Finally. Video streaming giant Netflix has, at long last, decided to let people download and watch its content offline. In other words, users can now enjoy watching Orange is the New Black or other favorite TV shows and movies on their smartphones and tablet devices even without an existing web connection. The company is making this option available to all customers who have already received the latest Netflix update on their compatible smartphone or table. For those not in the know, that would mean any handset that runs on either Android 4.4.2 or newer version, or iOS 8.0 or newer.
Obviously, getting one’s Netflix mobile app is critical. Once that part is done, users can proceed to saving a film or TV show for offline watching by simply tapping the Download Now icon on that movie’s or show’s page in the Netflix menu. Or, users can also choose to view a quick list of all content currently made available for download by clicking the Available for Download section.
About the downloading part, customers are free to downloads TV shows on a per episode arrangement, with users allowed to set their options with regards to the quality of the video -- the Standard option is ideal for those who want quicker downloading and efficient storage, while the Higher Quality option should please those who prefer HD resolution video content.
After the program is done downloading, it will appear in the My Downloads section of the app. To begin viewing (yup, even with one is not connected to the world wide web), users need only click the Play icon next to the movie or episode. For those who want to maximize their storage space, it might be a good idea to wipe out each movie or episode that has been watched already. Users can do this by heading to My Downloads, then choose Edit or the pencil icon located in the upper right section, and then click the X icon, which should delete the program.
Customers should keep in mind though when both downloading and streaming video content, they will consume about the same amount of data. Netflix is suggesting that users limit their downloads only to instances wherein a WiFi connection is made available. It is also a good idea to save all downloaded content locally to one’s mobile device, but note though that those owning handsets powered by Android will not be able to save media into a micro SD card. Bummer.
