Amazon Video Adds Additional Offline Viewing Support With Download to SD Card Option

Great news for you geeks that love having the ability to watch movies and videos while offline. Amazon Video has added an option for offline viewing that will also allow you to free up space on your Android phone or tablet. This new download to SD card feature is available for both purchased video and Prime Video. Videos can be downloads to an SD card on a per-item basis, or the card can also be selected as a default destination for downloads allowing you to avoid downloading and saving items to your device.

Amazon's announcement comes on the heels of reports that Netflix will soon add the much requested  feature for offline viewing of their own movies and titles. While Amazon Prime customers have enjoyed the benefits of offline viewing for some time, this new feature will simply open up more options and more space for them to take more videos with them on the go.

One of the big advantages of Amazon’s streaming service versus competitors like Netflix and Hulu is the ability to download movies and TV shows. Prime members have access to many free movies and TV shows, while non-Prime members can rent and buy titles to stream or download.

Historically speaking, Netflix has been rather stringent on their options and has done a lot of work to avoid allowing customers offline access. Somewhat quizzically, Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt in late 2015 even went so far as to claim that Netflix doesn’t offer the feature because it doesn’t represent a “very compelling proposition.”

“I think it’s something that lots of people ask for,” Hunt explained further stating “we’ll see if it’s something lots of people will use. Undoubtedly it adds considerable complexity to your life with Amazon Prime – you have to remember that you want to download this thing. It’s not going to be instant. You have to have the right storage on your device, you have to manage it, and I’m just not sure people are actually that compelled to do that, and that it’s worth providing that level of complexity.”

In order to use the new feature you'll need to grab the latest version of the Amazon Video app by visiting the Play Store. Once you give this new feature a whirl let us know what you think in the comments below!