UPDATED with Correction: Facebook recently informed its video platform partners and content writers that it would be experimenting with offline videos.
Videos are saved on Facebook app, not on the system
According to Android Police, one of their readers spotted the features of the new interface and the “Saved” video section in the app. But the meaning of the word “saved” is not the same thing to the tech giant as it is to other people.
“Saving” a video on the social networking site means it is saved to your account, which means the local copy of the Facebook app. It does not mean that a copy of the video file is saved to the user-accessible file system on your tablet or phone. When Chrome and other browsers save an HTML5 video, the video is saved to the user-accessible file system, while in the case of Facebook, the downloaded file stays only in the app and is accessible only from the bloated and annoying interface.
The system is possibly implemented this way so that users cannot upload the videos to other services. This means users can only share the videos on Facebook. If this is actually true, then the tech giant has a “startling lack of self-awareness,” says Android Police.
It is always preferable to watch videos offline once saved and be able to easily remove them at any time. It would, undoubtedly, be nice to have videos you could hang on to even when you do not have a reliable connection. Apart from this, there is not much in the way of functionality. According to Android Police, the “save option” is currently appearing in versions 85 and 86 (beta) of the app.
A useful feature for frequent travelers
Facebook already said it would be deploying the feature to selected people. The social media giant is planning to roll out the feature to everyone once it is ready for mass consumption.
This feature, like YouTube’s offline videos, will let users download videos to their tablet or smartphone when on WiFi and later view the video when there is no Internet connection. The feature will be useful for people while traveling long distances
