ATTENTION ALL NETFLIX users: you can now download shows and movies for offline viewing. This is not a drill. Want to binge Stranger Things or Orange Is the New Black, on an airplane or on the road heading home for the holidays? Go wild. Want to watch The Imitation Game on a two-hour subway ride? Knock yourself out.
To get offline downloads, just update your iOS or Android app. Once you get the updated app, you can select “Available for Download” from the Netflix menu from your mobile device to see the entire collection of downloadable content. It’s sorted into the types of categories you’re used to, based on other content you’ve watched in the past. If you’re browsing Netflix the normal way, you can identify offline-friendly content by a new downward-arrow icon.
The reason this has taken so long? Allowing downloads means securing a whole new set of rights from the people who made those TV shows and movies. That’s one reasonNetflix has invested so heavily in creating original content; if it owns the rights to a show, it can distribute it anywhere in the world, and give users whatever viewing options it pleases. Netflix released roughly 600 hours of original content in 2016 alone; that’s 25 continuous days of viewing, and a strong foundation for its downloadable library. READ MORE
