As first reported in October, Apple will discontinue the standalone iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows apps on the Apple TV box, starting with tvOS 17.2 The warning message shown above started appearing in the tvOS 17.2 beta candidate, which was released yesterday.
Apple directs users to the TV app to manage their purchases and buy and rent from the store. At least when it comes to Apple’s video content, the iTunes brand is a work in progress.
Apple updated the TV app to 17.2 in preparation for the move away from the standalone iTunes Video app, bringing some previously missing features to TV. This includes things like filtering by item on the purchased tab and including box sets in store listings. The TV app also features a new sidebar design in this update, which includes a dedicated store and shopping tab for quick navigation.
In the upcoming tvOS 17.2 release, the home screen tiles for iTunes Movies and TV Shows remain. Opening one of these simply displays a landing page message directing users to the store and shopping tabs in the TV app. Apple can hide apps from the Apple TV home screen with a silent backend change, so over time the unnecessary home screen icons will likely disappear as well.
At least as of press time, the iTunes Store app on iPhone and iPad is still functional when it comes to buying movies and TV shows. However, it is possible that Apple will move users away from this app and onto the TV.
Assuming Apple finds no issues with the build candidate, tvOS 17.2 will likely be released to the general public for all users sometime next week, just before the holidays.
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