Apple just crippled its Apple TV app for Android TV and Google TV
It is obvious that Apple would love nothing better than for customers to purchase their hardware and use their software exclusively, but the real world doesn’t work that way. Take for example televisions, following years of rumors that Apple was planning to make their own TV, nothing became of it. Instead, Apple continued to push its Apple TV set-top box.
In the meantime, companies like Google have managed to partner up with TV manufacturers where Android TV and Google TV became the default platforms for certain smart TV models, meaning that even if some users were primarily Apple users, they ended up having to use a different platform for their TV needs.
Unfortunately for users who do largely rely on iTunes to buy or rent movies and TV shows, it seems that a recent update to the Apple TV app for Android TV and Google TV have essentially crippled it. The update has removed the ability for users to buy and rent movies and TV shows from within the app itself.
Instead, customers will now have to make the purchase on a separate device, like a computer, before they can download the shows on their TVs. It is unclear why Apple updated the app this way, but there is a good chance that Apple wanted to avoid paying Google a cut from in-app purchases, which is kind of ironic.
For those who haven’t updated the app yet, it seems that if you’re still using the previous version, you’ll be able to continue purchasing and renting your shows through the app, but we’re not sure if Apple will eventually find a way to put a stop to that.
Source: MacRumors