The streaming platform has revolutionized all the possible ways to give comfort to users. No one has to be tied to fixed schedules or live streaming to binge-watch their favorite shows. Some of the most used OTT Platforms, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Disney+, offer a plethora of video content, TV shows, documentaries, and live events at one click.
This shift could only be possible because of a robust video streaming platform offering offline video streaming features. Whether you are traveling for long hours, have a few day’s stay in a remote area, or are in a limited connectivity zone, your favorite shows can always be at your fingertips.
What is Offline Viewing?
Offline viewing is one of the most sought-after features in every video streaming platform. With this feature, users can download the video content as per their quality preference and watch it in offline mode. This feature is introduced for users who travel frequently, have limited internet access, or have limited data usage. By providing offline features, video streaming platforms have advanced the video-watching ability to anywhere and anytime.
How Does Offline Viewing Work?
- Video library: The user will log in to the video streaming platform’s library, choose the videos they want to download, and click on the download icon.
- Quality: Some platforms give users the choice to pick the preferable download quality. Higher quality will take up more storage space, while the lower will save space but reduce the clarity.
- Store management: Downloaded content will be stored locally on the device’s internal storage. Users can also transfer it to an external memory card depending on platform capabilities.
- Viewing option: Users can access the downloaded video content without the connection and watch it within the streaming application.
- Renewal: Some streaming applications have a date due on a licensing agreement. This agreement will need the user to renew the download by reconnecting to the internet.
Type of Video Downloads Available for Offline Viewing
Different types of streaming platforms offer different video download options to cater to user preferences and device capabilities. Some of the most common types of video downloads can be:
- Standard definition (SD): This is the lower resolution mode for the videos that take up less storage space. It is ideal for limited storage capacity users and is preferable to those who want to download multiple videos.
- High definition (HD): This enhances the quality of the video and makes it suitable for devices with larger screens.
- Ultra high definition (UHD): This quality takes up most of the storage space and download time. It can only support UHD devices.
- Partial downloads: It refers to the download feature where specific parts of a video, such as individual episodes of a TV series, can be downloaded.
- Smart download: This feature automatically downloads the next episode of a series after the user completes watching the current one.
Benefits of Offline Viewing
Offline viewing offers numerous benefits to the user who chooses streaming platforms while traveling. As the demand for video content consumption is growing, offline viewing remains a valuable feature to enrich the overall streaming experience. Some of the benefits of streaming offline are:
- Better user experience management: Offline viewing provides users a better control on the overall viewing experience. They can choose their preference while downloading the video. Moreover, users can organize their content library accordingly. This control gives user satisfaction and a personalized entertainment experience.
- Accessibility: Offline viewing gives access to users to consume video content in areas with limited or no internet access. This allows them to download the video content at the time of better connectivity and watch it later. This flexibility to access video content is now serving a broader audience, especially in rural areas where reliable internet may not be available.
- Battery efficiency: Online streaming requires a continuous flow of data and processing, which can drain the device battery quickly. While offline streaming consumes less battery power as content is stored locally. Users can watch the video content without worrying about excessive battery drain issues. This mode is ideal for long journeys or situations where access to chargers is limited.
- Buffering: Loading while playing can disrupt the viewing experience. Buffering can also reduce the video quality, especially in areas with slow or unstable internet connection. For watching the offline video, there is no requirement for internet and video buffering as the video is stored in the local space of your device.
- Data saving: Online streaming video consumes a significant amount of data and will deplete the data plan. For high-quality video, additional costs or reduced speed situations might arise. To avoid the situation, users can download the video over Wi-Fi as per their quality preference. Some video streaming platforms offer quality preference.
- Convenience: Offline viewing gives unparalleled convenience by allowing users to download the content and watch it multiple times at their convenience, regardless of place and internet availability. This is beneficial for commuters, travelers, and those taking long trips to places with unreliable internet.
- Multi-platform synchronization: Many video streaming platforms offer synchronization across multiple devices. Users can download video content on one device and access it on another. For example, users can log in to the OTT platform on their smartphone and download the video. They can continue watching the video on their laptop or tab without re-downloading the content.
Challenges with Offline Viewing Implementation
Offline viewing is a complex and resource-intensive task for some streaming platforms. The complexity makes most users skip this feature despite its popularity. Some of the major challenges that platforms might face when trying to offer offline viewing are:
- Rights management: Businesses will find it difficult to manage licenses and rights for downloaded content. Most content providers take strict action on the materials to be used, including downloading. New businesses might struggle to negotiate licenses on complexity and cost grounds.
- Storage limitation: Offline viewing takes space and impacts storage limitation as a user needs to store the content locally on their devices. High-quality videos, on the other hand, take significant storage space, which can be a constraint for users. This issue can become a problem when users want to download multiple episodes of a series or several movies at once.
- Security: Content piracy and unauthorized video content distribution is the major concern for streaming platforms. Many video streaming platforms implement robust encryption and DRM technologies to prevent illegal copying and sharing. Developing and maintaining this security measure can be expensive and challenging for some platforms.
- Technical constraints: Maintaining the infrastructure to support offline viewing across various devices is challenging. Streaming platforms must ensure that their offline viewing feature is compatible with multiple ranges of devices, such as tablets, smartphones, and PCs. To perform this, the software has to undergo continuous updates and testing modes.
- User experience: Balancing ease of use and video quality can be crucial to achieve for offline viewing. The platform has to invest in high-quality design to prepare a user-friendly interface. The interface must allow users to easily download and manage the content offline. Clear options for download quality, storage space management, and smart downloading features also have to be designed. Moreover, to make the platform seamless to use it is required to have a fast and reliable download process.
- Bandwidth: Offline viewing experience asks for significant bandwidth for downloading high-quality videos. Platforms have to continuously optimize their servers and network infrastructure to handle large data transfers. This feasibility is required especially during peak times, when users may download content simultaneously. While making the platform capable of handling large bandwidth can be a challenging task, the impact on large downloads is also a matter to study. The platform has to check if the offered download option is not impacting the content quality.
Conclusion
Offline viewing is one of the valuable and sought-after features that enhances the usability of video streaming platforms. With offline viewing options, video streaming applications provide users with convenience, flexibility, and better data-saving options. While it can be a challenge for certain streaming platforms, Enveu is the one paving the way for more accessible and user-friendly offline viewing options.
As an OTT building platform, Enveu is aware of the importance of a seamless viewing experience for users. It is important to keep in mind the growing demand for offline viewing as most of the users watch video content when they travel. Envue worked on this feature to meet the audience’s needs perfectly. By integrating the offline viewing feature, Envue ensures users can enjoy their favourite content with ease.
