Watching my iTunes TV shows via LTE on Iphone

[jlusk99]

Ok, so I just got my first iPhone and I love it. It is a beautifully designed device.

I am trying to figure out how to view the TV shows I've purchased through iTunes while I'm out and about and don't have access to wifi.

It seems like I am finding out this is an impossibility! After fiddling with all the settings I keep getting the message "This item can't be downloaded over a cellular network". And I then read about this limit imposed in iOS 7 that the largest size file you can download via cellular is 100MB.

Is that correct? Is there a way around this? And why in the hell is this limit there and why isn't there an option to turn it off? I have spent a lot of money purchasing tv shows and movies through iTunes. I love the Apple ecosystem but I am finding all of these strange limits extremely frustrating. I have a very large data plan so I am not worried about the amount of data being transmitted over cellular.

I was really looking forward to purchasing an iPad, but if this limit is on the IPad as well that really makes me rethink whether I should buy it. I have tons of TV shows and I should be able to access them whenever I want without physically copying them to the iPad device.

Can anyone help me with this issue?

 

[luckydcxx]

You cannot download anything over 100mb over cellular data. I have unlimited data and it bugs me too. What you have to do is download them over wifi and save them. Then you can view them anytime and anywhere without using your data.

If you already have them on your computer you can sync them into your device.

Same goes for the ipad.

 

[gstevie]

Hey glad you are enjoying your new iPhone.

The limit on iOS for data downloads has always been there and there is no way short of jail breaking that will remove it. I'm in a similar situation and am annoyed I cannot even stream my iTunes from the videos app unless I'm using wifi. It does seem to be increased with ever new iteration of iOS, it was lower in 6 (50Mb I think).

My advice is get the iPad. I have one too and it's great. There is where I have a workaround. If u get the wifi only iPad you can use your iPhone as a hotspot which the iPad connects to and watch/download away to your hears (data limit) content. As the iPad sees the hotspot as a wifi connection and therefore no imposed download limitation.

Sorry I can't help you out anymore, but I hope it helps with the iPad decision!

 

[jlusk99]

Weegrim, yes that's true--I carry my iPhone everywhere so I could always tether the iPad. Can you use the iPhone's tethering create it's own wifi network?

 

[charlituna]

1. You have a big cell data plan yes? Cause those files are huge. Easily a gig each in some cases

2. You can't download but you might be able to stream. Go into video settings, turn on 'show all videos'. You should be able to pick what you want and have it stream from your purchased collection.

 

[jlusk99]

Yes actually what I meant was that I want to stream them. I don't actually need to physically download it. Is that possible?

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

Yes actually what I meant was that I want to stream them. I don't actually need to physically download it. Is that possible?

I don't think it is. Like charlituna said, you can enable streaming by going into the video settings and toggling on Show All Videos. However, when not on wifi, the video just says "Loading..." then cancels.

I agree, its annoying. I guess its because Apple doesn't lower the quality size when streaming (like Netflix and others) so if you were to stream you would use up multiple gigs of data per movie (assuming HD).

 

[Nickash28]

Definitely used to be able to stream all movies from the cloud pre iOS8. I know because I used the feature daily. It's just a way to force us to buy the larger capacity phones and iPads.