Version 7.58 of the Netflix Android app brings with it an interesting new feature that should’ve been a part of the app all along, anyway: the ability to watch content as it downloads.
For 4 years now, Netflix has allowed users to download content – TV shows, movies, etc – to their mobile devices for viewing later or when they’re offline or not in the vicinity of a hotspot.
For some reason, though, that has always meant that one has to wait till the content has finished downloading before they are able to play it which is rather odd given that even messenger apps like Telegram have, for long, let users do exactly the same.
That is changing.
While the feature is not yet universally available – word on the streets is that Netflix is doing some A/B testing with randomly selected accounts thus the feature may or may not be available for you – it is coming soon. As soon as Netflix is done with public testing.
The use cases for the feature will vary based on everyone’s mileage but it should come in handy for those whose viewing pleasure is often interrupted by incessant buffering or in the unfortunate event when one runs out of data bundles (in the case of a cellular connection) or there is a blackout (where one is on Wi-Fi) that interrupts an ongoing download. Godsend.
This is the latest of nifty features that are making their way to Netflix’s Android app. The last one we reported on was equally useful.
