Shares

Internet TV service Showmax, with its catalogue of over 20 000 local and international movies and series, has sorted our entertainment for weekends and weeknights. It’s an ideal way to unwind after a long day at work and perfect for when you want to cuddle under a warm blanket on a cold night. In case you are not maximising your Showmax experience, read on for a cheat sheet that will guarantee that you get the most out of the service.

1. ​​Profiles

Showmax has a cool feature that allows more than one person to use a Showmax account. It’s really handy. Say you’re watching a series and your partner wants to watch it too, but at their own pace. Set up your own profile, and one for them. No matter how far they’ve got in the series on their own time, when you open your profile, you’ll see that you’re right where you left off, so you won’t have to hunt for the next episode.

Plus, children’s profiles give kids access to only age-appropriate shows.

FYI: You can have up to five profiles at the same time on one account.

2. Data saving

If you watch Showmax using data bundles or a capped internet connection, you can limit the amount of data that you use.

How it works

On a smartphone or tablet (iOS or Android)

a. Go to Settings (For iOS, click App Preference after Settings).
b. Select Bandwidth Capping.
c. Choose from the three options:

  • No Capping – this gives you the highest possible quality at 1.4 GB per hour
  • Medium – uses 0.7 GB per hour
  • Low – uses 0.3 GB per hour

On a computer

a. Play whatever series or movie you want to watch.
b. Once it begins to play, select Settings on the lower right-hand corner and then select Bandwidth Capping.
c. Choose from the three options:

  • No Capping
  • High – uses 2 GB per hour
  • Medium – uses 0.7 GB per hour
  • Low – uses 0.3 GB per hour

3. Watchlist

If you’re browsing Showmax and see something you like but you can’t watch immediately, you can use the Watchlist feature to save it for later.

To add an item to Watchlist, select a series or movie. That will take you to the details page, where you will see an Add to Watchlist button. Select it and your show or movie will be added to your Showmax Watchlist.

FYI: The Watchlist feature works in profiles, and each profile can save their own shows in the Watchlist.

4. Content discovery

Easily discover content by navigating to either the Series or Movies menu items on the left-hand side when you open Showmax. Next to them you’ll find Genre (a choice of 22) or All Sections (a choice of Hollywood, Maisha, Best of British and Nollywood) to discover different types of content. For instance, you will find Kenyan content under the Maisha section.

FYI: There is also a kids’ menu on the top left that you can use to discover content for the little ones. ​