Facebook Testing A New Feature To Save Videos For Offline Viewing

Facebook appears to be testing some new features for its Android app. One of the changes that’s been discovered recently is a feature that allows users to save videos for offline viewing.

The most noticeable change in the Facebook Android app (ver. 116.0.0.17.69) is the slight redesign of the Like, Comment and Share buttons. All three buttons have been hollowed out, while the Comment button now has a circular bubble logo instead of being rectangular.

The new look is a bit similar to the minimalistic design of Instagram. However, Facebook is still sticking to its signature shade of blue accents instead of going all out with a black and white redesign of Instagram.

The not so obvious change in the Facebook Android app is a new toggle under App Settings. Labeled as “Watch Some Videos Without Using Mobile Data,” the toggle is assumed to be a way to cache, store or save Facebook videos, as reported by Ubergizmo. This means that users would be able to watch Facebook videos even if they're offline.

The new option/toggle has already appeared for some users even though Facebook hasn’t sent out a software update. Jordan Palmer of Android Police reported that he spotted it on his phone a few days ago, but it disappeared yesterday.

This might indicate that this was a server-side change. If this is accurate, Facebook might be testing the feature at a small scale. Facebook has a long history of testing out new features in this manner before rolling it out for everybody to use.

Facebook as well as other tech companies like to test new and different kinds of features, but it’s not a guarantee that it will be rolled out publicly. With the rise of video consumption and its importance to Facebook however, saving videos seems like something the company would logically want to explore.