The same old story: any support for offline playback of content is either a) a premium feature, or b) something that is conspicuously absent. That forces users to look for their own solutions, which in most cases end up being very limited or full of junk. Fortunately, we found an exception in Cobalt, a universal, free, and open-source downloader that works in the browser and extends its compatibility to the main web services.
Offline playback is not a capricious demand: just as we ask for backward compatibility for our consoles, we also want that extra layer of flexibility for our favorite content. What's the point of having hundreds of gigabytes on a mobile device if everything must remain trapped in different clouds?
Now, I admit that some services already include that support (Netflix, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video come to mind), but in others it is hidden under special plans... or simply doesn't exist. For those cases, we can use Cobalt, a universal, free, and open-source downloader that requires no additional software. In fact, it works in the browser, and all its configuration is done there.
How to Save Content Locally with Cobalt
At the top, we have a list of all supported services, but the most important part is divided between the basic interface controls and the Settings section. We can request an audio download, mute the video, or let Cobalt automatically join both elements.
Under Settings, we find appearance parameters, privacy (essentially, force tunneling of downloads and block telemetry sending), video resolution and codec by default, audio format and bitrate ("best" will try to get the best lossless audio), and download options such as the definitive file name and the exact saving method.
Finally, Cobalt has support for remuxing, that is, changing the container format of the file and improving its compatibility. There will always be old programs or devices that cannot open modern formats, and Cobalt's remuxing gives us the possibility to resolve those conflicts. Although it has some limitations (e.g., it is not compatible with Matroska), its processing is local, lossless, and much faster than we think. Link below!
Access Cobalt: Click here
