Google TV, formerly known as Google Play Movies & TV, is a

digital distribution Digital distribution, also referred to as content delivery, online distribution, or electronic software distribution, among others, is the delivery or distribution of information or materials through digital platforms. The distribution of digital ...

service for movies and television series developed by

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

. Launched in 2011 as part of the

Google Play Google Play, also known as the Google Play Store, Play Store, or sometimes the Android Store (and was formerly Android Market), is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google. It serves as the official app store for certifie ...

product line, the service offers search and discovery of video titles across multiple streaming services, including rental or purchase options, alongside watchlist features for accessing titles from eligible devices and platforms. In September 2020, it was relaunched as Google TV. The purchased or rented video titles can be watched by a signed-in user on Android TV devices, Google TV devices, the Google TV mobile app ( Android and

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

), and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. The Google TV mobile app can download video for offline watching. The search, discover and watchlist options are also available on the

Google Search Google Search (also known simply as Google or Google.com) is a search engine operated by Google. It allows users to search for information on the World Wide Web, Web by entering keywords or phrases. Google Search uses algorithms to analyze an ...

website, the Google TV app on mobile devices, TVs with

Google Assistant Google Assistant is a virtual assistant software application developed by Google that is primarily available on home automation and mobile devices. Based on artificial intelligence, Google Assistant can engage in two-way conversations, unlike ...

, and Google TV devices.

History

Google Play Movies & TV

The Google Movies service was launched in May 2011. It was rebranded under

in March 2012. Movies were introduced in Korea in September 2012, with further rollouts of movies in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain in October 2012; movies in Brazil and Russia in December 2012; movies in India and Mexico in March 2013; TV shows in the United Kingdom in July 2013; and movies in Italy in November 2013. A major expansion of movies was made in 13 new countries in December 2013, and 38 new countries in March 2014. Subsequent rollouts took place for movies in Belgium, Philippines, Switzerland, and Uganda in May 2014; movies in Ireland in July 2014; movies in Austria in September 2014; movies in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cyprus, Hungary, Iceland, Macedonia, Malta, Slovenia, Taiwan, and Ukraine in November 2014; movies in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in July 2015; movies in Turkey in March 2016; and movies in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam in November 2016. With several video titles available in HD, Google added a 4K Ultra HD video option for select titles in December 2016, and began offering content in 4K HDR quality in the United States and Canada in July 2017.

Google TV

The Google TV service was announced in September 2020 along with the launch of Chromecast with Google TV having an updated interface with service features available first on it and to be made available later on some Android TVs. At the same time, the Google Play Movies & TV app was also updated with same interface as well as related features and was renamed to Google TV on Android mobile devices in the United States. The Google TV user interface is deeply integrated with the Google TV video service. In September 2020, the Google Play Movies & TV mobile app was renamed to Google TV and related features were added to it, coinciding with the announcement of Google TV interface available first on the new Chromecast. In March 2021, users were informed that the app used on several TVs would no longer be available in June 2021 and users should use the YouTube app instead. In April 2021, Google began to deprecate the Google Play Movies & TV app on Roku, LG, Samsung, and Vizio smart TVs, the app to shut down on July 15, redirecting users on these platforms to the YouTube app. In March 2022, it was announced that Google Play Movies & TV was moving to Google TV and starting in May 2022, the Google TV app would be home for buying, renting, and watching movies and shows on Android mobile device or tablet. It was also announced that Movies & TV would no longer be supported on the Google Play app and Google Play will continue to be store for apps, games, and books. The service expanded to

in June 2022. In January 2024, it was announced that Google Play Movies & TV would be removed on Android TV and the Google Play website; the web version would move to YouTube.

Geographic availability

Global availability of Google Play Movies

Global availability of TV shows on Google Play

Now part of Google TV service, movies on Google Play are available in 120 countries. The full country list includes: Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, Fiji, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe Also, TV shows are only available in: Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States. Google TV app is available in: Albania, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belgium, Belarus, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Netherlands, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Norway, Oman, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Rwanda, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Features

Purchase and library access

The Google TV service offers options to rent or buy movies and television shows in various video resolutions including SD, HD and UHD, depending on geographic as well as devices and platform availability. Available content titles can be purchased through a Google TV device or the Google TV app. The purchase feature is not available on

iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...

and

iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...

. The purchased content is added to the library associated with the signed-in

Google Account A Google Account is a user account that is required for access, authentication and authorization to certain online Google services. It is also often used as single sign-on for third party services. Usage A Google Account is required for Gmail, ...

. Content titles purchased through Google Play Movies & TV or through YouTube can also be found in library associated with the same

and can be accessed using Google TV on eligible devices and platforms. The Shop tab on Android TV devices can also be used to explore and buy or rent video titles distributed under Google TV service.

Offline downloads

A user can download a previously bought video on up to five devices and a rented video on one device at a time using the Google TV app. Users can't download videos onto a Google TV device.

Watchlist

Movies and shows can be added to a watchlist to find or watch content later. The watchlist is associated with the user account and updates across devices of a signed-in account when some content is added to it. Certain content from some streaming services cannot be added to watchlist. Content titles can be watched, removed or added on watchlist from a Google TV device, Google TV app, or from

in a web browser.

Recommendations and content preferences

In agreement with partners, Google provides recommended content to users of the Google TV service with the app or dedicated Google TV devices. Google sets default ordering and selections for streaming services based on app popularity, installed apps, user saved services, and contractual agreements with Google's partners. A user can add

streaming services A streaming media service (also simply called a streaming service) is an online platform that allows users to watch or listen to content, such as film, movies, Television show, TV shows, music, or podcasts, over the internet. Instead of downloadi ...

by selecting from list of available services using Google TV app or a Google TV device in order to get more content recommendations from those services. These options aren't available for all shows and movies on every streaming service. Streaming services can be linked or unlinked to a user's Google account. If a user is signed in with their

and Web & App Activity is turned on, Google makes recommendations based on several factors which include: * What is added to the watchlist * What is watched on Google Play, Google TV, and Android TV * Trailers watched on

* Content purchased or rented on Google Play, YouTube, Google TV, and Android TV * Streaming services selected * Entertainment-related searches on

or with the

* Specific titles liked or disliked on Google Play, Google TV, or Google Search * Region A user can set or update content preferences by rating the followed suggested titles. This feature is only available on a Google TV device.

Parental controls

Parental controls are available on some Google TV devices and regions.

Interface

Content distributed under Google TV service is made available for discovery on a

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fro ...

called Google TV as available on Google TV devices and Google TV mobile app as well as on new user interface called Android TV as available on Android TV devices.

Platforms and devices

Google TV can be accessed on different platforms and devices. However, not all features are available on every platform or device. User sign-in is required on each platform to access their content library. This includes the following platforms and devices:

Browsers

website, where ads don't play when a signed in user watch purchased content *

, where titles can be searched and removed from or added to watchlist * Earlier, the content was available to access on

website, where HD playback was not supported and content played in SD. HD playback for purchased eligible content was supported using

Safari A safari (; originally ) is an overland journey to observe wildlife, wild animals, especially in East Africa. The so-called big five game, "Big Five" game animals of Africa – lion, African leopard, leopard, rhinoceros, African elephant, elep ...

on Mac. Offline download and watching was supported on

Chromebook Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a line of laptops, desktops, tablets and all-in-one computers that run ChromeOS, a proprietary operating system developed by Google. Chromebooks are optimised for web access. They al ...

through the

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, an ...

extension.

Smartphones and tablets

* Google TV app, where the purchase feature is not available on

and

* YouTube app

Television sets

* Android TV devices, where rentals, movies & shows can be accessed through the "Shop" tab *

Movies Anywhere Movies Anywhere (MA) is a cloud-based digital rights locker and over-the-top streaming platform that allows users to stream and download purchased films, including digital copies redeemed from codes found in home video releases as well as d ...

app * Google TV devices * YouTube app

Digital media players

The service can be used with access to content through the

app available on media players including the following: * Amazon Fire TV *

Apple TV Apple TV is a digital media player and a microconsole developed and marketed by Apple. It is a small piece of networking hardware that sends received media data such as video and audio to a TV or external display. Its media services include ...

Chromecast Chromecast is a discontinued line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet-streaming media, streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The u ...

(also supports video

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or ...

from Google TV app, Google Play website) *

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

PlayStation 5 The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. It was announced as the successor to the PlayStation 4 in April 2019, was launched on November 12, 2020, in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, North ...

Roku Roku ( ) is a brand of consumer electronics that includes streaming players, smart TVs (and their operating systems), as well as a free TV streaming service. The brand is owned by Roku, Inc., an American company. As of 2024, Roku is the U ...

Xbox One The Xbox One is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. Announced in May 2013, it is the successor to Xbox 360 and the third console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was first released in North America, parts of Europe, Austra ...

Xbox Series X/S The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the fourth generation of consoles in the Xbox series, succeeding the previous generation's Xbox One. Released on November 10, 2020, the higher-end Xbox Series X and lower-end Xbox Series S are part o ...

Google TV devices

Select smart TVs and streaming devices have Google TV interface built-in. The Google TV interface has underlying Android TV operating system. The list of Google TV devices includes the following: * Chromecast with Google TV * select TVs from: ** Hisense **

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928 and had been named Motorola since 1947. Many of Motorola's products had been ...

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

** OnePlus ( OnePlus TV) **

Panasonic is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturer, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Japan. It was founded in 1918 as in Fukushima-ku, Osaka, Fukushima by Kōnosuke Matsushita. The company was incorporated in 1935 and renamed and c ...

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), simply branded Philips, is a Dutch multinational health technology company that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, its world headquarters have been situated in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarter ...

** Polytron ** Realme ** Sharp **

Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at Sony City in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The Sony Group encompasses various businesses, including Sony Corporation (electronics), Sony Semiconductor Solutions (i ...

** TCL **

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

Xiaomi Xiaomi (; ) is a Chinese multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Beijing, China. It is best known for consumer electronics software electric vehicles. It is the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones in the worl ...

References

External links

* {{VOD services TV Transactional video on demand Google Play Internet properties established in 2012