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Apple Removes Option to Buy TV Shows and Movies in iOS 17.2 iTunes Store App
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iTunes always defaulted to it’s corretc format like 4K Dolby Vision but on the store App Apple has left the ability to “watch” as say HD so I can no longer tell what i am buying if I select buy - it’s nuts! they Need to remove the “watch” or when you buy at least say what it is like on the old iTunes Movie app…. Huge error!
With the launch of iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2, Apple made a server side change that removes the option to purchase and access TV shows and movies from the iTunes Store app.
Attempting to access the TV Shows and Movies sections in the app directs users to the Apple TV app instead. "iTunes Movies and Your Purchases Have Moved," reads the app's message. "You can buy or rent movies and find your purchases in the Apple TV app."
During the beta testing process, the iTunes Store app continued to offer access to TV shows and movies, so this is a change that Apple made to its servers. With this update, Apple says in a support document that it is no longer possible to gift movies or TV shows on an iPhone running iOS 17.2 or later, on an iPad running iPadOS 17.2 or later, or on an Apple TV running tvOS 17.2 or later. As noted by Sigmund Judge, there is still a workaround for gifting a movie or TV show using the search function in the iTunes app.
Apple made the same tweak to tvOS 17.2 during the tvOS 17.2 beta testing process. The standalone iTunes TV and iTunes Movies apps in tvOS are no longer functional, and redirect users to the TV app on the Apple TV. Apple also redesigned the look of the TV app on the Apple TV, but no notable changes have been made to the Apple TV app on the iPhone and iPad.
Apple is directing users to the TV app in order to aggregate all TV and movie content in one place. The iTunes Store app on iPhone and iPad continues to offer options to purchase music.
Article Link: Apple Removes Option to Buy TV Shows and Movies in iOS 17.2 iTunes Store App
The TV a step a backwards. No reviews no delete date no wish list too much content in one display. I think they need to move these features over. This is a bit like the days when they removed the iPod app. I still don’t think the music app has been same since it switched over.
Cool! That’s about as customer-centric as Apple on this one. You do realize many of us have purchased many shows already? You might as well tell existing customers to go back to physical media.
If the Apple TV app wasn’t still in a state of flux like some Google product, it might not annoy so many existing customers. The fact that iTunes is still preferred by many after this many years should be a huge embarrassment for Apple, as it shows they still haven’t gotten their “it just works” ethos working for it. The fact you are arguing with other customers about features proves that, as these features should be obvious and predictable, and not a moving target when they already existed long ago in the old app. And the Apple TV app itself should be an obvious choice for the customer, not a forced choice. People should WANT to upgrade, not feel like they are downgrading.
Good that it works for you, though.
Was just about to post the same thing!
CheapCharts has been my way of adding to and watching Wish lists for nearly 10 years. I completely forgot about the ability within iTunes. It is so much better than latter.
A notification when a movie or TV series is on sale is excellent.
Can’t recommend this app enough…
I updated, went to the app to search for and buy John Wick 4 - the App strangely directed me to Amazon Prime, where I could watch it for free. Thanks Apple, very noble of you.
Whelp, I guess I'm done buying content through Apple then. That was going to be my workaround - buy via iTunes, download to my computer, and watch from the iTunes library.
The TV app UX is terrible, especially for TV shows. No watchlist, no easy way to re-watch episodes of shows, no way to split out owned content from streaming content (and since 99% of what's in TV+ is crap, there's a lot of junk to wade through), and so many other issues. I just want to see the stuff I purchased, pick a show, see all the episodes, and pick one to watch.
The TV app UX is terrible, especially for TV shows. No watchlist, no easy way to re-watch episodes of shows, no way to split out owned content from streaming content (and since 99% of what's in TV+ is crap, there's a lot of junk to wade through), and so many other issues. I just want to see the stuff I purchased, pick a show, see all the episodes, and pick one to watch.
Bingo.
The music app on the mac is much clunkier than iTunes ever was, and the TV app was worse. But at least you can still just see what's in your library without having streaming junk merged in.
Ridiculous price gouging leading companies to attaining historically high profits and the lack of option to actually own stuff these days means that some uses are going to be pushed towards other more… how can I say… Caribbean methods using apps like Transmit to obtain their shows.
And a great thing about these nautically questionable shenanigans is you’re not restricted on where and how you watch them, the types of operating system do you need or the types of displays that include HDCP et cetera And can often obtain them at a higher resolution.
Oh and don’t get me started on apps phoning home every time your kid picks their nose.
This is just about pushing people to consider Apple Music, an app I have zero interest in. I have zero interest in “renting” music by streaming it. If I like it I want to own it and listen to it whenever I want on my terms.
Well, if you bought content on the itunes store, you don't really own it either. Apple can pull the license anytime and remove it from your library (or at least your ability to re-download it).
The only way to be sure is to buy physical media and convert to digital format yourself.
Thanks for letting us know about the library bug fixed.
You can't buy via the TV Store, download to your computer, and watch from the TV app?
- You can split out owned content from streaming content by going to the Library section of the TV app. It contains all your purchased Movies and TV Shows.
- You can re-watch episodes of shows by picking out a show in your library, and hitting play.
- The TV app has a Watchlist. It's called "Up Next".
Ever since I was bitten by the library bug, I tried contacting MacRumors and 9to5Mac to try and give it some more attention in the hope it'd be fixed. Apple's engineering department just told me to use the iTunes apps...Thanks for letting us know about the library bug fixed.
The fix similarly didn't get any press either, but it was a VERY welcome surprise to me when I downloaded tvOS 17.1 and everything appeared.
Any other resource to make and track a wishlist of movies out there? Something that pulls data in from every retailer. Similar to JustWatch, actually.
This is absurd. The TV app doesn't actually show what version of a movie you own. IT SHOWS I OWN 4K EVEN THOUGH I ACTUALLY OWN HD ONLY. wtf is wrong with apple.
I still have a TON of TV series and movies from ripping DVDs and Blu-rays and uh exotic streaming of course haha. Oh man I still have Handbrake installed though. I miss the organization tbh lol. I was always able to compress video to smaller sizes with better quality with x264 when it first came out. I also liked to keep the DTS/AC-3 stream second for surround sound because discrete 6 channel+ surround is sooo much better than basic stereo with Pro Logic II. With Atmos though lol
Seeing how my spotify went from 9.99 to 10.99 (or was it 11.99) yeah that sounds par for the course.