The Google Play Movies & TV app has exited Roku, as well as the proprietary operating systems powering Samsung, LG and Vizio smart TVs, as Google looks to streamline its approach to renting movies and TV shows.
Effective Thursday, users of these platforms trying to access the app will receive a message letting them know that Google has shuttered it. They can still rent and buy shows from Google, they just need to do it through the YouTube app. Users can apply any Google Play credits to purchases made in the YouTube app.
“The YouTube app will be your new home for movies and shows,” Google said in an April company blog posting.
Google notes that its Google Play Movies & TV app is not shutting down--it's still available on Android TV and Android mobile devices, as well as iOS-powered Apple gadgets.
The move, however, is part of a larger play to prop up the company's Google TV initiative, with the app's functionality eventually rolled into Google TV.
As for Roku, it's remaining business with Google could be running short. The company's agreement to support the YouTube app expires at the end of 2021, and the two companies are currently at loggerheads over a range of strategic issues.
