Apple Eliminating iTunes Movies and TV Show Apps in tvOS 17.2

[MacRumors]

Apple is doing away with the redundant iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Show apps on the Apple TV starting with the tvOS 17.2 update. As noted by 9to5Mac, in the release candidate version of tvOS 17.2, opening up those apps redirects users to the Apple TV app.

The Apple TV app supports both movie and TV show purchases, making the old iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows apps unnecessary and also confusing to some Apple TV users.

"iTunes Movies and Your Purchases Have Moved," reads the text in the iOS 17.2 release candidate. "You can buy or rent movies and find your purchases in the Apple TV app."

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in October said that Apple planned to remove the standalone Apple TV apps available for renting and purchasing TV shows and movies, and he also said that the TV show and movie sections would be removed from the iTunes Store app on iPhones and iPads.

While Apple has indeed started the process of eliminating its iTunes TV Shows and iTunes Movies apps on Apple TV, the apps do still exist in the RC in order to provide customers with instructions on where to find their content going forward. Apple will likely remove the apps entirely in the near future.

On the iPhone and the iPad, the iTunes Store app continues to offer TV show and movie purchases right alongside the Apple TV app, but the option to purchase that content may soon be removed from the iTunes Store app.

tvOS 17.2 also includes a sidebar that houses content from both Apple's services and streaming services that integrate with the tvOS Watch Now feature. The sidebar makes it easier to access a range of content, and there are dedicated sections for Search, Watch Now, Apple TV+, Sports, Library, and the Store for purchases.

Apple is expected to release tvOS 17.2 to the public next week.

Article Link: Apple Eliminating iTunes Movies and TV Show Apps in tvOS 17.2

 

[decypher44]

I’m sure I’ll appreciate the sidebar, but the current navigation in AppleTV+ is unintuitive and a PITA. At least for my household, anyway.

 

[entropys]

Yes sidebar is helpful. Mixing up included and rental/purchase content when browsing, a la Prime, is very user unfriendly.

 

[clayj]

Well, this isn't going to be confusing. </sarc>

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Does the Apple TV app now support purchasing complete series? You couldn't even do that on the Mac Computer for some reason. Made those two other apps a must use.

 

[macduke]

With all the crap that is being loaded into it, the Apple TV app is turning into the new iTunes.

 

[k1121j]

Is it just me or is it harder to find stuff in the TV app? That’s the only reason I use the other ones when it won’t show up in the TV app.

 

[CC77]

The Apple TV app is very strange, as is the naming in general -- I have a TV, and I can buy an Apple TV (product) to plug into it, running Apple TV (app), with the option to subscribe to Apple TV+ (also app). Surely not confusing at all!

 

[Baseiseough]

Is it just me or is it harder to find stuff in the TV app? That’s the only reason I use the other ones when it won’t show up in the TV app.

I agree with you. it's much easier to find everything in the store apps than the Apple TV one. I also hope they fixed the Apple TV app so it doesn't seldom start movies or tv shows I already bought in the Amazon Prime App. Amazon bandwidth is lower and, for movies, most don't support Dolby Vision or 4K.

 

[Fuzzball84]

For all the money they put into Apple TV and its hardware... they still don't seem to push it as much as they could. It could do so much more. We don't necessarily need another hardware refresh... just a better design, navigation... abilities.. games.. videoconferencing using Apple Cam...

They need to do a lot more besides tidying up the Apps.

 

[verdi1987]

Complete Series purchases are not available in the TV app, only iTunes. They need to fix that.

Edit: I don’t know if Apple saw this or it‘s just a coincidence, but complete series purchases have since been added to the TV app. They were not there when I posted this several days ago.

 

[matttarantino]

Move purchasing songs + ringtones to the music app next! What else is left in iTunes after that?

 

[Apple_Robert]

Glad to see this happening.

 

[rorschach]

They still haven't fixed "Complete Series" purchases from the iTunes Store showing up as one giant list in the Library tab in the TV app.

 

[Rychiar]

I can't even imagine purchasing those things from apple. They were always so overpriced and locked down.

 

[sjsharksfan12]

Complete Series purchases are not available in the TV app, only iTunes. They need to fix that.

Come on Apple. If you're going to delete the two apps, this is one of the first things you need to fix, especially when the end of the year bundle discounts arrive (hopefully).

 

[Jamie0003]

About time, I wonder if the iTunes brand is being rebranded? Long overdue.

Anyone on the GM, have Apple fixed the display of tv shows via the purchased section yet?

 

[Elyzien]

If people are confused by the apps they are dumb. The individual apps are way better organized and geared to the consent you purchase. The TV app is designed to make you watch Apple's lack luster streaming shows burring the content that is purchased. I'll be turning off updates for sure.

 

[Salt City Ute]

Complete Series purchases are not available in the TV app, only iTunes. They need to fix that.

Has this been confirmed with the most recent release?

 

[JosephAW]

Wait until they change the licensing and delete them automatically off our computers and disable iTunes from playing them.

 

[Salt City Ute]

About time, I wonder if the iTunes brand is being rebranded? Long overdue.

Anyone on the GM, have Apple fixed the display of tv shows via the purchased section yet?

What was wrong with how it displayed?

 

[sjsharksfan12]

What was wrong with how it displayed?

Itunes was such a great brand name. You had the Iphone, and Itunes. Things were organized and I know people had issues with it on the computer, but for me, Itunes still works pretty well. Now you need to go into 3 different apps to just find what you are looking for, and now being told that you can't purchase complete series anymore, it's even more confusing. You say "Apple TV" and there are three different things under the Apple umbrella that uses that phrase. Apple has made it more confusing than ever before.

 

[iLuddite]

Anyone on the GM,

It’s RELEASE CANDIDATE!!!!

 

[Elyzien]

I agree with you. it's much easier to find everything in the store apps than the Apple TV one. I also hope they fixed the Apple TV app so it doesn't seldom start movies or tv shows I already bought in the Amazon Prime App. Amazon bandwidth is lower and, for movies, most don't support Dolby Vision or 4K.

How about Apple let us Download content on ATV Consaul. RIiiiiIGHT, then I could download a full 4k Dolby mpg without bandwidth being an issue. (I'm in a low bandwidth area.) If I can't ever download from 3rd party streamers due to logistics like Amazon, then Why can't I at least download iTunes purchases to my Consaul? We used to be able to. Maybe then ATV could compete fully with Blu-ray's quality.

 

[CarAnalogy]

With all the crap that is being loaded into it, the Apple TV app is turning into the new iTunes.

Nah. iTunes actually let me just play a video the way I wanted, undisturbed. It didn’t advertise at me constantly. They are making iTunes look good.