Skip to main content

Google ditches Play Movies app in favor of Google TV

The Google TV app is taking over for Play Movies & TV across all Android devices. When Google TV was introduced in late 2020, its mission to replace Play Movies & TV seemed like a good idea as the preinstalled app wasn’t doing a lot to take users’ attention away from other streaming apps. Google TV’s addition to the Android ecosystem has been pretty gradual up to this point, but now it’s set to be an essential part of the Android experience.

Play Movies & TV will be officially retired as the face of Android’s streaming content store in favor of Google TV starting in May. At that point, buying content on Play Movies & TV will no longer be supported in the Play Store, Google announced earlier this week. Google TV will take Play Movies & TV’s place as the preinstalled streaming app included by default on every Android device at that point.

Related Videos

The company makes sure to point out that all purchases made in the Play Movies & TV app will transfer over to the Google TV app as they’ve done since Google TV’s introduction. Users’ wish lists, recommendations, and other personalized aspects in Play Movies & TV will also transition over to Google TV.

Although the transition might seem minor, the pivot to focus on Google TV makes sense given the chokehold that streaming companies like Netflix and Hulu have on digital content. Google TV does more than simply act as a digital storefront for paid streaming content as Play Movies & TV did. Instead, the app links users to all of their streaming subscriptions in one centralized location, in addition to showcasing paid offerings.

While it took quite some time, the move to push Google TV to the forefront of Android streaming services as the company focuses on consolidating streaming options is finally coming to fruition. Luckily, the Google TV app seems to be a better option for Android users than Play Movies & T,V so the transition should benefit users in the long run.

Editors' Recommendations

You may want to think twice about buying a Samsung or Pixel phone
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra next to the Google Pixel 7 Pro.

A new report from Project Zero, Google's internal security research team, says that a laundry list of devices using Exynos modems are at a high risk of major security breaches that would give remote users the ability to very easily "compromise a phone at the baseband level." Notably, the recently released Pixel 7 is among those that are open to attack, alongside the Pixel 6 and Samsung Galaxy S22, to name just a few.

Obviously, this is a major issue, but not all hope is lost, as the problem is certainly fixable. The big question is when a fix for all affected devices is coming. Here's everything you need to know about the vulnerability and what you can do to keep your smartphone safe.
Why Samsung and Pixel phones are in danger

Read more
The Google Pixel Fold may not be as expensive as you thought
Alleged renders of the Google Pixel Fold in black.

Google’s long-in-development foldable phone — the Pixel Fold — is reportedly eyeing a late June launch. A recent leak predicted that the Pixel Fold will hit the European shelves priced at 1,700 Euros, which equates to roughly $1,800 based on current conversion rates. That’s not easy to digest, especially for a first-gen foldable phone and considering Google’s own shaky history with its Pixel hardware and software.
But it appears that the Pixel Fold’s price won’t be inexplicably exorbitant at all. Leaker Yogesh Bear shared on Twitter that the foldable phone could actually cost anywhere between $1,300 and $1,500. Assuming that turns out to be true, the Pixel Fold could undercut the Samsung Galaxy Fold 4 and its successor by a healthy $500.

In fact, such an asking price would put the Pixel Fold in roughly the same ballpark as the higher storage configurations of phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra and Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max. Of course, Google won’t be able to match the asking price of foldables from Chinese brands, but it would at least look competitive in the Western markets.
Now, a price of around $1,300-1,500 makes a lot of sense. First, the biggest deterrent for foldable phones is their high asking price. There’s a reason Samsung managed to sell bucketloads of its flip-style foldable phones because they cost nearly half vis-a-vis the phone-tablet hybrids in the Galaxy Z Fold series.

Read more
Google Pixel 8: all the latest rumors and what we want to see
Google Pixel 8 leaked render.

The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are on their way. Google's fallen in a pretty reliable release pattern for Pixel phones, meaning we can safely expect a new lineup of flagship Pixels each year. In 2023, that means the Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.

The Google Pixel 7 and Pixel 7 Pro are two excellent devices -- possibly two of the best smartphones Google has ever made. But while they have some serious strengths, a number of problems and missed opportunities drag both phones down. This wouldn't be a problem if the competition was standing still, but it's not. The Apple iPhone 14 Pro refreshed the iPhone design for the first time in years, and the recently released Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is quite possibly one of the best smartphones ever created. So what's a humble Pixel to do?

Read more