If you’re a fully paid-up Amazon Prime member (£79 per year) or subscribe to the delivery giant’s Netflix rival Amazon Prime Video (£5.99 per month for new customers), you can download films and TV programmes to your device to enjoy on the go – and without an internet connection.
To begin, make sure you’re connected to Wi-Fi and download the Amazon Prime Video app for Android or iOS, if you haven’t already.
Now comes the fun part: choosing what you want to download. You can pick anything with a white “Prime” flash in the top-left corner and the choice is extensive, mixing firm favourites (Lord of the Rings, Inception, School of Rock and so on) with newer releases such as Arrival, A Monster Calls and The Handmaiden. As a demonstration, I’m downloading German comedy sensation (yes, really) Toni Erdmann. It’s an excellent film – although I’d recommend watching it alone if you’re easily embarrassed…
Once you’ve made your choice, tap the download button.
A list of possible video qualities will then appear. If your device has plenty of free storage, opt for either the “Best” or “Better” option, but “Good” is more than acceptable for a morning commute. We’d advise giving “Data Saver” a wide birth, though, as the image is grainy and pixelated.
Tap on your favoured option and make a cup of tea while the film or TV episode downloads. Once that’s finished, the film will appear in the Downloads section of the app (accessed via the menu in the top-right of the screen).
Once you’ve clicked the luminous green Watch Now button, you will receive a warning that you have 48 hours to watch the film offline. That’s a generous amount of time, but you can always top it up by merely connecting to Wi-Fi.
Impressively, you can also access one of Amazon Prime Video’s best features while offline: if you want to know more about the actor who’s currently onscreen, press pause to access information gleaned from their IMDb page. There’s also a collection of trivia and a list of songs used in the film or episode. Eat your heart out, Netflix.
Read next: Amazon Prime Reading – will you ever need to buy a book or magazine again?
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