5 ms·

We downloaded some shows from netflix before we went off grid so we would have something to watch in case there was some down time. Sure enough, we couldn't wa

We downloaded some shows from netflix before we went off grid so we would have something to watch in case there was some down time. Sure enough, we couldn't watch them. The netflix app needed to phone home before it would allow us to see them.

HideousKojima 4y ago
That's why you sail the seven seas and download them from places other than Netflix
autoexec 4y ago
That's DRM for you. Never trust it. Get a phone with expandable storage and fill your SD card(s) with GBs of non-DRM encumbered media and you can enjoy having it all instantly accessible to you whenever/wherever you want it for as long as you like. Control is what DRM takes from you, but we have the technology to take it back for ourselves.
- Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago
  The 'R' does not stand for "rights" (but I'm sure you know that)
  - merely-unlikely 4y ago
    Not your (the consumer's) rights anyway.
- phpisthebest 4y ago
  Or run your own server like emby or plex both have offline access / download for their mobile apps...
  - stavros 4y ago
    Plex offline has never worked for me. It always freezes and never downloads anything. It's astonishing how janky the Plex app is, even after so long.
- samatman 4y ago
  VLC is available for both flavors of phone/tablet, you don't need an SD card, builtin storage is fine.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    builtin storage is tiny (typically 128 or 256 GB) to force people into keeping all their data in the cloud, which doesn't help you when you're offline.
    - nijave 4y ago
      On Android, you can usually plug flash drives into the phone's USB port (either USB-C drives or using the correct dongles/adapters). They might insist you format them first so make sure you start by plugging them in and formatting on the phone before adding media. I think there's some apps that can read, for instance, NTFS (although I remember it being a little flakey)
      - autoexec 4y ago
        I never heard about that before, but if that works it'd be amazing! Now I just have to dig up an adapter...
      - dredmorbius 4y ago
        A feature to look for is OTG (USB On The Go) connectors and devices. This allows storage, peripherals (wired headphones!) to connect to the USB-C port: <https://www.minitool.com/news/what-is-otg.html https://www.minitool.com/news/what-is-otg.html> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go>
      - TheNewsIsHere 4y ago
        You can also do this with iOS/iPadOS devices, although it won’t write NTFS.
    - samatman 4y ago
      You get what you pay for, iPhones, for example, top out at 1TB. If the tiny built in storage is to "force people" to do things, what are the models with lots of storage for? Or, if that's your thing, feel free to cheap out on the phone and make up for it with a microSD card, that's why they still sell those models. I'm sure it'll get lots of security updates too, right? Point being VLC doesn't care whether your phone has a headphone jack. Sorry, I meant SD slot.
ncpa-cpl 4y ago
> Sure enough, we couldn't watch them. The netflix app needed to phone home before it would allow us to see them. I had this happen before. I was able to work around it by switching the phone to Airplane Mode. Then it allowed me to see the downloaded content.
thwayunion 4y ago
Airplane mode usually snaps the app out of its phone home setting. Amazon Video is much less buggy about offline downloads.
dredmorbius 4y ago
ObX: <https://xkcd.com/488/ https://xkcd.com/488/>

HideousKojima 4y ago

That's why you sail the seven seas and download them from places other than Netflix

autoexec 4y ago

That's DRM for you. Never trust it. Get a phone with expandable storage and fill your SD card(s) with GBs of non-DRM encumbered media and you can enjoy having it all instantly accessible to you whenever/wherever you want it for as long as you like. Control is what DRM takes from you, but we have the technology to take it back for ourselves.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago
The 'R' does not stand for "rights" (but I'm sure you know that)
- merely-unlikely 4y ago
  Not your (the consumer's) rights anyway.
phpisthebest 4y ago
Or run your own server like emby or plex both have offline access / download for their mobile apps...
- stavros 4y ago
  Plex offline has never worked for me. It always freezes and never downloads anything. It's astonishing how janky the Plex app is, even after so long.
samatman 4y ago
VLC is available for both flavors of phone/tablet, you don't need an SD card, builtin storage is fine.
- autoexec 4y ago
  builtin storage is tiny (typically 128 or 256 GB) to force people into keeping all their data in the cloud, which doesn't help you when you're offline.
  - nijave 4y ago
    On Android, you can usually plug flash drives into the phone's USB port (either USB-C drives or using the correct dongles/adapters). They might insist you format them first so make sure you start by plugging them in and formatting on the phone before adding media. I think there's some apps that can read, for instance, NTFS (although I remember it being a little flakey)
    - autoexec 4y ago
      I never heard about that before, but if that works it'd be amazing! Now I just have to dig up an adapter...
    - dredmorbius 4y ago
      A feature to look for is OTG (USB On The Go) connectors and devices. This allows storage, peripherals (wired headphones!) to connect to the USB-C port: <https://www.minitool.com/news/what-is-otg.html https://www.minitool.com/news/what-is-otg.html> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_On-The-Go>
    - TheNewsIsHere 4y ago
      You can also do this with iOS/iPadOS devices, although it won’t write NTFS.
  - samatman 4y ago
    You get what you pay for, iPhones, for example, top out at 1TB. If the tiny built in storage is to "force people" to do things, what are the models with lots of storage for? Or, if that's your thing, feel free to cheap out on the phone and make up for it with a microSD card, that's why they still sell those models. I'm sure it'll get lots of security updates too, right? Point being VLC doesn't care whether your phone has a headphone jack. Sorry, I meant SD slot.

ncpa-cpl 4y ago

> Sure enough, we couldn't watch them. The netflix app needed to phone home before it would allow us to see them. I had this happen before. I was able to work around it by switching the phone to Airplane Mode. Then it allowed me to see the downloaded content.

thwayunion 4y ago

Airplane mode usually snaps the app out of its phone home setting. Amazon Video is much less buggy about offline downloads.

dredmorbius 4y ago

ObX: <https://xkcd.com/488/ https://xkcd.com/488/>