Digital Guru: Stan
THIS AUSTRALIAN-BORN STREAMING SERVICE HAS LOTS TO OFFER WHEN IT COMES TO FILM AND TV.
IT CAN BE easy to take for granted video streaming as it exists today. Go back even just five years and on-demand streamers like Netflix didn’t even exist in Australia (without a VPN). Sure, free to air catch-up services have been around for many years, but the choice on what to watch is often limited to a select few (not to mention the constant advertisements that infiltrate your viewing). Stan is an Australian-born streaming platform that went live in early 2015 with an extensive catalogue of both film and TV. Now four years later, the service has garnered over 2.6 million subscribers – while that’s significantly lower than international powerhouse Netflix with 11.2 million Australians, Stan continues to grow with it’s range of exclusive titles and agreements with global production houses. If you’re yet to delve into the world of ondemand video streaming then we’d definitely recommend giving Stan a go, especially considering your first 30 days are free.
THE BASICS
WHAT ABOUT NETFLIX? If you’re already a subscriber of Netflix, then you may be wondering why you’d want to sign up to another service. Both Netflix and Stan are pretty similar when it comes to functionality, but it’s what’s available for streaming that differs. At the time of writing, Stan had almost 500 shows and 1,500 films – less than the much larger Netflix (1,600 shows and 3,693 films). Despite its smaller catalogue, Stan has a wide and varied library filled with TV classics like Seinfeld, The Office and Friends. You’ll also find more recent shows such as UnReal, Better Call Saul and Billions, plus a small but growing collection of original content. Not exclusive to TV, Stan’s film library includes movies such as Charlie’s Angels, Ghostbusters, and the entire James Bond film franchise. In December 2018 Stan also announced a new deal with Disney, meaning you can enjoy timeless Pixar classics like Toy Story, plus films from the Marvel and Star Wars franchises – making Stan a very serious contender in the streaming stakes. GETTING STARTED. If you’re new to Stan, visit
www.stan.com.au/ and enter your email address before choosing the free trial option. You’ll be asked to select from one of three subscription plans (see below), plus add a payment method. While Stan gives all new users a 30 day trial, you’ll need to add a credit
card or PayPal account to be debited once your 30 days is up. Note that you can cancel your plan at any time before the trial ends and not be charged.
PLANS. Stan offers three subscription options to choose from. For $10 per month you can sign up to a basic plan, giving you unlimited standard definition streaming and downloads to one device. If you have multiple people in your household or you’re a stickler for quality, you’ll want to consider a standard plan for $14 per month which raises your device and download limit to three, plus increases streaming quality to HD. The final option is Stan’s premium plan priced at $17 per month which gives you the ability to watch shows simultaneously on four devices, download to five, and support for UltraHD streaming (more on that later).
FINDING CONTENT. The easiest place to find content is on Stan’s homepage. Presented as a curated collection of both film and TV, you’ll find trending, recently added and exclusive content, along with a range of genres you can click to expand. After discovering something you like, hover over its tile to reveal a play button, or click to see a synopsis along with a list of similar shows and films. At the top of the page are a series of drop-down lists to help you locate a particular film or TV genre.
STEP IT UP A LEVEL
SEARCH. Finding content on Stan is easy thanks to the search tool. Located at the top of any page, click the magnifying glass and begin typing the name of a television series or film. Not only for show programs, you can also look for a particular genre, actor or actress.
MY LIST. With so many titles to choose from, it pays to keep track of your favourites using the list feature. While browsing the Stan catalogue, hover or click on a show’s title to see the option to add it to your list. You can access your list from the top of any page in your browser or from the menu in Stan’s mobile app.
WATCH HISTORY. In addition to a list of saved shows, you can also see your recently watched programs, making it easy to pick up where you left off. To access or edit your watch history, hover over your profile icon and select Watch History. DOWNLOADS. Many of the shows and films on Stan can be saved to your Android or iOS device for offline playback. Within the mobile app, tap the download icon displayed below a film’s synopsis or next to a TV episode. In settings you can adjust the quality of downloads – useful if your smartphone has limited storage.
PROFILES. While Stan may lack the ability to provide personalised viewing recommendations, creating a profile for different members of the household means you’ll each have access to a personal watch list and viewing history. To get started, hover over your profile icon and select Manage Account. For each profile you can choose to restrict content to a particular classification. KIDS. The recent inking of Stan’s Disney deal
means there’s more than enough content for kids. When setting up a profile you can choose to limit Stan’s catalogue to only shows and films approved for children. In addition to Disney, Stan has shows from Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and ABC for Kids.
GOING PRO
PICTURE-IN-PICTURE. Readers looking to stream on an Apple iPad will appreciate the ability to watch using picture-in-picture mode. While a show is playing, tap the picture-inpicture icon displayed at the bottom of the screen to shrink the video to the corner of your device. You can then continue to watch while browsing the web, reading the news, or scrolling through Facebook.
CASTING. If you’re in possession of a Google Chromecast, Stan makes it extremely easy to beam content to your TV. A small device that plugs into your television’s HDMI port, you can stream shows and films by tapping the Chromecast icon displayed on the now playing screen of the mobile app.
AUTOPLAY. Don’t worry about getting up at the end of an episode – Stan can automatically begin playing the next one without you needing to move a finger. On the mobile app Stan will also check-in occasionally to ensure you’re still watching. You can adjust both features in the settings section of the app.
SCREEN LOCK. There’s nothing worse than accidentally jumping forward on a show you’re currently watching. A simple yet useful feature of the mobile app is the ability to lock playback controls while watching. Just tap the lock icon displayed on the now playing screen.
4K STREAMING. If you’re subscribed to Stan’s premium plan and own a fancy 4K TV, then you can watch select shows and films in UltraHD. To take advantage of 4K streaming, you’ll need a compatible TV with either the Stan app built-in or connected to a supported device like an Xbox One. You’ll also need an internet connection with a speed of at least 15 megabytes per second. Programs that support UltraHD streaming will have a 4K symbol displayed on the synopsis page.
DATA USAGE. While video streaming is great for keeping entertained on your daily commute, it’s important to think about how much data you consume. According to Stan, streaming in low quality will use around 0.57 gigabytes per hour, while bumping it up to HD will increase that number to 2.89 gigabytes. You can adjust streaming quality in settings or on the fly by tapping the cog while watching a show.