Netflix customers hoping for offline viewing on their iPad or iPhone may have to wait indefinitely for the feature to be supported by the streaming service. Speaking to TechRadar, Netflix director of corporate communications and technology Cliff Edwards said offline viewing is “never going to happen.”
Edwards asserts that offline viewing is a “short term fix” that doesn’t address the bigger issue of sparse public Wi-Fi access. In the next five years, Edwards believes the expansion of public Wi-Fi and cellular coverage will make the idea of offline viewing obsolete. With a ubiquitous Internet connection, customers won’t need to download as they will be able stream all the time.
Instead of working to support offline viewing, Netflix has been focusing on original programming, with twenty new series planned for the coming years. The company also has been moving forward with 4K content and steadily improving its iOS app, recently adding support for iOS 8 and 1080p HD streaming on the iPhone 6 Plus.
