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I'm a paid subscriber of both Hulu and Netflix and I'm a commuter that uses public transportation (i.e. subway), unfortunately lack of internet connectivity prevents me from using these services (Hulu/Netflix), so I'm looking for easy way to view Hulu and/or Netflix offline (w/out internet connectivity).

disclaimer: I am NOT trying to do anything illegal, I just want to be able to enjoy Hulu & Netflix by storing the content on either a Nexus 7 (preferably) or iPad mini.

How can I do it?

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  • hopefully these services will see a demand for this and we'll create that functionality within their apps (maybe content would expire within 48 hours or something like that)
    – alexus
    Sep 9, 2013 at 17:25

2 Answers 2

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Airplane mode. Road trip mode. Stuck-in-the-subway-for-20-minutes mode. Your favorite stories are now available for download any time.

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  • No Hulu yet, though...
    – bmike
    Nov 30, 2016 at 23:46
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    @bmike not yet.. baby steps) hopefully rest (including hulu) will follow)
    – alexus
    Dec 1, 2016 at 0:07
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Netflix just released an iOS app that allows downloading of some content. Not all content is licensed for any country and some countries have no licensed content. As the licensing gets unified - expect more of this in the future.

Before the recent change, for a long time, both the netflix and hulu terms of service state that these are streaming services and not download services.

Netflix is at https://signup.netflix.com/TermsOfUse

Scroll down to Limitations on Use

You may not download (other than through page caching necessary for personal use, or as otherwise expressly permitted by these Terms of Use), modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, duplicate, publish, license, create derivative works from, or offer for sale any information contained on, or obtained from or through, the Netflix service, without our express written consent.

Hulu is at http://www.hulu.com/terms and it has a list of things that are not allowed. Including in the prohibition of:

removing, disabling, bypassing, or circumventing any content protection or access control mechanisms intended to prevent the unauthorized download, stream capture, linking, framing, reproduction, access to, or distribution of the Hulu Services.

Whether these agreements are legal or violating them is illegal is something for the local courts, but it's clear you should not expect to use these services to download or time-shift the content. At the moment, your iPad can rent or buy content for offline viewing and Amazon also has a decent selection of downloadable content.

Additionally, you can usually rip CD/DVD you own with software like RipIt for offline viewing. Most Mac these days ship without optical drives, so you can still rip using either Remote Disc or using external USB drives.

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    Addendum: in the US you can sign up for Netflix's DVD/BluRay service and they'll send you discs in the mail. You don't need to be online to watch those. Most Macs will play DVDs. None play BluRays without a third party player.
    – Ian C.
    Sep 9, 2013 at 0:45
  • @IanC - I have latest MacBook Pro and I don't have optic drive, so that won't help me.
    – alexus
    Sep 9, 2013 at 17:22
  • @bmike yet I found a commercial software that allows you to do that, I'm not saying it makes it legal or anything.
    – alexus
    Sep 9, 2013 at 17:23
  • @alexus Apple sells an external DVD drive. There are third party vendors that make similar products. You can use existing software to move movies to your hard drive through these external optical drives (which is a separate question unto itself).
    – Ian C.
    Sep 9, 2013 at 19:09
  • @alexus Your point about DVD/CD drives is so noted. I've added some options there for you and others in the situation of wanting media for offline playback. Granted, the cost of iTunes could be higher than streaming and the steps to rip a DVD add time to your workflow so I would understand if you didn't like those options.
    – bmike
    Sep 9, 2013 at 19:16

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