In January 2017, Hulu announced that the ability to download videos for offline viewing would be coming in a few months. And after a wait of more than two years, it has finally delivered on its promise.
In an update rolling out today to iOS and Apple devices —with Android support coming soon—users will be able to download more than 85,000 movies and TV episodes so they can watch when they don't have an internet connection.
Hulu's offline viewing feature works similarly to competing platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video . Users will be able to download up to 25 videos at a time to five different devices, with videos expiring after 30 days or two days after they're viewed. And if someone doesn't watch them within 30 days, they can simply download them back to their device when they're connected to the internet.
Users will also have the option to download videos over Wi-Fi or cellular data. Hulu does let you turn off cellular data downloads to avoid huge data charges. There's even a new tab in the app that lets you download videos with a simple download icon and simply shows you which titles are available for offline viewing.
One thing to note is that the ability to download videos is limited to ad- (which start at $12 per month), meaning anyone with a $6 ad-supported Hulu subscription won't have access to downloadable content.
Still, for those hoping to download episodes of Smallville, Veronica Mars, or something from parent company Disney 's incoming content library , it's best to see if Hulu will eventually add support for these videos.
