Christmas has come in early! It was inevitable, wasn¡¯t it? Netflix -- that gateway drug to quality streaming video heaven -- has finally announced it will allow offline viewing of videos.
Subscribers of the popular online streaming service now have the option of downloading videos onto their favourite devices to watch them at their leisure, without the need for an active internet connection. The feature is supported throughout different Netflix subscription tiers, which is another great thing about this announcement.
Netflix is one of the most popular online video streaming services
All Netflix users have to do now is look for the down arrow (which is currently only visible on select videos), click on it, start the download of the video, click on the app menu and select the downloaded video to watch offline. Yippee!
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Netflix Offline Download!
Oh, how things change within a few months! As recent as 2014, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings had rubbished the idea of an offline video viewing feature, claiming it would never happen.
But as Netflix has widened its markets and launched internationally in an aggressive manner, it has realised that quality of the internet and users¡¯ consumption behaviours made the ¡®download and view offline later¡¯ option pretty much inevitable.
Netflix fans have welcomed the move, a lot of whom were clamouring for the convenience and ease of viewing the offline video feature offers. Especially, where Amazon Prime Video (arguably Netflix¡¯s biggest competitor) has been supporting offline video viewing for a while now.
In a country like India, where broadband and cellular data speeds are abysmal at best, this will now prompt Netflix users to download videos at offices and public Wi-Fi hotspots, before tuning into their favourite series while commuting through public transport or shuttling through airports. If office IT departments hadn¡¯t blocked Netflix before, they¡¯ll certainly be blocking it now. Heh!
All we have to say to Netflix is great move. We can all finally Netflix and Fly!