As announced in March, Google Play users on Android are starting to see the movie and TV store disappear from the app.
On mobile, Google no longer wants people to browse, search, buy or rent TV shows and movies from the Play Store app. Instead, Google TV is the intended replacement where you can also view your library, while it was recently updated with a “Highlights” news feed.
As part of this change, there are now changes to previous purchases, family sharing, payments (including use of Play credit and gift cards), refunds, Play Points or your wish list. There is also no change in the newly redesigned web interface.
Meanwhile, Play Store on Android is now focused on applications, games, e-books and audiobooks. Users are now down to three tabs – Games, Apps and Books – in the bottom bar, though they may have offers or Play Pass as a fourth. It makes the navigation a bit cleaner.
The first reports that Film & TV is disappearing came last week, and there are more today, namely from Europe. Google has similarly updated its original message post:
Update: Movies and TV are now being removed from the Google Play app
It looks like the removal will extend into June.
9to5Google’s Take
The company clearly believes that Google TV is the better place for media, and this drive started largely with the new Chromecast in 2020. In practice, it is somewhat annoying to no longer have a single place for all digital content on Android, even if this started with the death of Play Music several years ago.
The experience of using the Google TV app is not in any way a departure from the Play Store experience, and it is convenient to have quick access to “Your stuff”. That said, I’m now searching for movies / series in the YouTube app, which is already on my home screen, and shopping there. YouTube recently doubled its media interface, and this may be an unintended consequence of all this change.
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