It’s a dilemma we’ve all faced before, hoping to watch a new Netflix series on a long plane ride but in-flight Wi-Fi blocks the service. That all changed today when Netflix launched downloads for select titles as part of an update to their app for Android and iOS devices.
Amazon started offering this option over a year ago, and YouTube Red subscribers can also download content for viewing offline. But until today, Netflix users needed to be connected.
In a blog post, Netflix Director of Product Innovation Eddy Wu made it seem like there wasn’t much content upon launch to download. But after updating the Netflix app we found hundreds of titles, not including individual episodes, that are readily available to download for viewing later.
Narcos, Orange is The New Black, and The Crown are among the titles most publicized in other articles. But they’ve also got most Netflix Originals including 3%, Stranger Things, Black Mirror, Marco Polo, and House of Cards ready to name a few.
Non-Netflix series available to download include Arrow, Penny Dreadful, Friday Night Lights, and Madam Secretary among a growing list. (See the screenshot below for more.)
Wu says there are more titles to come, and didn’t mention any expiration date on the downloads. We can only assume the content will be accessible indefinitely.
The Netflix download service is only available on phones and tablets running Android and iOS, with good reason, if the content was allowed on PCs there would likely be a way to bootleg the video and distribute illegally.
Netflix Version 9.0.0 for iOS is a 41MB file available at iTunes, while the Android version and size varies depending on device.
