Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

WRXHokie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 12, 2005
247
166
Gotha, FL
I've recently jumped from the iOS ship to android and found out like many others that the movies/tv shows I bought on the iTunes store wont play on my Galaxy S3. Its not a big deal as I don't have that many videos, but its still a hassle.

So whats the best video store (iTunes, Amazon, Play?) that will give me a straight mp4 video that can play on both ecosystems. Its annoying that I have to purchase a movie twice to play it on all my devices.
 

lavrishevo

macrumors 68000
Jan 9, 2007
1,864
204
NJ
I've recently jumped from the iOS ship to android and found out like many others that the movies/tv shows I bought on the iTunes store wont play on my Galaxy S3. Its not a big deal as I don't have that many videos, but its still a hassle.

So whats the best video store (iTunes, Amazon, Play?) that will give me a straight mp4 video that can play on both ecosystems. Its annoying that I have to purchase a movie twice to play it on all my devices.

The issue your facing is that the video's you purchased have DRM protection from iTunes. In essence, it is not that Android can't play them it is they are locked via iTunes. See below.

Link
 

WRXHokie

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 12, 2005
247
166
Gotha, FL
The issue your facing is that the video's you purchased have DRM protection from iTunes. In essence, it is not that Android can't play them it is they are locked via iTunes. See below.

Link

I understand it has drm thats why it won't play... I was just curious if anyone knew a place where I could buy once and play everywhere.
 

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
well you will run into a problem. Apple locks you in and will not use any open DRM that everyone else does.

Apple is the one to blame as they refuse to use industry standard.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,788
5,243
192.168.1.1
well you will run into a problem. Apple locks you in and will not use any open DRM that everyone else does.

Apple is the one to blame as they refuse to use industry standard.

That's not the question. The question is where can one find cross-platform movies to purchase.

The answer is, as far as I know, you can't.

The movies from Google Play only work on Android (as far as mobile devices) or a computer with Flash, and I think use on a PC/Mac is limited to streaming (I could be wrong).

The movies from iTunes only work on OSX/iOS (or Windows + iTunes) and whatever Windows Phone users do, it'll only work there.

Netflix is cross-platform, but of course that's streaming-only. Amazon Prime is also streaming-only and limited to Mac/PC with Flash or Amazon tablets.

Basically, there is no good answer I can provide, other than consider providing your own non-DRM content, if you know what I mean.
 

Rodimus Prime

macrumors G4
Oct 9, 2006
10,136
4
That's not the question. The question is where can one find cross-platform movies to purchase.

The answer is, as far as I know, you can't.

The movies from Google Play only work on Android (as far as mobile devices) or a computer with Flash, and I think use on a PC/Mac is limited to streaming (I could be wrong).

The movies from iTunes only work on OSX/iOS (or Windows + iTunes) and whatever Windows Phone users do, it'll only work there.

Netflix is cross-platform, but of course that's streaming-only. Amazon Prime is also streaming-only and limited to Mac/PC with Flash or Amazon tablets.

Basically, there is no good answer I can provide, other than consider providing your own non-DRM content, if you know what I mean.

Long run I expect to see iOS and everyone else.
 

xraydoc

Contributor
Oct 9, 2005
10,788
5,243
192.168.1.1
Long run I expect to see iOS and everyone else.

Perhaps. But for now, and for at least the next year, it's everyone for himself.

Ultraviolet is one potential that works on iOS and everything else, but the implementation isn't so great at the moment on any platform.
 

tbayrgs

macrumors 604
Jul 5, 2009
7,343
4,867
I've recently jumped from the iOS ship to android and found out like many others that the movies/tv shows I bought on the iTunes store wont play on my Galaxy S3. Its not a big deal as I don't have that many videos, but its still a hassle.

So whats the best video store (iTunes, Amazon, Play?) that will give me a straight mp4 video that can play on both ecosystems. Its annoying that I have to purchase a movie twice to play it on all my devices.

Exactly why many people, myself included, don't purchase digital movies. I use nearly all Apple devices but there's certainly no guarantee that will always be the case and I don't want to be restricted by DRM, Apple's or any other provider's. I can't even play iTunes movies through PLEX on an Apple computer--ridiculous.

It's certainly a bit of work but any movies/shows I want to own on Blu Ray (or DVD) and I rip/encode a digital version(s) to use on our families iDevices. Difference is I can play them back on non-Apple devices if I so choose.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.