Walmart’s Vudu is one of the most popular video services available in the US, and along with others such as Apple TV, Amazon, and Google Play allows you to download certain titles for viewing later. This comes in handy when you’re on a long flight or road trip where there’s no internet connection. It’s also a great way to save on data charges by downloading from home over Wi-Fi or connected Ethernet cable.
Here’s a guide on how to download movies and TV shows to Windows PCs, Apple Macs, Apple iOS devices (iPhone & iPad), and Google Android mobile devices.
Download on PCs & Macs
Vudu allows customers to download purchased and rented titles to PCs and Macs using the Vudu to Go application for either platform. This allows customers to watch movies and shows on PCs where there isn’t reliable internet service. Here’s how.
1. Install the Vudu to Go application
Vudu users on Windows PCs and Apple computers will have to download and install the Vudu to Go application from Vudu.com or third party download service. The app itself is under 5MB, but depending on how many movies you download can end up taking quite a bit of storage space on your computer.
2. Adjust Your Resolution Settings
You should go to Vudu.com, account preferences and set your download resolution to either SD or HD. If you’ve got plenty of hard drive space (or Flash drive storage) and a large screen with high resolution we suggest downloading in HD (HDX) quality. The movies take up more space, but will look better on screen (especially in full screen). However, if you’re just using a small laptop or like to have a small window running movies in the background, why not save some storage and use SD quality?
3. Find Movies & TV Shows and Download
Under the My Purchases tab in the Vudu to Go app you will find all the movies you have either purchased or rented. Simply click on the Download button, or, the Extras button if there is one. If there is bonus material, the application simply wants to know what parts of the title you want to download first: the main feature, bonus material, trailers, etc.
That’s it! That’s all you have to know in order to download movies from Vudu on your PC or Mac. It’s always a good idea to test a few seconds of the movie to make sure it downloaded correctly before heading off to the airport!
Download on Android & iOS Mobile Devices
Vudu also allows customers to download to Android and Apple iOS devices using the Vudu app for either platform. This makes it easy to watch movies and shows on portable devices like phones and tablets for viewing where there isn’t reliable internet service. Here’s how.
1. Download the iOS or Android app
You first need to download the Vudu Movies & TV app or Apple iOS or Google Android devices. This app is about 65MB (iOS) but varies on Android devices. Unfortunately, the app does not allow you to purchase movies (yet), but maybe will in the future.
2. Check Available Storage
Most apps will warn you if you do not have enough room to download a show or movie, but we suggest checking the available storage before attempting. On your Apple or Android phone look in the general setting for storage/memory and see what is available. Movies and shows can take up anywhere from 500MB to 2GB or higher depending on quality and length of program.
3. Adjust Your Account Settings
Depending on your data plan you should consider adjusting the settings for limiting bandwidth per hour over cellular. You should also set the resolution download size to either SD or HDX. We suggest on most phones and small tablets to use the SD resolution to save download time and storage space. However, if you’ve got a larger tablet like an iPad Pro and really want to max out the resolution use HDX download quality. Vudu currently does not offer 4k UHD downloads.
4. Find Movies & TV Shows and Download
Once you’ve downloaded the app, checked your available storage, and adjusted the settings it’s time to find something to download. Remember, you can only download what you have purchased or rented, and can only buy movies on Vudu.com (or through the app for media players and TVs). Select a title, and click download. Some titles, like Dunkirk pictured above, make you view the details of the movie because there is extra bonus material to choose from.
On TVs & Media Players
Unfortunately, we have not seen the ability to download content to TVs or streaming media players yet. Part of this may be because there isn’t enough storage space on TVs to hold to files, although streaming media players like Apple TV and Roku either have enough storage or can be expanded via external USB drive.
You’ve got it! That’s all you have to do in order to download movies from Vudu on your mobile device. It’s always a good idea to test a few seconds of the movie to make sure it downloaded correctly before heading off to the airport!
Vudu also offers a library of free movies and shows that are ad supported, but we haven’t seen any that are available to download.