Spuul introduces offline movie viewing on Android for premium subscribers

Spuul.com, a Singapore-based online video streaming service has introduced offline downloads on its Android app. With this feature, all existing $4.99 per month subscription holders will be able to download up to 10 movies for offline viewing. Apart from the $4.99 monthly subscription, Spuul also offers a pay per movie subscription that allows users to watch 'specials' at $0.99–$2.99 per movie. These specials are only available for 72 hours once you have started watching them.

However, the new offline viewing feature is only available on the monthly subscription and each film saved for offline viewing comes with a 72-hour window. Once that is over, users need to re log-in to Spuul and verify their memberships, post which they are given another 72-hours to view that particular movie. While the feature is currently available only on Android, TheNextWeb reported Michael Smith, chief product officer, Spuul, indicating that it will soon be available on iOS as well.

"In India and emerging markets, a stable data connection is never a guarantee. We wanted to offer our users the convenience of watching content without an internet connection, while giving our content partners a tool to combat piracy," said Subin Subaiah, CEO, Spuul. Spuul Pvt Ltd was founded in 2010 by Sudesh Iyer (founder of Sony Entertainment TV in India) and S Mohan (the founder of companies like Accellion and buUuk, among others). The company started its operations in India in April last year.

Recently Big Flix Pvt Ltd, the digital media arm of Reliance Group, also rolled out a new feature on its movie-on-demand platform BigFlix.com that enables its subscribers to download movies and watch them offline at no additional cost. Eros Now also provides the 'download online and watch offline feature' to its users. While BigFlix enables viewers to watch the movies offline at no extra cost (the basic plan starts at Rs 99) Eros Now's movie rental service allows users to download and watch a movie for 48 hours. The rental starts at $1.99 and can go up to $6.99 per movie.