Downloads and offline playback

This article explains the Downloads feature, enabling content to be played offline without an internet connection.

What are downloads?

Downloads are assets that can be downloaded for offline playback, allowing your users to access content in airplane mode, or out and about without a stable internet connection. If they have the entitlement for content, they can download and view it while offline.

Compatibility notes:

1. Downloads and offline playback is available on native Apple (Deltatre Apps v1.0 onwards) and Android (Deltatre Apps v1.1 onwards). It requires VOLT entitlements and FORGE to be deployed.

2. When integrated within Deltatre Apps 1.0 onwards or the Reference Apps 6.11, DIVA Player supports offline playback.

What can users download?

Users can download assets that are offered for download via the associated Download Offer Rule. This rule is typically set at the point of ingestion and is subject to the licensing agreements you have with your content distributors.

Note: Which assets are available to download by whom is configured by entitlement. Only assets that are enabled for a user will have the Download button visible.

Can all content types be downloaded?

All content can be made available for download except Live or Linear content.

How to download different asset types

If you have made an asset available for download, users have the option to either watch or download it. Downloading Movies and TV shows work slightly differently:

Movie downloads

In the case of Movies, the Download button displays right next to the Watch button. Selecting it queues the asset for download, which begins immediately unless there is an asset already downloading.

Once selected, the Download button changes to an in progress indicator icon (as detailed below in Download status) - hover over it to open a menu to pause, resume, or cancel the download. Meanwhile, the asset appears on the Downloads page in a state of downloading, which changes to downloaded once it has successfully downloaded.

Episode downloads

TV shows, on the other hand, must be downloaded by individual episode, so instead of seeing a Download button next to the show title, a download icon displays at the right hand side of each individual episode.

After selecting an episode for download, the icons and functionality are the same as for a movie assets.

Download status

Once assets have been queued for download:

• The first asset selected for download enters a state of Downloading with options to Pause or Cancel.

  • If a download is Paused it can be resumed.

• If more than one asset has been selected for download, the second (and any subsequent) assets go into the queue, in a state of Pending with the option to Cancel the pending download.

• Once a download has completed successfully, the asset is in a state of Downloaded

• If an asset fails to download, it displays an error and the download can be retried if desired. A failed download doesn’t block remaining downloads in the queue.

How do users access, manage and watch their downloads?

Your users can access their downloads from the Downloads page, available via the main menu, or via a bespoke link that you can configure in Presentation Manager. This page is titled Downloads by default, however, this can also be changed within Presentation Manager to the name of your choice.

Note: If the app does not detect any internet connection, users are automatically directed to the Downloads page for easy access to previously downloaded assets.

Downloaded content

In the Downloads page, users have access to all their downloaded content, ordered by default by Recently Downloaded (descending). From here they can watch, renew, or delete individual movies or TV episodes.

Once an asset has been successfully downloaded, the listing shows:

• The play button on the asset image

• The asset details

• Remaining time before the downloaded asset expires

• An option menu for each asset, displaying a dropdown with options to Play or Delete

Additional information

• If there is no downloaded content, the page displays a Browse button. Selecting this takes users to the Home page. Browsing the app catalog relies on an internet connection.

• Any assets that have been queued for downloading or are currently downloading but not completed are displayed here, with the options to pause or cancel the download process for each asset.

• Any assets that have been queued for downloading but have an error are also displayed here.

The Download page always has the Profile icon (to enable you to switch profile if necessary) and the option menu, which has one option: Open Download Settings.

Warning: Downloaded assets are only visible to the user profile that downloaded them, so in order to watch downloaded content when offline, they must have the correct user profile signed in. A user can only switch their user profile when connected to their account online, so it is important to make sure this selection is correct before they go offline.

How do users change their download settings?

Users can update their download settings by navigating to the Account page and selecting Manage Download Settings from the Preferences section.

Here, users have the option to:

• Toggle between downloading on WiFi only, or on WiFi and Mobile Data

• Set the video quality (this setting currently only has Standard as an option)

• Delete all their downloaded content

• View how much storage space the app is using and how much available space they have on their device (mobile only). Be aware that this only represents the combined storage of the AXIS app on the user's device and does not provide an individual breakdown.

Note: Download settings are device based, so any change made to these settings will persist on the user’s device, but not be changed on any other device used to access the account.

Does downloadable content expire?

As a default, content is available to download for the duration of the associated offer. Custom download expiry and limit rules can be implemented per customer, based on your distribution and licensing rules.

If an asset has been downloaded in the past by a user, has since expired, but is available for renewal (see how DRM affects expiry, below), upon opening the Downloads page, it has an option to Renew instead of the standard Play option.

Digital Rights Management

Downloaded assets are DRM protected. This is handled by DIVA. DRM parameters apply and are configured by our Project team.

The DRM license contains two parameters that affect expiry:

1. The time after the asset completes downloading - this is normally set to 30 days.

2. The time after your user starts playback of the asset - this is normally set to 2 days.

The DRM license automatically expires content based on when the download finishes or when a user starts watching it, whichever happens first. However, as long at the offer still grants download ability for an asset, users can renew the asset.

How does this look in the apps?

To understand more about how downloads work within the apps, select your chosen app type below:

Mobile

iPad/Tablet

Downloads on the Deltatre apps for mobile devices allow your users to download the content you offer.

To downloads content on a mobile, users either need to select the Download button next to the Watch button (for Movies) or select the Download button next to one (or more) Episodes (for TV Shows).

Once the content is downloading or has successfully downloaded, it appears for users on their Downloads page and can be consumed offline. From here, users can watch, renew and delete downloaded content.

To adjust their download settings, users need to navigate to the Account page and select Manage Download Settings from the Preferences section at the bottom of the page.

Downloads on the Deltatre apps for iPad and Android-based tablets allow your users to download the content you offer.

To downloads content a tablet, users either need to select the Download button next to the Watch button (for Movies) or select the Download button next to one (or more) Episodes (for TV Shows).

Once the content is downloading or has successfully downloaded, it appears for users on their Downloads page and can be consumed offline. From here, users can watch, renew and delete downloaded content.

To adjust their download settings, users need to navigate to the Account page and select Manage Download Settings from the Preferences section at the bottom of the page.