Streaming is a technology used to deliver content to computers and mobile devices over the internet. Streaming transmits data — usually audio and video, but increasingly other kinds as well — as a continuous flow, which allows the recipients to begin to watch or listen almost immediately.
Basically you can download things from the internet in 2 different ways: progressive downloading or streaming. The former brings the data onto your device where it is saved. This means that you can view/listen to it again and again and it takes up space. Streaming brings the data to you as you need it and after you’ve used it (watched or listened for example) it is deleted from your system meaning that it does not use any storage space.
If you have a slow internet connection you may see the “wheel of death” whirring around as the data is buffered (collecting a big enough chunk) prior to being played.
BBC iPlayer and Netflix are examples of services which use streaming.
Examples of apps you can download:
- Amazon Prime Video
- Movies Anywhere
- Netflix
- iPlayer
- ITV Hub
- All 4
- My 5
- UKTV Play
- YouTube and YouTube TV
- Dailymotion
- Vimeo
- and then there is Kodi
Kodi is a free, open source piece of media centre software that can run on anything from your Android phone to your home PC. It is widely used across the world as you can download and install it free and then add your own plug-ins and add-ons which can connect you with virtually any media that is available to stream on the internet: most of it illegally. When you do this you are breaking the law and could be prosecuted. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) collects the evidence of where you have gone on the internet and what you have downloaded… all the time!
If you want to find out where you can stream or download a film, have a look at: https://www.findanyfilm.com
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