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Netflix, a year and a half after deploying the ability to download content for offline viewing on mobile devices, now adds a feature that should have been present from the start: a new "Smart Downloads" that automatically removes an episode of a TV series that you have finished watching and recovers the next.
However, it is first available only on Android devices. Apple Netflix Apple iOS users will have to wait a few more months before getting smart downloads. "As much as possible, we want Netflix to do the work for you," said Cameron Johnson, director of product innovation at Netflix. "Today, downloads are a manual process – you have to download [TV episodes] one at a time, then delete them."
With Smart Downloads, the Netflix app detects when a user has watched an episode, then removes it from the device and automatically add the next episode. Users can have multiple episodes of a TV series downloaded at the same time, but they usually do not download entire seasons. Johnson pointed out that the automatic refresh feature of smart downloads is optional.
Netflix provides the take-away download for the majority of its television shows, including all original series, but is not allowed to offer offline viewing. service (for example, Disney titles can not be downloaded). The company declined to say exactly how much of the Netflix content was available for download.
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Johnson said that Netflix "is working to bring it to iOS later this year."
Automatic downloads of Netflix only work when users are connected to a Wi-Fi network; This is so that customers on wireless plans capped by usage are not unintentionally chained with data download over charges. By default, the take-away download feature is set to work only on Wi-Fi, but users can choose to force downloads over cellular connections.
Netflix has invested heavily in the mobile user experience over the past two years. Johnson said. The company uses custom video-mobile encodings, which can provide 30 hours of content in 2 gigabytes, according to Johnson. Netflix has also recently introduced 30-second trailers in its mobile apps with a vertical orientation that mimics the Snapchat and Instagram stories.
Watch a Netflix promotional video on the Smart Downloads feature:
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