remember though, that shows and movies should be downloaded before a long trip since doing so without an internet connection will eat up about as much data as streaming the content would. Netflix hasn’t released the file types that its videos are to be saved as, but early indications suggest that they are not going to be viewable from a laptop or other device, and downloaded videos can only be accessed through the Netflix app.
Downloads, apparently, have an expiration date as well. TV shows and movies will expire after one week, and some exclusive content will expire 48 hours after you begin watching it.
For more information on how to download content, Netflix says to visit its Help Center.
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