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Disney Movies Anywhere vs. iTunes?

D

davidg4781

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Oct 28, 2006
2,951
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Alice, TX
I got the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital version of The Force Awakens and I'm redeeming the digital code right now.

I can choose from Disney Movies Anywhere or iTunes/Amazon/etc. What's the best route to go? Disney or iTunes? I'm not interested in the others, regardless of reason. I'm pretty well established in the iTunes ecosystem but is there a benefit or drawback of going with either one?

I tried searching and couldn't really find any information, other than you can link them together. I'm trying to make a decision quick before that screen times out.
 
So, here's the deal. Disney Movies Anywhere's main schtick, is, like the name implies, to be able to enjoy your digital movies...well...anywhere. Which is to say that if you give Disney your iTunes Account info, your Google Play account info, your Amazon account info, your VUDU account info, and so forth, then, if you buy or redeem a digital movie from their collection from one of those services, you will automatically own it on all of the others as well. Case in point: when I bought Iron Man from Google Play, I then owned it on iTunes, and Amazon as well. When I bought the Toy Story trilogy bundle on iTunes, I then automatically owned it on Google Play, Amazon and the others.

All that to say that, it doesn't matter which one you redeem through just so long as your Disney Movies Anywhere account knows to talk to your iTunes account, your Google Play Account, your Amazon accounts, etc. and vice versa. Also to say that if you don't yet have accounts for these services, you might as well make them to reap this benefit. (In particular, movies on Google Play are nice to have as you then have Chromecast compatibility that you don't yet have with iTunes' media ecosystem [and thusly, as long as you have an iOS or Android device with Google Play Movies and TV installed, you can bring The Force Awakens over to your buddy's house to watch on his/her Chromecast].)
 
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So does it just authorize it to play through iTunes or does it actually become one of my movies in iTunes? Let's say something happens with DMA and they go away. Do I still own the movie through iTunes, provided they didn't tell Apple to take it off their server?

I don't have those other accounts now but I may later. I never thought I'd leave Palm for Apple but changed back in 2007.
 
davidg4781 said:
So does it just authorize it to play through iTunes or does it actually become one of my movies in iTunes? Let's say something happens with DMA and they go away. Do I still own the movie through iTunes, provided they didn't tell Apple to take it off their server?

I don't have those other accounts now but I may later. I never thought I'd leave Palm for Apple but changed back in 2007.
Click to expand...

You tie iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and the others to Disney Movies Anywhere once. From then on, any purchase or redemption made through one of those accounts (Disney Movies Anywhere included), automatically gets added to the others at no additional cost. Again, I highly recommend adding other accounts to it, even if you haven't made them yet. It's a really sweet deal.
 
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I ended up going through DMA and tying it in with my iTunes and Amazon accounts. I don't have the others, yet.

It does look like it's safe as it sent me to iTunes to authenticate it and everything. I was concerned I may have issues later but I don't think that'll be an issue.
 
Hey I have a weird thing happening. I redeemed The movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" through my already iTunes linked DMA account. I was then able to download that movie through iTunes and watched it a couple of times through iTunes (back when I first redeemed it).

Now for some reason this movie does not show up as a movie I own in iTunes. All other DMA movies I own show in iTunes but not this one. It still shows in my DMA account as one I own.
 
From A Buick 8 said:
Hey I have a weird thing happening. I redeemed The movie "Guardians of the Galaxy" through my already iTunes linked DMA account. I was then able to download that movie through iTunes and watched it a couple of times through iTunes (back when I first redeemed it).

Now for some reason this movie does not show up as a movie I own in iTunes. All other DMA movies I own show in iTunes but not this one. It still shows in my DMA account as one I own.
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Is this the case on all of your Apple devices? I had something similar happen where some movies (not necessarily Disney) showed up on my Macbook's iTunes, but not on my iPhone.

I think the solution was to log out of iTunes app on my iphone and then log back in. It was so long ago that the details are kinda fuzzy.
 
ftaok said:
Is this the case on all of your Apple devices? I had something similar happen where some movies (not necessarily Disney) showed up on my Macbook's iTunes, but not on my iPhone.

I think the solution was to log out of iTunes app on my iphone and then log back in. It was so long ago that the details are kinda fuzzy.
Click to expand...
I seems to be true on iTunes on my iMac and on my AppleTV, I will try logging out and back in anyway.
 
iTune and Googleplay work for me but. when I try to connect Vudu to movies anywhere from either side doesn't connect. Is anyone have success with Vudu connecting?
 
Just an FYI for anyone still following this thread: Disney Movies Anywhere is being phased out in favor of Movies Anywhere (which is backed, not just by Disney, but by 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, and Universal as well). Make an account, tie your iTunes, your Google Play, your Amazon, and your Vudu accounts all together and your collections will be in sync. If you've already synced your movies with Disney Movies Anywhere with at least one of these accounts, then you can re-sync them with Movies Anywhere simply by connecting that one account to it.

Also to say, that there's really no reason to not sign up for this service, especially if you own devices from different ecosystems.

Now, if only they'd do this with TV-shows...
 
Yebubbleman said:
Just an FYI for anyone still following this thread: Disney Movies Anywhere is being phased out in favor of Movies Anywhere (which is backed, not just by Disney, but by 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, and Universal as well). Make an account, tie your iTunes, your Google Play, your Amazon, and your Vudu accounts all together and your collections will be in sync. If you've already synced your movies with Disney Movies Anywhere with at least one of these accounts, then you can re-sync them with Movies Anywhere simply by connecting that one account to it.

Also to say, that there's really no reason to not sign up for this service, especially if you own devices from different ecosystems.

Now, if only they'd do this with TV-shows...
Click to expand...
plus you get a few free movies for signing up.
 
Yebubbleman said:
Just an FYI for anyone still following this thread: Disney Movies Anywhere is being phased out in favor of Movies Anywhere (which is backed, not just by Disney, but by 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, and Universal as well). Make an account, tie your iTunes, your Google Play, your Amazon, and your Vudu accounts all together and your collections will be in sync. If you've already synced your movies with Disney Movies Anywhere with at least one of these accounts, then you can re-sync them with Movies Anywhere simply by connecting that one account to it.

Also to say, that there's really no reason to not sign up for this service, especially if you own devices from different ecosystems.

Now, if only they'd do this with TV-shows...
Click to expand...


Hello sir. I'm new to this. Does this work with rentals? If I rent through say google play does it let me watch it say through iTunes?

Thank you
 
Purchases only. It does not work for rentals. But, it is great. I wanted to buy a movie the other day and it was considerably cheaper on Amazon, so I bought it there and it immediately showed up on iTunes.
 
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Beachjason said:
Hello sir. I'm new to this. Does this work with rentals? If I rent through say google play does it let me watch it say through iTunes?

Thank you
Click to expand...

As RichardMZhlubb points out, it's only for purchases. As it stands, most of the services stipulate in their rental agreements that you are only able to watch a given rental on a single device at a time anyway. So, it is logical that would extend to be on only a single service at a time.
 
Yebubbleman said:
As RichardMZhlubb points out, it's only for purchases. As it stands, most of the services stipulate in their rental agreements that you are only able to watch a given rental on a single device at a time anyway. So, it is logical that would extend to be on only a single service at a time.
Click to expand...
Thanks guys!
 
RichardMZhlubb said:
Purchases only. It does not work for rentals. But, it is great. I wanted to buy a movie the other day and it was considerably cheaper on Amazon, so I bought it there and it immediately showed up on iTunes.
Click to expand...

That's a good point to being able to do this. I'm looking at one older classic cartoon movie that's $9.99 on Amazon, $14.99 on iTunes.

Does anyone know if the purchases stay yours in iTunes? Like let's say I purchase in Amazon and it goes through Movies Anywhere to iTunes. Then 2 years from now MA says we're closing up, would I still be able to watch through iTunes?
 
davidg4781 said:
That's a good point to being able to do this. I'm looking at one older classic cartoon movie that's $9.99 on Amazon, $14.99 on iTunes.

Does anyone know if the purchases stay yours in iTunes? Like let's say I purchase in Amazon and it goes through Movies Anywhere to iTunes. Then 2 years from now MA says we're closing up, would I still be able to watch through iTunes?
Click to expand...
It's supposed to stay in your iTunes forever, but who knows what the fine fine fine print says.

Even if something were to happen with MA, you should have enough advanced notice to download all of your iTunes movies locally so you wouldn't totally lose them.
 
Yebubbleman said:
You tie iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and the others to Disney Movies Anywhere once. From then on, any purchase or redemption made through one of those accounts (Disney Movies Anywhere included), automatically gets added to the others at no additional cost. Again, I highly recommend adding other accounts to it, even if you haven't made them yet. It's a really sweet deal.
Click to expand...
I would add to this a few more steps.
Download Vudu, it's free - it's part of Walmart
Vudu will tie anything you may own from Ultraviolet, and associate them with Movies Anywhere.
This buys you TWO major benefits.
1) Any movies that you had from years ago, through Ultraviolet can be reclaimed, just associate your UV account with Vudu; and associate Vudu with iTunes and Movies Anywhere. Now, your ENTIRE collection can be merged.

2) If you have some DVD's (at your house - take that anyway you want), you can scan the barcode and purchase the digital copy in DVD form for $2, or upgrade to Blu-ray for $5. If you have the Blu-Ray, the digital copy in 4K is $2.

It all will wind up in iTunes, all tied together online - quickly, easily and relatively painlessly.
 
I just tried Movies Anywhere by linking my Vudu, iTunes and Amazon accounts. Movies Anywhere and iTunes only show 15 of my 25 Vudu movies. All 7 of the HDX Hunger Games and Divergent movies are missing.
 
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