MUNICH: Most people are familiar with the dreaded buffer icon, the small, rotating circle in the middle of the screen when you’re streaming videos from the internet.

Fortunately almost all streaming providers allow you to save content temporarily to your device for watching later.

That means you can watch the content without an internet connection and so it’s popular with commuters and parents who want to keep their children occupied with a smartphone or tablet when travelling.

”The feature makes it possible to enjoy movies and series even when the connection is poor, for example in households with moderate reception or when travelling,” says streaming app expert Maximilian Reichlin.

Watching content offline is also more environmentally friendly than streaming using mobile data, as downloading over wi-fi is more energy-efficient than streaming over a cellular internet connection.

If you or your children often rewatch the same piece of content, then you will also save energy by watching the downloaded version instead of streaming it again and again.

Offline not always free

”Especially in music streaming with ad-financed freemium models, such a feature is an incentive to switch to a paid account,” Reichlin says.

Even on YouTube and other video streaming providers with a free offering, the offline feature is reserved for paying customers.

Streaming providers like Netflix or Disney+ don’t offer free content anyway so the offline feature is part of the subscription.

Another disadvantage is that downloaded content from streaming providers or media libraries is not available forever.

”Unlike a full download, content here can only be watched within an app,” says lawyer Christian Solmecke. Then it depends on how long the respective licences last.

Nothing lasts forever

Even the public media libraries can only offer much of their content for a certain period. After that, the content disappears from offline provision.

And in general, not everything is available offline. “In sports, for example, that’s not always possible,” explains a spokesperson from German television broadcaster ZDF.

”That’s where platforms like Netflix or Disney+ have it easier, because they largely rely on their own content,” Reichlin says.

Some people have a tendency to hoard stored content but Reichlin says you may want to clear out old downloads from time to time.

Of course the urge to collect audio and video material is nothing new. “Even in the days of the VHS cassette, most recordings were never watched,” says media researcher Professor Gerd Hallenberger.

Compared to videotape, the technical possibilities have improved significantly: “Storage volume can be acquired very cheaply today.”

However, downloaded content doesn’t last forever, and your provider may require you to reactivate old downloads. Platforms like Netflix also often lose the rights to certain shows and films, and in such cases your downloaded versions will disappear with them.

In other words, hoarding offline content often doesn’t pay off, even if you have enough space on your device and are terrified of the buffering icon.

 - dpa