Amazon beat Hulu and Netflix to supporting offline playback

Music streaming services have supported offline playback for a while now, but for subscription video services like Hulu and Netflix, users have never been able to enjoy this feature. Fortunately, Amazon thinks its about time to change that, and is now allowing Amazon Prime subscribers to download movies and shows from Amazon Instant Video to their Android or iOS devices in order to watch them offline later, making its the first subscription video service to do so. 

For the first time on any subscription video service, Amazon Prime subscribers will now be able to download movies and TV shows from the company’s huge catalog. Roll over Netflix. The new service is a huge deal. It means precisely what it sounds like: If you’re a Prime subscriber, you’ll be able to download that whole season of Transparent (or whatever) before your flight, and bask in hours upon hours of entertainment without an internet connection. All you’ll need is the company’s newly refreshed (and rebranded) Amazon Video app for iOS and Android. OK, Amazon, you win. Congratulations. We just got done complaining about a minor service reduction in in Prime services, and then you give us the holy grail. No other subscriptions service has been able to offer offline playback because the licensing and legal is just too complicated. Remember, this is just an add on to your existing $100 per year Prime account, which also comes with music, photo storage, free two-day shipping and way more. But leave it to old Amazon, the crappiest place to work, and the best deal in technology.