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Netflix Will Now Let Android Users Download Content Onto SD Storage (consumerist.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Consumerist: Now that Netflix has finally opened the doors to offline viewing, subscribers have the ability to download content and watch it later. That's all well and good if you've got plenty of space on your device, but not so useful if you don't. Android users will have some breathing room now, however, as Netflix's most recent app update lets users set their download location to either internal storage or an SD card. As The Verge notes, offline content has a time limit, so it's not like you can download all the movies and TV shows your heart desires and leave them there forever. The feature doesn't support any Android devices that have a microSD slot, either.
"The feature doesn't support any Android devices that have a microSD slot, either."
I assume this is actually "...support all Android devices..."
So it lets users chose download location between internal or SD, but it doesn't support devices with a SD slot?
I recall "Secure Digital" being a reference to the built-in DRM that SD cards had since day 0, to contrast with e.g. CF cards that were "just" a small form-factor for the ATA/ATAPI protocols. The irony of DRM software not being compatible with a DRM architecture from about 15 years before is, while amusing, nothing out of the norm.
Luckily this also means that TPM-based DRM is also dead in a practical sense.
That is what I thought too, but the summary just plain butchered this line:
And Netflix notes that the feature doesn’t support any and all Android devices with a microSD slot.
However even that was clear as mud due to the horrible choice of grammar.
For clarity, I am currently downloading a video onto my MicroSD card from my Android app. So yes, "SD Card" is generalized to "external storage". I have no idea what the consumerist.com write-up means by "The feature doesn’t support any Android devices that have a microSD slot, either".
After testing on my personnal device :
yes, the Verge is full of shit.
Netflix correctly suggest downloading to my externel exFAT-formatted uSDXC card.
(Which is setup as default under the android system settings).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
my brother downloaded a season of a show to watch abroad, but when he got there he was not allowed to view it. So what use it this feature anyway ?
Offline content doesn't have an expiration. Playing it does. So if you download in the US, then store it for 12 months to play elsewhere, it'll eventually refuse to play. But it's still there, unless you delete it. You just connect, open Netflix, go to your downloads, and click on it, and it'll play locally, after a quick check to the servers that it would be playable if you were to stream it.
Actually quite reasonable of a restriction. I've found stuff lasts about 2 weeks, but not everything expired at the same time, so that may not be a firm number (or I could have started looking at a time in the middle of an expiration period).
So if you are not trying to game the system, you can download at home, play on the bus (while connected via 3G) and 100% of playback will be from local, and nothing will ever expire. Also, if you open netlfix daily at home, but play offline at work, you shouldn't see a problem. So the "expiration" is over-stated in an attempt to generate clickbait to get people angry over the limitations that seem quite reasonable.
Learn to love Alaska
For clarity, I am currently downloading a video onto my MicroSD card from my Android app. So yes, "SD Card" is generalized to "external storage". I have no idea what the consumerist.com write-up means by "The feature doesn’t support any and all Android devices that have a microSD slot, either".
Fixed the quote for you.
I guess what this means is that there are some devices that can't use SD. I don't know what the constraints are... maybe it only works on devices with sufficiently-good hardware DRM (there are various levels, and Netflix does adjust its behavior based on what your hardware has), or maybe it only works if the SD card is configured as adopted storage (which is encrypted for security, making it also unusable for sharing Netflix videos). Or maybe The Verge is just wrong and it does work on all devices. Or something else.
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Why do I need gaddem Microsoft Edge to watch your stuff in 1080p?