Google finallypulled the plug on the confusing Play Movies & TV appon October 5, giving yourAndroid TVdevice a much-needed decluttering. While the move cleared up a bit of the video app chaos, Google is still juggling too many places where you can buy or rent movies and TV shows. For instance, video content is still available to buy through YouTube, Android TV,and Google TV. Starting January 17, these platforms will also serve as the home of your past purchases from Google.
In acommunity post, Google has detailed how you’re able to access your movies and shows on different devices. If you purchased or rented content through the legacy app, you’ll be able to access it through the Shop tab on Android TV-powered TVs andstreaming devices. Towatch purchased content, go to the Shop tab on the Android TV home screen. Locate your purchased content in the first row, namedYour Library. If you have more than 10 titles in your catalog, click theView Allcard. Google has also neatly sectioned off rentals, movies, and shows there too.
If you’ve been using the Movies & TV app on your cable box or Android TV set-top box, Google’s shaking things up too. Starting January 17, the YouTube app will be your new one-stop shop for watching all your previously purchased movies and shows, and for renting or buying new ones.
Before you dive headfirst into your YouTube movie night, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. While you can watch your previously purchased movies and shows on YouTube anywhere, buying or renting new ones is a bit more limited.Only 46 countriesoffer movie purchases and rentals, but when it comes to buying TV shows, it’s exclusive to the US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Switzerland.
If you want to access your Google-purchased movies and shows (including active rentals) on your web browser, simply head over to the YouTube website. Again, the lineup of movies and TV shows on YouTube depends on where you’re located.
Google’s video empire is a tale of many apps. Once upon a time, there was a single store called the Android Market, which was later rebranded as Google Play, but then things got a bit wild. It splintered into different stores for essentially the same content, and it was a head-scratcher.
It makes perfect sense tokeep Google Play Music in its own corner, but having Google Play Movies & TV, Android TV, and YouTube act like separate shops for the same crowd buying the same stuff is not the most logical move.
