iPad- Downloading suitable material for autistic child - how to & links?

Dinarius · 04-07-2017 12:31PM #1

I would like to download suitable material (films, cartoons etc.) for a five year-old autistic child for a long flight.

1. What is the easiest way to get suitable material onto an iPad for this? Downloading directly via wifi?

2. Any suggestions for sites for such material?

I realise that this question covers both Apple technical issues, as well as health issues. Hopefully it's ok in this forum.

Thanks.

D.

arch_stanton · 04-07-2017 01:30PM

Itunes and Netflix are probably your best bet.

On itunes you can rent or buy movies and you can download them to the ipad for viewing offline. You have 30 days to start watching the movie and once you start it remains available for 48 hours. That might not suit if you want the same move for outbound and return flights. If you buy the movie it's yours to keep. Prices vary depending on the age or popularity of the movie

Netflix also allows download of a lot of it's content. If you're not a netflix user you can sign up for a month's free trial and cancel afterwards if you don't intend on keeping it.

Dinarius · 04-07-2017 02:57PM

arch_stanton wrote: »

Itunes and Netflix are probably your best bet.

On itunes you can rent or buy movies and you can download them to the ipad for viewing offline. You have 30 days to start watching the movie and once you start it remains available for 48 hours. That might not suit if you want the same move for outbound and return flights. If you buy the movie it's yours to keep. Prices vary depending on the age or popularity of the movie

Netflix also allows download of a lot of it's content. If you're not a netflix user you can sign up for a month's free trial and cancel afterwards if you don't intend on keeping it.

Many thanks for that.

Netflix could be the way to go.

Is WiFi the only way to get material onto an iPad?

Is there a quicker way?

Thanks again.

D.

baby and crumble · 04-07-2017 03:41PM

If you have the files you want on your laptop you can use VLC to transfer movies across for watching in the app.

https://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/vlc-for-mobile/id650377962?mt=8

I would second Netflix however. If your speeds are decent it won't take long to download the lower quality movie files to your device- I appreciate if you've crap broadband though this isn't ideal. There's also a whole kids section, not everything will be available to download, but you should find some stuff that'll keep your kids interested.

I dunno if you want to get some communications apps etc for your child but have a look here- you might see something interesting which might help, perhaps with sensory issues etc.

arch_stanton · 04-07-2017 03:54PM

Netflix uses clever compression to drastically reduce the size of files for offline viewing. If you have a half decent internet connection it shouldn't take long.

As baby and crumble said, you can use VLC to transfer files from a laptop and watch them on the iPad but those would normally be from "unofficial"

sources and if you're not familiar with that kind of thing netflix is much less hassle.

Dinarius · 05-07-2017 04:00PM

That's it sorted then.

Thanks for all the help!

Much obliged.

D.

Blazer · 06-07-2017 10:34PM

Netflix is a bit flaky though...its grand if you only download 4-5 at a time..but any more and I find they won't play at all even though it says they've downloaded fully. Make sure you check before you go..

harr · 07-07-2017 07:09AM

Our lad also has autism and it was always difficult getting content for his iPad ...paid movies on iTunes was the only way really unless of course where we were going had good wifi and that wasn't guaranteed..being able to download from Netflix is an absolute god send for us now.
4-5 movies on the iPad and he is happy out ..
Wifi is how we downloaded the content even when on holidays so many places now have free wifi so it wasn't hard finding a spot to download some new movies for him to watch.

iPad- Downloading suitable material for autistic child - how to & links?

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