Google is trying to simplify its streaming offerings again, and it’s making a big change to the way you buy movies and TV shows. Whether you’re on Google TV, Android TV or the Google TV mobile app, all your purchasing will now go through YouTube instead of a dedicated store on those platforms.
That won’t affect any content that you already own, so your existing purchases are unchanged and safe, according to Google. However, any movies that you buy via YouTube will not appear in your Google Play Family Library, so you’ll have two libraries from now on.
Google has announced the changes in a post to its support pages, where it reassures customers that “You’ll still be able to access all of your previously purchased movies and TV shows (including active rentals and entire TV seasons, regardless of where the purchase was made) on Google TV devices, Android TV devices, the Google TV mobile app for Android and the iOS app, and YouTube. However, moving forward, any TV shows purchased on YouTube after today will only be accessible through the YouTube app or on YouTube.”
How to purchase TV shows and movies on YouTube
As you’d expect, buying via YouTube isn’t significantly different from what you’re used to. Once you’re signed into your Google Account you can search the YouTube app for the title you want or browse the Movies & Shows page. Provided you’re 18 or older and have a valid payment method attached to your account, you can then buy or rent instantly. The usage rules for rentals haven’t changed.
The changes have already started to roll out, and Google says they should reach everybody within the next few weeks. The only potential issue is that YouTube doesn’t offer purchases and rentals worldwide and some countries have different options than others. The list of supported countries and what you can buy or rent in them is on the Google support site here.
The changes aren’t entirely unexpected – Google spent the last couple of years slowly shutting down the movies and TV section of Google Play – and they do make sense: having multiple shopfronts for the same content was messy and it’s much more sensible to have a consistent experience across Google TV, Android TV and the mobile app. Provided Google doesn’t make changes later that’ll make it harder to access the things you already own, this change is likely to be one that most people will be pleased with.
Many of the best TVs use Google TV and/or Android TV, including those from TCL, Hisense, Sony and Philips – so if you’ve got a TV from those brands and like to purchase digital movies, keep your eyes open for the change.