Who do we think is behind Netflix (and others) not having offline viewing for MacOS in 2021?

[burgerrecords]

I would prefer not to bring an iPad with me when i travel when my more than capable Macbook M1 has the technical abilities and battery life to play movies and shows cooly and quietly.

However while Netflix and Amazon for example have Windows apps that allow for offline viewing, there continue to be no apps for MacOS to allow offline viewing.

Do we think Apple is behind this since they want you to subscribe to content providers only through Apple TV (with their limited partners and options) or is Netflix and Amazon for some reason not wanting to support Apple?

BR

 

[0128672]

I don't think Apple is behind it at all. I think the development teams at the other companies haven't made this a priority.

 

[MacCheetah3]

The comment by @WildSky about priority is valid. My guess, not many people nowadays use laptops to watch streaming movie services even if they use them for YouTube, etc.

The other problem is indeed about development choices, issues. Several years back at least, Netflix chose not to develop a desktop app for Mac OS/macOS because they concluded Microsoft’s SilverLight Web browser plugin would work great for handling Netflix’s DRM need — can’t find the source article. Following that, they probably feel, “things are working fine, why change them?”

Next...

To be an acceptable experience, Netflix, Amazon, and the like would need to create native apps. Implementing offline movie viewing via Web browser has at least one significant barrier: storage

• Caching space is universal and primarily controlled by the browser
— Your overall browser settings may prevent or wipe offline movies
— Selectively clearing cached files is difficult versus via your own app
• Caching space may be limited
— Movie files can be 1GB+
— If the cache allotment is increased, having offline movie files could slow down overall browser performance, dependent on how the browser exactly handles cache

 

[owidhh]

the real barrier are the copyright holders who do not want to make it any easier for anyone to copy their precious content and share it..

 

[senttoschool]

100% Netflix. 0% Apple.

People on laptops use web browsers to stream things. It's easier and faster to load a website than to download an app.

 

[leman]

If they have this ability on the iPad app but not on the Mac, it’s 100% on the app developer…

 

[michalm]

The % of people watching movies on a mac is minimal. Hence there is no native app, only web app. The reason why W10 got an app (not really a good one) that allows for offline watching is that Netflix thought about those W10 tablet devices (think Surface), not really "laptops".

To be frank, I much prefer watching Netflix on my phone/tablet when in the tube/train/plane. Laptop is just too bulky...

 

[bobcomer]

Market share probably. You have to have a business reason to develop software. The TV App can download shows and movies, but you do have to pay for them.

 

[spiderman0616]

The comment by @WildSky about priority is valid. My guess, not many people nowadays use laptops to watch streaming movie services even if they use them for YouTube, etc.

The other problem is indeed about development choices, issues. Several years back at least, Netflix chose not to develop a desktop app for Mac OS/macOS because they concluded Microsoft’s SilverLight Web browser plugin would work great for handling Netflix’s DRM need — can’t find the source article. Following that, they probably feel, “things are working fine, why change them?”

Next...

To be an acceptable experience, Netflix, Amazon, and the like would need to create native apps. Implementing offline movie viewing via Web browser has at least one significant barrier: storage

• Caching space is universal and primarily controlled by the browser
— Your overall browser settings may prevent or wipe offline movies
— Selectively clearing cached files is difficult versus via your own app
• Caching space may be limited
— Movie files can be 1GB+
— If the cache allotment is increased, having offline movie files could slow down overall browser performance, dependent on how the browser exactly handles cache

Curse you for making me think about SilverLight again. MAN I hated that software back in the day. Sends a shiver down my spine.

 

[Pro Apple Silicon]

There is no Netflix client. You're not going to have downloaded Netflix videos in the browser. Even if they wanted to make the Netflix web client have an offline experience, playback would not be part of it, because you're not going to manage multi GB downloads in browser storage. Just not happening.

If Netflix were to create a native Mac app, you would get offline viewing as a feature, guaranteed.

So the question isn't why isn't there offline playback on the Mac. The question is why isn't there a Mac app. And the answer is, people watch Netflix on Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad infinitely more...so much so that it isn't even worth having an app on the platform. Good day.

 

[spiderman0616]

Also don't forget that Netflix could also just enable their iPad app for M1 Macs and STILL aren't allowing it. Granted, that's not going too great for HBO Max so far, but we do know the capability exists.

 

[kitenski]

Bumping an old post, but I was trying to wean myself off an iPad that sits idle 99% of the time, however for air travel (maybe 3-4 times a year), I was a bit amazed to find I still can't watch Netflix offline on a Mac laptop, but can on a Windows one?

Are there any solutions? It appears I can't sideload the netflix iPad app either??

 

[Yebubbleman]

I would prefer not to bring an iPad with me when i travel when my more than capable Macbook M1 has the technical abilities and battery life to play movies and shows cooly and quietly.

However while Netflix and Amazon for example have Windows apps that allow for offline viewing, there continue to be no apps for MacOS to allow offline viewing.

Do we think Apple is behind this since they want you to subscribe to content providers only through Apple TV (with their limited partners and options) or is Netflix and Amazon for some reason not wanting to support Apple?

BR

Amazon has a native app in the Mac App Store. Universal.

There's no conspiracy at play here. Netflix is able to produce a native Mac app just as well as Amazon is. And HBO is perfectly capable of taking their iPadOS app and porting it to being a Catalyst app that is natively cross platform between iPadOS (Apple Silicon), macOS (on Intel) and macOS (on Apple Silicon). They all have this capability and choose not to do it. That has nothing to do with the existence of Apple TV+, nor the Apple TV app. If there was a conspiracy at play, you'd think it'd extend to the iPad and iPhone as well (not to mention the Apple TV itself).