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Do you still remember when was the last time you watched a DVD/Blu-ray movie disc on your home DVD/BD player? Yeah, you probably don’t. Truly, with the rapid technological advancements in information infrastructure, and the increasing popularity of mobiles and tablets, the internet is now entering every household in every corner of this planet. The direct result of the fast-growing streaming media is that physical media, such as DVD, Blu-ray, and even the younger 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, are losing their charismas. Even Samsung, one of the major Blu-ray Player manufacturers, has stopped making Blu-ray Players.
In the meantime, accompanying the down of physical media is the skyrocketing growth and dramatic market expansion of streaming services. Among all the major streaming services, Netflix is still sitting steadily on the throne, with others such as Amazon Prime Video and Hulu eyeing for that position and playing the catch-up game for years. And with more players like Apple TV+, ESPN+, even the major movie studios joining the competition, like Paramount+, Disney+, and Sony’s Bravia Core, the streaming war is becoming only fiercer.
Here below is a comparison table showing the major video/audio streaming services ranked by the number of subscribers as of Q4 2020.
Streaming Services | Type | Subscribers (Q4 2020) |
---|---|---|
Netflix | Video | 203.7M |
Amazon Prime Video | Video |
150M
|
Disney+ | Video | 94.9M |
Hulu | Video | 38.8M |
Paramount+ | Video | 17.9M |
HBO Max | Video | 17.2M |
Starz | Video | 13.7M |
ESPN+ | Video | 11.5M |
Apple TV+ | Video | 10M |
Spotify | Audio | 144M |
Apple Music | Audio | 68M |
Amazon Prime Music | Audio | 55M |
YouTube Premium | Video/Audio | 30M |
Pandora | Audio |
6.3M
|
After learning all the pros and cons of streaming videos, you might be wondering is it possible to download streaming videos for offline watching if I don’t have much time sitting in front of my TV, streaming my favorite shows and movies, or I just want to watch my shows during the commuting hours and don’t have to cost my mobile data plan? Not surprisingly, most streaming services don’t offer a download option. Even some do, the official download method usually comes with certain limits that you might not be able to tolerate.
With so many limits bound with the official download method, there is a chance that you might not even bother downloading them in the first place. Hence, are there any unofficial means that we can use to download streaming videos? The answer is definitely YES. A 3rd-party streaming video downloader is the answer.
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But before we talk about how to download streaming videos from any website using a 3rd-party solution - streaming video downloader, it is necessary to know how the streaming platforms work and how they try their best to stop subscribers from downloading the on-demand videos via the unofficial way.
Let’s make things simpler to understand, in laymen’s terms. Here below is how streaming services allow subscribers/viewers to stream on-demand videos from their respective platforms.
It looks like streaming videos from streaming services is not that complicated. Yeah, sort of. But downloading streaming videos is totally another thing and it’s not as easy as you think. As you may have realized, in the name of fighting against piracy and copyright infringements, all the streaming service providers put heavy protections on their streaming videos, just like those movie studios do on commercial DVD/Blu-ray/4K Ultra HD discs.
As a result, if we want to download streaming videos from any website, the very first thing we need to overcome is the obstacles that are guarding the streaming videos against being accessed and downloaded by any potential 3rd-party streaming downloader software. Plus, beating the obstacles is not an easy thing to do. That being said, there are two basic approaches when it comes to downloading streaming videos. Next, let’s break them down one by one.
In this approach, we’re talking about directly saving or downloading the media streams pushed back from the streaming service provider’s server. To do that, we need to get the “secret keys” that a browser receives from the server in order to unlock and playback the heavily-guarded streaming videos, no matter what mean. Once we get the “secret keys”, we can overcome all those obstacles and download the streaming videos.
Pros:
Con:
If it is extremely hard to get those secret keys to unlock the protected streaming videos, then screen recording might be the last resort. By doing this way, we’re talking about using a screen recorder software to live record the playback of the streaming videos and audios and then technically combine the two streams into one.
Pros:
Cons:
There are streaming video downloaders and streaming video recorders on the internet out there. But because people have a natural favor on a downloader over a recorder, some recorders are even advertised as downloaders, which actually are not really downloading those streaming videos. So as an end-user, how to tell a streaming video recorder from a real streaming video downloader? Try the following tricks.
StreamFab Downloader is an all-in-one streaming video downloader suite that offers not only download solutions to protection-free online videos but also streaming download solutions to all the major paid streaming services whose videos are heavily protected.
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Among all the separately sold product modules inside the Downloader suite, YouTube Downloader and YouTube to MP3 are the modules to download online videos and music that are not protected.
Steps to download online music & videos, taking YouTube as an example.
Additional Tips:
If you only want to download the music of the YouTube videos, then at the download window, click the Music tab, and then choose your preferred audio quality as you wish.
Furthermore, in case you want to download videos ten times faster, enable the Turbo-Speed feature available at the Downloading tab from the left panel.
Apart from downloading cost-free online videos and music, the Downloader suite also features a bunch of streaming video downloader series that are capable of downloading streaming videos from all the major streaming services on the market that are subscription-based and heavily guarded.
Feature Highlights of StreamFab Streaming Downloader Series:
The supported streaming services include:
Upcoming Streaming Services in the Works:
Steps to download streaming videos from any website, taking Netflix as an example.
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Extra Tips: This streaming downloader is able to download all the episodes and even entire seasons in one go. If the video URL being analyzed belongs to a TV show, then it will automatically detect that and thus give you the options to download the single episode being played, or all the other episodes together.
As mentioned earlier, one of the well-received killer features of StreamFab Downloader is that it is capable of downloading all the relevant metadata information while downloading the movies and TV shows, including the movie title name, genre, cast, poster, duration, plot, detailed audio and video codec information, episode name and season name if it is a TV show. Don't underestimate the extreme convenience it brings. Without all such information, managing your local video collection can be a headache, and there is a good chance that you may mess things up cannot find what you are looking for quickly and easily from a mountain of videos.
However, with all the metadata information being downloaded in the process, it will be much easier for you to organize the downloaded movies and TV shows with your media server tools, such as the DVDFab PlayerFab -- both powerful media players and media managing tools combined. See the reference picture below to have a general idea of how metadata information can help you easily manage your local media library.
Moreover, when the download completes in the downloader, your downloaded streaming movies, and TV shows can be easily found under the directory: Your Library > Local Files > Music/Videos. But if you are using the streaming downloader series, the downloaded files can be found under the Downloaded tab at that specific streaming downloader's main interface.
If you want to playback a video, just click the Play button from the contextual menu of that video, then the downloader will start up StreamFab Player 6, the default media player that's associated with Downloader, to play it.
Additional Tips: Playing the downloaded streaming videos is totally free with StreamFab Player 6, meaning you even don't have to purchase the media player unless you want to play the downloaded 4K (and above) videos or H.265 encoded videos.
Compared with traditional physical media and pay-TV cable subscriptions, there are advantages and disadvantages with streaming media.
As you can see from above, StreamFab Downloader is an all-inclusive download solution package to answer your question of how to download streaming videos from any website. In other words, no matter which streaming service you choose, StreamFab Downloader has you covered whenever you need to download streaming videos from the service you’ve subscribed to.
Moreover, in case you are having difficulties picking out the best streaming service fitting your needs the best, don’t hesitate to check out our topic on what are the best movie streaming sites today.
As the first one stepping into the arena, Netflix is still the No.1 streaming king, both in terms of streaming library volume, and in terms of originals. But other major players, such as Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, Apple TV+, Paramount+ are catching up at a fast pace.
Well, that depends on the type of streaming videos. For on-demand streaming videos, the answer is YES. Some streaming services, especially some free streaming services, even allow you to download their on-demand videos officially, despite certain limits. If you prefer a 3rd-party streaming downloader software that allows you to download streaming videos from any website for offline viewing without any strings, then StreamFab's streaming downloader series is your best shot on that purpose. However, if you are talking about the live streaming programs from those live TV channels, then the answer is NO. That being said, you still can get the live programs through other means, like the DVR option offered by almost every live TV streaming service, or you may also opt for a screen recorder software such as Camtasia Studio to record everything that’s being played on your computer screen.
Sure. There are many options out there. The most notable brands include SlingTV, FuboTV, Tubi, YouTube TV, Hulu Live TV, AT&T TV, ESPN Go, etc., which are cable/satellite TV replacements covering different aspects of streaming contents, including news, local TV channels, sports, documentaries, live concerts and musicals, and more.
Yes, absolutely. With the StreamFab streaming downloader series, you need to log in to your subscription account to be able to download streaming videos you would like to download to local hard drives for offline viewing or simply for collection purposes.
Yes. All the streaming downloaders inside the StreamFab Downloader suite are sold separately. You can choose the one named after your subscribed streaming service. For example, if you are with Netflix, then you should purchase the Netflix Downloader module, the same goes for the Amazon Downloader, Hulu Downloader, Apple TV Plus Downloader, Paramount Plus Downloader, Disney Plus Downloader, etc. However, if you only want to download online videos and music from YouTube and other 1000+ websites, then YouTube Downloader Pro that contains both YouTube Downloader and YouTube to MP3 is your best choice.
Not a special one. As long as you have a computer and live internet connection, you are ready to stream from any streaming service. Just head to the website of your target streaming service, and start to binge-watch. That being said, if you want to stream on some other devices, you can do that on your smartphone, tablet, game console, or smart TV. Don’t worry, nearly all the streaming services have their tailored apps for major portable and mobile devices, Apple devices, Android devices, Amazon Fire devices, Google devices, as well as a large range of select smart TV models. So, there is no need to worry about that.