Now that most default on-the-go devices are bereft of ways to load DVDs and Blu-rays, offline options for streaming video services have become that much more desirable in areas with little to no reception. Sadly, the current king of the American streaming crop, Netflix, has said in no uncertain terms that offline viewing options are "never going to happen," and the company's reasoning was cold comfort for people in cabins, on airplanes, or with frequent local-ISP outages.
For some time, Amazon Instant Video was the only major American streaming-video service with an offline option, but the service used to come with a pretty big catch: you needed a Kindle-branded tablet or phone to download those streaming-only videos. That changed on Tuesday with the relaunch of the video app, now simply named Amazon Video, for all iOS and Android devices.
A few other caveats remain, including a lack of a similar option for PC or Mac users and the fact that not every Prime Instant Video option can be downloaded. No full list has yet been published, but while we found that a ton of stuff—including all Prime content from Amazon Studios, HBO, PBS, Cinemax, and Lionsgate—was compatible, offerings from outlets such as Columbia Pictures and Starz were not. (Also, Android users get to jump through the extra hoop of downloading Amazon Video from the new Amazon app as opposed to getting it through Google Play. That app was delisted last December—just months after its debut. The new Amazon app already has its own hoops as well.)
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