A new update to the BBC iPlayer app for iPhone and iPad allows users to watch their favorite BBC shows while on the go, with the company now allowing programs to be downloaded from the iPlayer right to tablets and smartphones.
Starting today, licence-fee payers can download BBC shows from the iPlayer video-on-demand service and watch them offline on the iPhone or iPad at no extra cost. This service is even accessible while travelling abroad. In the future, it will even be included for Android smartphones.
Before this update, BBC iPlayer only allowed viewers to stream shows to tablets and mobile devices with broadband connections, or download them to watch on a desktop computer. Now users can load hours of BBC shows onto a tablet or phone to watch on the go without having to worry about running up a mobile data bill.
BBC’s general manager of on-demand programs, Daniel Danker, summed up the benefits of this new addition: “This fundamentally changes one of the most annoying restrictions about viewing programmes. It means audiences are liberated from the constraints [of online-only viewing] and it fundamentally changes what it means to go on holiday.”
Downloaded programs are available for 30 days or for 7 days after being watched. Users need a Wi-Fi connection to download the programs, and they’ll soon be able to download shows for offline viewing over a 3G network as well.
The BBC iPlayer is available for free on the App Store.
Source: The Guardian via TUAW
Image Credit: Ultralinx
