WebUser 01 May 2019

Download streaming video

COVER

FEATURE

1 - 14 May 2019 43

Most services th at let you download TV shows and movies limit you to doing

so on a mobile device, such as a phone or tablet. That’s not great if you want

to watch something ona bigger screen. You may be able to get aroundthis

and download content to your PC by using the free Android emulator

BlueStacks (www.bluestacks.com).

While this might sound like the perfect solution, you’ll only be able to

download and watch the saved co ntent within the emulated app – you won’t

be able to move it and view it using a differen t media player on the desk top

(such as VLC, for example). You can change the video resolution and DPI in

Settings, though. Follow our Mini Workshop to find out how this trick works.

1

Download and run

BlueStacks, and sign into

your Google account. You can

crea te a new account justfor

the purpose of downloading

apps from Google Play if

required.You’ll receive an email

sayingyou’ve signed in ona

new phone. Google Play will

load. Searchfor an app, such as

Amazon PrimeVideo,^1 and

install it.^2

2

Once installed,we just need

to sign in with our Amazon

account details and can browse

the list of shows and movies on

offer.We’ll chooseThe Grand

Tourmotoring show. Click its

thumbnailto open the show’s

page. From here, we can

download an entire series,^1

or scroll down and save

individual episodes.^2

3

The app now lets us choose

a quality setting – Best,

Better, Good or Data Saver.

You can make any of those

optionsyour default setting if

you want. The show willstart to

download.When itcompletes,

you’ll be ableto watch the TV

show or film offline.^1 You can

delete it from here, too.^2

BEAT MOBILE-ONLY DOWNLOAD RESTRICTIONS

which letsyou watch liveTVand
on-demandcontent –it’s availablefor
iOS,AndroidandWindows 10. The
channels and box setsavailableto you
will depend onyoursubscription,and
you can use the service ontwo devices,
or uptofourif you’rea Full House TV
customer. The app alsoletsyou
downloadselectedon-demandcontent
for watchingoffline.Justchoosea
show, thentap Download. If thisoption
isgreyedout, you might needto
upgradeyoursubscription.

BTTVApp Extra
The BTTVAppletsyou stream
BTtelevisionchannels onyour
computer, tablet orsmartphone.
It’s availablefor all the major platforms
including iOS andAndroid. For
downloads,you’ll needthe BTTVApp
Extra (www.bt.com/tv/appextra),
which alsoletsyou enjoy catchup and
on-demand content, andwatch
programmes and moviesvia AppleTV,
Amazon FireTVandSamsungSmart
TV. It costs £5extra amonth, andthe
usualrestrictionsfor downloads apply.

TalkTalk TV

TalkTalk’s TVservice gives you

accesstomore than 80 freechannels

(including 15 inHD) andletsyou add

extra channels andon-demand content

• including Sky Cinema and Sky Sports


• for amonthly fee.You can download
  shows towatch atyourconvenience
  byinstallingthe TalkTalkTVapp on
  AndroidoriOS (bit.ly/talk4 74 ).
  Unfortunately,asthe numerous
  one-star app reviews (on both
  platforms)point out, manyof the
  channels aren’t availabletowatch
  (includingboosts), let alone record, so
  bepreparedfor disappointment!

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2

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2

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1

VirginMedia gives customers two waysto
download streaming TV content

You can download streaming video from

TalkTalk TV, but it’s pretty limited

Pay BT TV an extra fiver a month to
download video content to watch offl ine