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Android TV users will be able to buy or rent movies through the “Buy” tab
The latest move pretty much marks the final nail in the coffin for Google’s Play brand
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Google is quietly removing a popular app that allowed users to buy premium Hollywood movies and TV shows.
The internet giant sent an email to Android TV users to inform them that “the Google Play Movies & TV app will no longer be available on your Android TV device starting October 5, 2023.”
Instead, customers will be able to buy or rent movies through the “Buy” tab on Android TV, while content is also available through YouTube and Google TV.
Some users reacted in surprise to the announcement, with one writing ‘WTF!?!?’ and another said it was “very sad.”
Others were more scathing, stating that the app was “junk anyway” and that its removal was because Google “probably couldn’t get anyone to see its content.”
Scrapped: Google is quietly removing its Google Play Movies & TV app for Android TV customers. The app allowed users to purchase premium Hollywood movies and TV shows.
The move practically marks the final nail in the coffin for the Google Play brand.
Launched in 2012, the idea was for the Google Play Store, Play Music, Play Newsstand, Play Books, and Play Movies & TV to compete with Apple’s offerings across its iPhone range.
However, just six years later, the company began dropping the name.
Play Newsstand was renamed Google News in 2018, Play Music became YouTube Music in 2020, and Play Movies & TV became Google TV for smartphone users in 2021.
That left Google Play Movies & TV only available to Android TV customers, but this too will end next month.
Instead, an update will integrate home screen shopping with a new “Shop” tab, which works much like Google TV’s “Library” tab.
It will support users’ existing library by syncing from Play Movies, Google TV and YouTube.
Many customers won’t notice the difference, especially if they own newer Google TV devices like the Chromecast, which is a streaming media adapter that allows users to play online content like videos and music on a digital TV.
Just like on smartphones, the Play Movies & TV app on Chromecast had already been superseded by Google TV.
However, if you have older products, like the Nvidia Shield TV, the change will affect how you buy movies and TV shows.
In terms of the Play brand, there is now only Play Books left in the Play Store app.
Earlier this year, the store made headlines when it emerged that, along with Apple’s App Store, it was inundated with fake reviews that misrepresent the popularity of apps.
Some users reacted in surprise to the announcement, with one writing ‘WTF!?!?’ and another saying it was ‘very sad’
Others were more scathing, stating that the app was “junk anyway” and that its removal was because Google “probably couldn’t get anyone to see its content.”
Change of strategy: the move practically marks the last nail in the coffin of the Google Play brand
An investigation revealed that up to a quarter of the reviews in the health and fitness section of Google’s Play Store were suspicious, while in Apple’s equivalent, 17 percent appeared to be fake.
Analysis by consumer group Which one? suggests that millions of consumers could be unwittingly handing over their personal data or money to apps that have made it to the top of the world’s two largest mobile app stores.
The magnitude of the problem is such that Which? It also found that brokers openly sell fake reviews and pay Google to appear at the top of their search results.
These services offer bulk downloads, reviews, or upvotes to help apps move up the rankings, making them look more respectable if they’ve been downloaded a large number of times.
Google did not comment on the analysis, but said it had taken appropriate action against review brokers that used its search engine.