Blinkbox adds offline downloads for Android tablets & iPads

Blinkbox has updated its streaming video app for iOS and Android to add support for offline movie and TV watching for the first time. 

Revealed in an official announcement this morning on the Blinkbox website, the Watch Offline update has begun to roll out to existing Android tablets and Apple iPads. Customers will be able to download movies and TV shows bought through Blinkbox on up to five devices, or rented films to a single tablet.

To coincide with the update, Blinkbox has also expanded its library of titles thanks to deals with Entertainment Film Distributors to include new and recently-released films including American Hustle, The Butler, Transcendence, I, Frankenstein, The Giver and Her. A recent partnership with Channel 4 also added The Inbetweeners, Peep Show and Ricky Gervais’ Derek, bringing hundreds of hours of TV content to the service.

As you would expect, given that Blinkbox is majority owned by Tesco, Blinkbox comes pre-installed on the company’s new Hudl 2 tablet, but it can be installed on virtually every other Android slate – as long as you haven’t upgraded past Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. At the moment, no newer versions of Android are supported, meaning anyone that’s upgraded to Lollipop will be left out in the cold.

“The ability to watch offline on tablets is one of the most frequently requested features and will transform the way many customers use blinkbox,” Blinkbox co-founder Adrian Letts said in a statement. “whether that’s by allowing more freedom to watch what they want in the home – or taking their entertainment on the move.”

If you haven’t already installed Blinkbox movies, you can download it from the iTunes app store for iOS or the Google Play Store for Android. For everyone already using the app, it should update itself if you you’ve turned on automatic updates.