Feature Request: Download to iOS or other mobile device

[Lawreb]

I travel. Quite often it’s to places that do not have internet or cellular service,

The feature that would help me the most is the capability to download shows to my iPad before I leave home, taking the show with me.
My thoughts on how this would work is one of two ways:

1. In the Channels UI I would click a download button, and the show would arrive in my TV app in iOS.
2. In the Channels UI I would click that same download button, and the video would show up in the Channels app in iOS. The .edl file would get transferred with the show, and the commercial skip settings that I have set in the app would be honored when I watch the show.

And of course, there would need to be some file management type stuff for deleting watched shows, etc…

Every other commercial app (TiVo, Netflix, Prime Video) has this type of feature that allows you to take the content with you. It seems to be missing from Channels.

[Macnbaish]

The Devs have expressed interest in doing this in the past, but didn’t indicate how far down the list of features it might be.

[racameron]

@Lawreb

arrive in my TV app in iOS

Integration with the Apple TV app is dependent upon Apple themselves, IIRC. Also, I believe part of being able to integrate with the Apple TV app requires using the tvOS system video player. (When playing a video of channel in Channels, the iOS/HomeKit widget won't update with Channels' status, indicating there are some additional issues ...)

[themediaguy]

A work around for this is to transfer the files to a SSD drive and use the Rav Power File Hub to watch them when you have no internet or good internet on the go at HQ. That's what I am doing and so far it has been working like a charm.

FileHub New Version AC750 Wireless Travel Router

(Unfortunately, they are sold out at the moment.)

[TV_Ken]

I would really like to do this on my Android phone.

[DoingDVR555]

Yeah sorry to spoil the Apple party but us Android folks would definitely be interested in this also.

[Lawreb]

Ok, I changed the title. I use the iOS variety, but it makes sense that this is a feature for all of the mobile app platforms that Channels supports.

[babsonnexus]

One of my rare use cases for still having Plex Pass (Lifetime anyway). My Plex media server is on the same machine as my Windows server and I just point Plex to my Channels directories. Works fairly OK.

[Victor_Bodenmiller]

This feature would be great for taking kids on road trips!

[eric]

Downloads and offline watching have gone into beta. You can read more about it here:

Beta: Downloads and Offline Playback

Downloads and offline playback are now in beta. We've all been waiting a long time for this! We've spent an even longer time laying down Channels' internals so that it works well and is HIGHLY reliable. We've released the first beta for iPhone and iPad. Download any recording onto your mobile device at full quality and watch it on the road, on a plane or anywhere at all. We've added a new download button next to each recording (and in context menus). You can access your downloads via the butt…

[TV_Ken]

@Beta: Downloads and Offline Playback

We've released the first beta for iPhone and iPad.

Any guess on getting this for Android?

[racameron]

@TV_Ken

Any guess on getting this for Android?

This is specifically addressed in the announcement post:

What about Android

As usual, this work is happening on our primary platform first. Once we're happy with the user experience, it will be ported to Android. UX is a huge part of our beta process.

Much of the work that powers Downloads is already in both of our platforms. Additionally, the extra work for Downloads is part of our cross platform internals that are already shared with our platforms. This means it ports over to Android well, and without a lot of additional code. UI work WILL need to be done for Android though. And it will come soon.