Netflix has today introduced a feature that local video on demand service Showmax has had since earlier this year, downloading content for offline viewing.
The feature is only available on the lastest version of the Android or iOS app which is out now.
“While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their Stranger Things binge while on airplanes and other places where Internet is expensive or limited,” said Netflix in a blog post announcing the new feature.
Upon downloading or updating the app, users will be met with an option to see which series and movies are available for download. We should point out that not all shows are available for download.
Shows that can be downloaded will have an icon illustrating such and a simple tap will start transferring the show from the cloud, to your smartphone or tablet. Netflix has also added an “Available for Download” category to easily find the content that you might want to watch
Before you click download
Because you’re downloading video content you can expect that the file sizes can be quiet massive. One episode of Narcos at standard quality will eat up about 220MB of storage space. For that reason Netflix has included an option to only allow downloads over WiFi. Two thumbs up for that.
What is unclear at time of writing is how long users will be able to hold on to the content they have downloaded. We are in the process of getting more information regarding this and we will update you as soon as possible.
In the meantime if you’ve managed to download and watch all two seasons of Orange is the New Black (that is all Netflix allows South Africa to watch) you will need to delete that content to make room for more. Thankfully Netflix has instructions for doing that which you can follow below.
Deleting content on iOS
- Tap the Menu icon (three horizontal lines)
- Tap My Downloads
- Tap Edit in the upper right corner of your screen
- Tap the red X icon to remove the title from your device
Deleting content on Android
- Tap the Menu icon (three horizontal lines)
- Tap My Downloads
- Tap the edit icon (looks like a pen) in the upper right corner of your screen
- Tap the red X icon to remove the title from your device
