Netflix Now Allowing Downloads of its Shows And Movies, Though not for 4K Versions
Original news from Here.
According to a recent post by Netflix Director of Product Innovation Eddy Wu, downloading of content is finally going to be a thing for Netflix subscribers, allowing them to take their favorite programming from the online streaming service with them when they head into places where broadband connections don’t exist or work very well.
The streaming media company is letting subscribers worldwide to all different Netflix plans download a growing selection of offerings to Android or iOS devices and best of all, there is no additional cost being imposed for this option.
According to Wu,
“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. Just click the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an internet connection.”
Wu also explains in his blog post that while there are “many” movies and shows are already available for download in this way, there are “more on the way”.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had earlier alluded to the unveiling of this new service by telling reporters that downloadable content was something Netflix was looking into but without offering further details on the company’s plans. The new feature comes as a pleasant surprise to us and will doubtlessly be useful to millions of Netflix subscribers who travel often to places without decent connectivity or who live in areas with spotty broadband access.
Since this feature is only available (at least so far) only for phones and tablets of the Android or iOS variety (since its purpose is after all to address content access for travelers and not home viewers), it obviously doesn’t include downloads of 4K ultra HD content from Netflix, which is a shame but even if the download feature rolls out to TV and PC devices at some point, 4K downloading may not be so easy given the huge size of UHD video files.
According to Eddy Wu’s blog post, phone and tablet users who want to start enjoying Netflix content downloads can do so right away by updating to the latest version of their Netflix app in their devices.
