FOREVER Streaming Video Plans FAQs
1. QUESTION What’s included in a Streaming Video Plan?
ANSWER With a Streaming Video Plan, you and your loved ones will experience the joy of watching and reliving your video memories in your FOREVER account on any computer, smartphone, or tablet, at any time. You and anyone you share your videos with can watch them over and over again in full HD quality. With a Streaming Video Plan, you can also optimize your videos for long-term storage if you choose. Optimization reduces the amount of storage you need to save videos.
Learn more about video optimization and video file types here.
2. QUESTION Can others watch the videos I share with them?
ANSWER Yes. If you have a Streaming Video Plan and share your videos with others, they will also be able to watch them while visiting your account in FOREVER on any computer, smartphone, or tablet, at any time, even if they do not have a Streaming Video Plan of their own. If another person downloads the videos you shared with them and then saves them to their own FOREVER Library, they will need a Streaming Video Plan to watch them from their own account.
If you do not have a Streaming Video Plan, and share your videos with others, they can download your videos and watch them offline using their computer’s available software. Or, if they have a Streaming Video Plan, they can copy the videos to their own FOREVER Library and watch them in FOREVER on any computer, smartphone, or tablet, at any time.
3. QUESTION I uploaded videos to my FOREVER Account before purchasing a Streaming Video Plan. Will I be able to watch those videos?
ANSWER Yes. If you have an active FOREVER Streaming Video Plan, you and anyone you share your videos with can watch all of them in FOREVER on any computer, smartphone, or tablet, at any time. The first time you play a video that had been uploaded prior to your purchase of a Streaming Video Plan, there may be a slight delay while we prepare your video for online viewing. This delay will only occur the first time you watch that video in FOREVER.
4. QUESTION What if I want to cancel my video plan?
ANSWER You can cancel your Monthly or Yearly Streaming Video Plan at any time, but once you do, you and anyone you share videos with will no longer be able to watch your videos in your FOREVER Account. You can still upload, organize, share, and download the videos in your FOREVER Account and watch them offline using your computer’s available software.
5. QUESTION Why not use a “free” service to watch my videos online, such as YouTube?
ANSWER You can certainly upload and watch your videos to YouTube, but YouTube is not free. Users “pay” to watch their videos by giving up their privacy and digital rights and allowing their precious memories to be datamined and commercialized. As soon as you stop using or cease to be valuable to these so-called “free” sites, they delete your precious memories.
At FOREVER, we do not sell or rent FOREVER Storage Owners’ personal information to third parties. We enable you to control what content you keep private, and what you choose to make public or share with others. And of course, with FOREVER’s unique business model and guarantee, your content (including your videos) is preserved for many decades to come.
The bottom line is that so-called “free” services do not preserve important memories in a way that ensures they are safe, secure, and accessible for generations.
6. QUESTION Can I watch the videos that are stored in my account without a Streaming Video Plan?
ANSWER YES! If you do not have a Streaming Video Plan, you can download your videos and watch them offline using your computer’s available software.
7. QUESTION Can I upload, organize, and share videos without a Streaming Video Plan?
ANSWER Yes! You can upload, organize, and share videos in your FOREVER Account just like photos, print products, audio files, and documents.
8. QUESTION Will the FOREVER Guarantee apply to the videos that I upload if I do not have a Streaming Video Plan?
ANSWER Yes! Once you have purchased a FOREVER Storage Account, all videos, photos, documents, and audio files you upload will be guaranteed for your lifetime plus 100 years regardless of whether you have a Streaming Video Plan. Over time, file formats may become obsolete and require your video to be migrated to modern standard formats so they can continue to be shared, viewed, and enjoyed. We will perform this migration when, in our professional judgement, a video can no longer be viewed or played on commonly available devices. This is true whether you have a Streaming Video Plan or not.
9. QUESTION If I send video tapes (VHS, Beta, Hi8, mini DV tapes) and reels (8mm, Super 8mm, 16 mm) into FOREVER to be digitized, will those videos be uploaded to my FOREVER Account?
ANSWER Yes. As part of our Conversion Service, we upload all videos that we digitize for you to your FOREVER Account. If you do not have enough storage for all your converted content, a FOREVER Team Member will contact you and invite you to purchase additional storage. If you choose NOT to purchase additional storage, we will still save the videos associated with your order to a USB Flash Drive and send it to you. However, these videos will not be stored in FOREVER and are NOT subject to the FOREVER Guarantee, unless you subsequently upload them from your USB drive to a FOREVER Storage Account.
10. QUESTION Can I watch videos you digitize and upload to my FOREVER Account without a Streaming Video plan?
ANSWER Yes. If you do not have a Streaming Video Plan, you can download your videos – including the videos digitized through our Conversion Service – and watch them offline using your computer’s available software. However, you need to purchase a Streaming Video Plan in order to watch your videos in FOREVER on any computer, smartphone, or tablet, at any time.
11. QUESTION Are there any limits on the videos I can upload?
ANSWER You can upload videos from your phone, tablet, or computer in the following formats only: .mp4, .avi, .mov, .mpg, .mpeg, .wmv, .mkv, .m4v, .mts, .mt2s.
Individual videos must be less than 4 GB in file size in order to upload. You may upload multiple videos at a time as well as upload videos and photos at the same time. If you have videos that are larger than 4 GB, or need further help uploading videos, please contact us at 1-888-FOREVER (1-888-367-3837).
12. QUESTION Can I upload videos using the FOREVER mobile app?
ANSWER Yes! You can upload videos from your mobile device to your FOREVER Account just like photos. Furthermore, you can choose to include or exclude videos when you back up or auto sync your mobile device.
13. QUESTION Can I upload videos to my FOREVER Account directly from Historian?
ANSWER No. In order to get your videos from Historian to your FOREVER Account, you must first export the videos from Historian to a folder on your computer. From that folder, you can upload videos to your FOREVER Account using FOREVER’s web uploader. If you need help, just call us at 1-888-FOREVER (1-888-367-3837).
14. QUESTION Can I upload videos to my FOREVER Account directly from Facebook or other social media sites?
ANSWER No. You must first download and save videos from Facebook and other social media sites to a folder on your computer. Then, from that folder, you can upload videos to your FOREVER Account using FOREVER’s web uploader. Once again, If you need help, just give us a call at 1-888-FOREVER (1-888-367-3837).
15. QUESTION Will FOREVER de-dupe my videos during upload like it does my photos?
ANSWER The FOREVER Mobile App will de-dupe videos for you when you upload from your mobile device to your FOREVER Account (assuming they were already uploaded from the same mobile device). However, if you are using a web browser, FOREVER is not yet able to de-dupe your videos during the upload process.