By far the cheapest way to enjoy films and music on your smartphone is to use 'streaming' services such as Netflix and Spotify - now available as free apps for iOS and Android smartphones.
Better still, using these apps will mean you don't need as much storage on your phone. When you stream content you don’t download it to your device - instead it’s stored on a server and you use a data connection (3G or WiFi) to watch it.
Streaming music and video (in particular) uses a lot of data, so if you use 3G make sure you are on an unlimited data plan like Three’s The One Plan or T-Mobile’s The Full Monty. The best option for many people is to use WiFi so check you’ve got a decent connection to ensure smooth playback without pauses.
Here’s our pick of the best apps for streaming music and movies to your smartphone.
[Related: Get the best deals on smartphones]
Spotify
Free/£4.99/£9.99
The most well known app for streaming music is Spotify, which is available for Android and iOS smartphones. Spotify has over 15 million tracks, but playlists are a highlight - create your own to share with friends via Facebook or Twitter, subscribe to public playlists and create collaborative playlists.
Three levels of subscription will suit different types of music fans. If you’re a casual listener Free provides 2.5 hours of ad-supported music a week, Spotify Unlimited (£4.99) provides unlimited online streaming using a laptop or desktop.
To listen on your mobile choose Spotify Premium (£9.99) offers unlimited offline streaming (so you don’t even need to be connected to the internet) and it even works across multiple devices.
Spotify is a great way of discovering new music - try the free version and see what you think.
TuneIn Radio
Free/69p
Internet radio lets you listen to thousands of radio stations without paying a penny, using a computer, music-streaming system (like Sonos) or mobile app such as TuneIn Radio.
Available for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and BlackBerry, TuneIn Radio is a portal to 70,000 national, international, local, music and sports radio stations from around the globe, along with 1-2 million on-demand programs.
With a staggering amount of free music for all tastes, TuneIn Radio is a great way to discover new music and share tunes via Facebook and Twitter. It’s very easy to use and although you need an active data connection the Pro version adds record functionality.
[Related: Get the best deals on smartphones]
BBM Music
£4.99
For £4.99 a month BBM Music lets BlackBerry users listen and share music. Choose 50 songs from the millions on offer to organise into playlists and listen offline, then each month swap 25 for new ones. But the great thing about BBM Music is that every time you connect with a BlackBerry using friend, you can listen to their tracks - so the more friends you have the bigger your music collection will become.
50 tracks a month might not be enough for die-hard music fans who listen every day, but BBM Music is an innovative service focusing on the social side of music streaming, with a strong focus on sharing.
Lovefilm
£4.99
Lovefilm is one of the UK’s most established DVD rental services and as long as you’ve got an internet connection use it to stream movies to your iPad or Kindle Fire HD.
£4.99 a month gets you unlimited access to over 5000 movies and 500 TV shows across a range of genres, with content from Miramax, Fox and Universal, although films tend to be over a year old.
As well as streaming to an iPad via a slick, user-friendly UI, Lovefilm lets you watch on-demand video content using a PS3, XBox 360, Smart TV set and various Blu-ray players. Lovefilm has its limitations - at the moment Android and iPhone users can’t watch programs and just have access to the Lovefilm by Post app for accessing rental lists. But overall it’s a good choice for movie-loving iPad users.
[Related: Get the best deals on smartphones]
Netflix
£5.99
Launching in the UK in 2012 Netflix is Lovefilm’s arch rival and the premise is the same: for a monthly fee stream unlimited movies and TV series to a range of devices including Apple TV, PS3, Xbox 360, Smart TVs and streamers. The big advantage Netflix has over Lovefilm is that subscribers can also watch movies and TV programs on iPhone and Android smartphones and the iPod Touch 4G.
£5.99 a month gives access to thousands of films and TV shows and works across multiple devices - so you can watch an episode of Breaking Bad on your PS3 in the front room, before continuing in the comfort of your bedroom on your smartphone.
Netflix’s TV content is fantastic, with top US series Breaking Bad and Damages, although its film content is older, but for subscription video streaming to a mobile, Netflix is the best choice.
Crackle
Free
Crackle is a free video on-demand service for streaming unlimited full-length movies and TV series to a range of devices including: Smart TVs, games consoles, Amazon Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, iPad, Android tablets and Android and Apple mobile phones.
If you’re a fan of classic films, Crackle has plenty of titles to entice you, with a useful Watchlist feature, just don’t expect much modern content and adverts may not appeal to everyone.
BBC iPlayer
Free
All the UK TV channels offer catch-up services, but for mobile phone users BBC iPlayer is the best, it’s rich with content, nicely designed and very easy to use. As well providing a catch-up service of programs from the last seven days, BBC iPlayer includes classic content from the BBC archive and the odd film.
The app is available for Android and iOS, while other phones can access it using a mobile browser and the beeb is continually updating the app to support more devices. iPhone users can now download programs to watch offline - freeing the app from the need for a data connection.
With the iPlayer app your TV habits will change completely.
