Tip: Access Google Play Movies & TV on Apple TV
- Paul Thurrott
- Oct 02, 2017
-
11
There’s no Google Play Movies & TV app on Apple TV for some reason. But that doesn’t mean you can’t play your purchased content from the service on Apple TV.
If you’ve been reading my site for a while, you know that I spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about this stuff. Which services are best. Which set-top boxes. And so on.
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
And when it comes to the living room and digital media, there’s no one good answer. Most set-top boxes—Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Google Chromecast/Google Cast or Android TV, Roku, whatever—support all the major services. You can get Netflix or Hulu literally everywhere.
What you can’t do is access other, less pervasive services everywhere. For example, Apple’s movies and TV show content is only available on Apple TV. And Google’s Play Movies & TV app is only available (directly) on Ruko and on some select smart TVs. Or, via a mobile device, on Chromecast/Google Cast/Android TV.
But as it turns out, you can, in fact, access your purchased Google movie or TV content on Apple TV.
You just use YouTube.
There is a YouTube app on Apple TV, and that app provides access to your purchased movie and TV show content. There are a few different ways to access this content, but the quickest is to navigate to My YouTube > Purchases. Everything you’ve purchased from the service is right there.
What’s odd is that you can view Google Play Movies & TV content you’ve not purchased in the YouTube app on Apple TV, too. But no matter how you find it, in the Movies area, perhaps, or via search, all you can do is preview it. There’s no way to buy or rent right from the app. So you’d have to do that from your phone or another mobile device first. But then you could watch it on your Apple TV.
No, it’s not the full functionality I want. But it’s a neat little workaround.
Tagged with
Conversation 11 comments
-
Bats
<p>Someone who owns and Apple TV. should be firmly using the Apple ecosystem of iPhone and Macs. Why would an iPhone user look to purchase movies on Google Play? Basically all the services are the same, offering (pretty much) the same products.</p><p><br></p><p>People need and should keep their ecosystem simple, by keeping everything in one place. There is no need to buy an Android TV box, then switch to Apple TV because you heard that the processor is better or faster. LOL…that would be absurd and a waste of money. </p><p><br></p><p>If a person has movies or tv shows in Google Play, Apple TV, Groove, Amazon….lol…how stupid would that be?</p><p><br></p><p>KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid.</p>
-
Stooks
<p>Google Play Music, Youtube Red, Youtube Music. All covered under the same subscription yet 3 apps. </p><p><br></p><p>Even more confusing is the fact that movies you buy/rent in Google Play store are meant to be played with the Google Play movie app (4th app) but can, like Paul has done, be played via the Youtube app.</p><p><br></p><p>It is a completely confusing mess.</p><p><br></p><p>That said in July Google said it is combining Google Play Music, Youtube Red and Youtube music in the near future. The teams are now combined and hopefully is result in one app that does it all or at least fewer with a more clear understanding of what does what.</p><p><br></p><p>However it could result in this option Paul uses being removed?</p><p><br></p><p>Of course NONE of this should be confused with Youtube TV which is yet another service. Not sure if it has any overlap but I bet it does.</p>