All products featured on WIRED are independently selected by our editors. However, we may receive compensation from retailers and/or from purchases of products through these links.
The BBC has released a new version of its iPlayer app for the iPhone and iPad, which enables downloading of programmes to these devices for offline viewing.
It has been a problem for some time: you can only stream iPlayer on Apple's devices, so if you lose 3G signal or are sitting on a plane, it's as good as useless. The update today addresses this and allows programmes to be kept for offline viewing for up to 30 days.
Only Wi-Fi downloading is supported at launch. Speaking to Wired.co.uk, a BBC iPlayer spokesperson said 3G support was coming "in the future", and that the BBC is working with UK mobile network operators to "ensure the best experience".
File sizes for TV show downloads are very large, and the BBC is likely concerned that mobile users could unwittingly devour their monthly data allowances quickly. For example, of the two quality options available for download, the lowest results in a one-hour programme totalling 326MB. A higher quality version of the same programme is roughly double, at 638MB.
Android is left out of the download party initially but a spokesperson also confirmed to Wired.co.uk that download support is coming to the Android platform "soon".
You can download the updated iPlayer app immediately.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
