Facebook has reportedly started to add the ability to save offline videos in the newest versions of its Facebook application for Android. This feature is available in the 85 and 86 (beta) versions of the app.
In the supported versions of the Facebook Android app, there is a new ‘Save Video’ option added for every video posted on Facebook. You need to click on the ‘Save Video’ option, and the video will be saved for offline viewing. All offline videos can be viewed from the ‘Saved’ option in the application. You can also delete or archive an offline video anytime you wish. The original video files will not be accessible to the users to prevent the sharing of videos through sharing mediums other than Facebook.
Google had also introduced the ability to save videos offline in its YouTube application. Users can watch the videos at any time without the need of Internet connection. But in YouTube, users need to update the saved videos every 48 hours to verify that the video has not been deleted or modified by its owner. There is no information if this type of synchronization is mandatory for Facebook’s offline video saving facility.
Read More: Facebook Messenger adds Instant Articles support on Android
At the beginning of this month, Facebook had announced that this offline video saving capability would be beta tested by a closed group of people in India. The company also expressed that this feature is very helpful for countries like India, where there are still areas with limited or without internet connectivity.
The social media giant had previously rolled out the instant article feature where an article will be pre-saved to be made instantly available when clicked on. There is also an option to save articles and video links, but those will not function without active internet connection. Facebook has also given video uploaders an option to disable the offline save feature for their videos. There is no clear information about the worldwide availability of this brand new feature.
