In a bid to compete with iTunes, Google has launched its Play Movies and TV app on iTunes for iOS devices. With the introduction of this app, users will be able to watch movies and TV shows (in some countries only) directly on their iOS devices. Also Read - Google and Facebook will now have to pay news publications for content as per new Australian News Media law
However, in order to stay clear of Apple’s no-compete with native apps policy, users won’t be able to get offline playback of content, which means they cannot download movies and watch them later. Currently one can only stream content over Wi-Fi. Also one cannot buy new content directly from the app, else Google would have to share revenues with Apple as it would have been classified as an in-app purchase. Users will only be able to view content they have already bought from the store from a PC or an Android device. Also Read - Android brings Schedule Messages, Password Checkup and many more nifty features
While it is not a big threat to iTunes at the moment, this is a great first move to give users an alternative to iTunes and attempt to wean them away from the Apple ecosystem that most iOS users are sucked into. Also Read - Google could launch its first-ever foldable Pixel phone this year
iOS users can download the app from here.