It was only a matter of time, but it looks like the Apple TV’s iTunes Movies and TV Shows apps will soon be removed from the platform.
According to 9to5Mac, the developer beta for tvOS 17.2 ditches the dedicated apps in favour of integrating premium video on-demand movies and TV shows directly to Apple’s core TV app.
The apps are still present in this beta in the menu, but now tell users to launch the TV app with the message, “iTunes Movies and Your Purchases Have Moved. You can buy or rent movies and find your purchases in the Apple TV App,” followed by “Go to the Store” or “Go to Your Purchases.”
Beyond moving these apps under the TV app banner, nothing else has changed about how they work. They still feature the same menu layout and allow users to buy, rent and manage their purchases. However, a new feature within the TV app allows users to filter content based on genre within the purchased section.
I’ve always found the three dedicated apps for content on the Apple TV confusing, so it’s not surprising to see Apple make this change to streamline its app offerings, especially since it already made the switch on the iPhone and Mac. It’s unclear if Apple also has plans to make this change on third-party platforms like Samsung TVs.
It’s likely the public version of tvOS 17.2 will feature the above changes to the set-top box operating system before eventually removing the Movies and TV Shows app entirely in a future update.
In other Apple streaming-related news, the tech giant recently increased the cost of Apple TV+ to $12.99/month from $8.99/month.
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