Amazon Prime Video adds new offline watching feature

One of the biggest flaws of today’s streaming video services is that they are, in fact, streaming services. While this is perfectly fine, and in many cases ideal, when we are connected to Wi-Fi or if we don’t mind using up some of our mobile data, what about those situations where you can’t access the web? Whether you are on a flight or just in an area where web access is limited, the ability to download content from a streaming service would be a nice extra.

Keep dreaming, right? No, actually we can wake up, as that’s exactly what Amazon is now delivering. Today Amazon has rebranded its streaming service as simply Amazon Prime Video and with an update to its renamed “Amazon Video” app, Prime subscribers can now download a select number of streaming titles for offline watching.

As you might imagine, Amazon can’t just instantly make its entire library available for offline using, it first needs to reach an agreement with its content providers. At the moment that means Amazon’s original shows will be offered, as well as several shows from NBCUniversal, CBS, Fox, and more. There’s even a number of movies including The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Wolf of Wall Street, and more.

While Netflix remains an arguably superior option to Amazon Video due to the sheer number of movies and shows available, the ability to download Amazon Video content for offline watching is a major plus that puts the two services on much more even ground. What do you think of the new offline downloading feature? For those that have avoided Amazon Prime Video, does this new feature change your mid about the service?