Movies on Google play vs. on itunes....

[PsychDoc]

I am a long term android user/fan. But I have to say i'm more than a little annoyed that while itunes movies are downloaded directly into your device, Play Store movies can only be watched with a strong wifi connection. That's total crap as it's worthless without a connection to the internet. With itunes after you rent a movie you can watch it anywhere/anytime becaus it's actually "in" the device. Like if you're in an airplane, etc.

Why is Google so far behind the curve in the regard? If they expect to compete with Apple how can they let something so obvious continue this way???

Please help me understand this.

 

[chrlswltrs]

I completely agree. I hate how google handles movies or tv shows.

I can't rent anything at all since my phone is rooted. But even if I could I would probably be renting it to watch on a plane, etc.

Right now I rent any mobile movies from iTunes an use my iPad. This is the only thing that is keeping me from getting rid of my iPad and getting an android tablet. My iPad is jail broken and I can rent movies just fine and my android tablet will be rooted when I eventually get one.

 

[Demache]

You can blame DRM in that regard. Though I'm surprised they haven't come up with some horrible encrypted format like Apple did so they can be stored on your phone.

 

[mplevy]

I guess it depends on the device. I was able to rent a couple movies from the Play store and cache it to my phone (Thunderbolt) for a flight. I could NOT cache it to my Iconia, it told me I couldn't on a rooted device (though I'm not rooted, everything I've read says the Xoom is the only tablet you can cache to).

All expiration rules apply if you cache as well - 30 days from rental, 24 hours from the time you start watching.

 

[ninadchaudhari]

The fact :
ITunes is already matured
Google is just entered that market

Even if you see the google books, the page turning animation totally sucks ...
While the same on IPad is just natural !!

I think Google will require a bit of more time to understand !!

 

[chrlswltrs]

I guess it depends on the device. I was able to rent a couple movies from the Play store and cache it to my phone (Thunderbolt) for a flight. I could NOT cache it to my Iconia, it told me I couldn't on a rooted device (though I'm not rooted, everything I've read says the Xoom is the only tablet you can cache to).

All expiration rules apply if you cache as well - 30 days from rental, 24 hours from the time you start watching.

I wish I could test it on my phone, but I am not going to rent I movie that I have no way of watching just to see if I can cache it or not

 

[mikedt]

I am a long term android user/fan. But I have to say i'm more than a little annoyed that while itunes movies are downloaded directly into your device, Play Store movies can only be watched with a strong wifi connection. That's total crap as it's worthless without a connection to the internet. With itunes after you rent a movie you can watch it anywhere/anytime becaus it's actually "in" the device. Like if you're in an airplane, etc.

Why is Google so far behind the curve in the regard? If they expect to compete with Apple how can they let something so obvious continue this way???

There's another similar issue about Play Store movies:

iTunes movie rentals are available in many countries and regions(including China).
Play Store movie rentals are United States only.
...which basically means if I want to watch a movie on my Galaxy S, I either have to rip a bootleg DVD or just bit-torrent it.

Please help me understand this.

I know how you feel.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I am a long term android user/fan. But I have to say i'm more than a little annoyed that while itunes movies are downloaded directly into your device, Play Store movies can only be watched with a strong wifi connection. That's total crap as it's worthless without a connection to the internet. With itunes after you rent a movie you can watch it anywhere/anytime becaus it's actually "in" the device. Like if you're in an airplane, etc.

Why is Google so far behind the curve in the regard? If they expect to compete with Apple how can they let something so obvious continue this way???

Please help me understand this.

I've only rented a few movies from Google Play (during the whole $.25 deal), but I've downloaded all of them.

From the Google Play store

Touching the Download button from the movie information page will take you to the Google Play Movies app to manage your offline rentals. Follow the instructions below to "pin" movies for offline viewing.

Please note that the Download button only appears on the Google Play store on your device

 

[Emmaling]

Wow, there is a detailed comparison between iTunes and Google Play.
1. Price: Draw

In regards to the cost, both of iTunes and Google Play ask almost the same amount. Specifically speaking, both Google Play and iTunes provide their user the convenience to buy or rent movies and TV shows, on their respective platforms. Most of the SD (standard definition) movies in iTunes and Google Play are available for around $4 for rent and about $15 to purchase. And for HD (high definition) movies, prices go up to $5 to rent and around $25 to buy. As for TV episodes, the price for entire series may go up to $30 to $40 per season.

2. Media Catalogue: iTunes Wins

There are varieties of digital media content, including movies, TV shows, music, etc. in both Google Play and iTunes Store, which provides their customers a wonderful digital entertainment. The statistic shows the online digital library or catalog of iTunes Store is around 45K+ movies, and more than 10 thousand TV shows. When it comes to numbers, Google Play does not reveal the actual quantity of media content it possess but only saying that it has "millions" of songs and "thousands" of movies and TV shows. So in terms of the movie quantity, iTunes seems to take the upper hand than Google.

3. Rentals Restrictions: Similar

As mentioned in the price models, both iTunes and Google Play provide service for users to rent movies. But the restrictions of the movie rentals show slightly difference in these two platforms. For iTunes, you can easily rent any movie by simply logging through your iTunes account. When you rent a movie from iTunes Store, you will be given the access of that particular item for 30 days, and 24 hours once you get started. And for movies rented from Google Play, you can access the content within 30 days after you rent it and 48 hours once you started watching it.

4. Service Accessibility: Google Play Wins

Generally speaking, Google Play supports more playback platforms and devices than iTunes. Because of the Apple's FairPlay DRM, iTunes content is only accessible through iTunes app. On the contrary, Google Play Store can be accessed by an android supported device, a web browser as well as an iOS device. As a result, iTunes user can only watch their movies on Apple or iOS devices, while Google Play users can watch the movies anywhere they want.

 

[zuben el genub]

It's not just movies. I use a site that has many classes in sewing, baking, photography and drawing. Apple will let you download the lessons to be viewed with NO wifi or connectivity at your leisure. Android doesn't. The site welcomes downloading as you might just want a lesson when no connection is available.

I bought an iPad for just that reason.

 

[mikedt]

It's not just movies. I use a site that has many classes in sewing, baking, photography and drawing. Apple will let you download the lessons to be viewed with NO wifi or connectivity at your leisure. Android doesn't. The site welcomes downloading as you might just want a lesson when no connection is available.

I bought an iPad for just that reason.

That sounds like iTunes U(for educational materials), which I use on my Macbook. Which I often use for lesson ideas. The downloaded lesson videos in iTunes don't have DRM, so can be copied and played on an Android device or anything else no problem.