How to Download and Watch Hotstar Movies and TV Shows Offline

If, like us, you subscribe to the notion that streaming content is becoming a better option than linear television, then you're probably already using one of the big streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, or Hotstar.

The problem is that even though mobile data is getting more and more widespread and cheaper thanks largely to Reliance Jio, it's still not available everywhere, or cheap enough to be watching movies without a care.

That's where the download option that all the big streaming services offer comes in to play. Whether you want to store up on films and shows before a flight, or if you want to save a show to catch on your morning commute to work (or if your employer doesn't mind, then stocking up on shows with the office connection to watch once you're home) then saving can be a good option.

We've already written about how to download videos on Netflix, and also downloading on Amazon Prime Video, and today, we're going to outline the process for Hotstar. It's really simple and works the same way on both Android and iOS. There are a couple of things you should know though.

For one, there's no official way to download a video from Hotstar to your laptop. If you're saving it, that's on your phone or tablet only. Secondly, not all the TV shows and movies are available for download - mostly, it's the older content that's available, and regional content too. Here's how it works.

1. First, make sure that you're online, on either Wi-Fi or mobile data.
2. Now, open the Hotstar app, and find the movie or TV show that you want to save. Tap on it to open the details page. You can only see the details if your device is in the portrait orientation, so turn it now if you need to.
3. See if the movie is available for download. On the details page, you'll see a small arrow pointing downwards, and the word Download. If the movie isn't available, the arrow will be crossed out.
4. If it's not available, there's no official way to download the file unfortunately. Otherwise, tap the Download button to start.
5. You'll see three different options showing the download quality and file size. There's a huge difference between the quality available - for example, a Low quality download of the movie Bahubali (at 180p) takes up just 272MB; at High (720p) it will require 2307MB on your phone. Tap on the option you want to start the download.
6. To watch the movie, go back to the home screen of the app, and tap the menu button on the top. Now, tap on My Downloads.
7. This will show you the film being downloaded, and once the file is ready, just tap on it to start watching. You can tap on the options to remove the file.

The files you download can only be viewed using the Hotstar app of course, and are saved in a way to prevent you from copying them and viewing them elsewhere, to prevent piracy.