Now that Google has revealed their new Chromecast with Google TV built-in, they’ve also begun to update the Google Play Movies and TV app across Android, Chrome OS and Apple devices. As of right now, the name and screenshots of the listing are all that’s changed. It’s now temporarily called “Google TV (previously Play Movies & TV)” and will be updated through and through over the next few weeks to include its full app redesign.
Google TV is designed to help you watch content you love, faster. There will no longer be a need to open each individual app to find content, although you still can. Instead, the interface will provide recommendations using machine learning and AI based on your interests and watch history.
The Watchlist feature has long since been a part of Google search and makes its debut in a more intentional way in the new app. When you search for a TV show or a movie across the web, your phone or just on the TV itself, you’ll be able to click a bookmark icon to add it to your Watchlist so that you can return to it for later viewing. Google is rolling out this bookmark style icon across many of its services as a larger effort to bring attention to its Collections feature where your Watchlist also appears.
An interesting discovery I made late last night is that you can no longer watch your purchased movies and TV shows via the My Movies section of the Google Play Store thanks to this latest update. You can still view them on Youtube via your purchases list, but it looks like they’ve nixed the feature where it was originally housed. My bet is that the mysterious Kaleidoscope service that’s currently being developed will end up being Google TV’s web interface. Google Play Movies and TV allows you to connect any service you subscribe to and display it through one central hub just like the newly announced Google TV and with this latest development, I’m putting my chips on this prediction ahead of time.
It will be interesting to see what comes of all of this over the next few weeks as the transition is completed. I’m personally very excited for Google TV and what it has to offer. The service and its branding have undergone quite a few changes over the years and I think they may have finally cracked the secret to making it successful.
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