Apple adds multiscreen movie rental viewing to iTunes in latest update

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
Along with Tuesday's hardware debuts, Apple quietly released an updated iTunes version that allows users to rent movies once and watch them on multiple screens.




Introduced as part of iTunes 12.6, which is rolling out to users as of this writing, the "rent once, watch anywhere" feature lets customers watch content rentals on any iPhone or iPad running iOS 10.3 or Apple TVs running tvOS 10.2. Those operating system versions have yet to move out of beta, suggesting a launch in the next few days.

Prior to the change, rented movies were largely relegated to the device on which they were purchased. For example, a film rented on an iPad or Apple TV could not be transported to iPhone, or vice versa.

Apple previously allowed movies rented via iTunes on Mac or PC to be transferred to a portable device by syncing over USB, but that content would disappear from a computer's iTunes library. Alternatively, users were able to stream downloaded rentals from iOS to Apple TV using Apple's AirPlay feature.

For the most part, however, Apple restricted rental viewing to a single device.

With today's iTunes update and "rent once, watch anywhere," Apple is relaxing prior restrictions to accommodate customers who own multiple devices.

iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 38
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,152member
    Nice.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 38
    This is long overdue. The restrictions have been needlessly inhibiting rentals.
    jbdragonbloggerblograndominternetpersonGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 3 of 38
    What took so long? 
    jbdragonbloggerblogGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 4 of 38
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    What took so long? 
    The studios, I imagine. 
    doozydozenjbdragonlolliverStrangeDayspscooter63davenwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 38
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    tokyojimuzenwavesStrangeDayscrowley
  • Reply 6 of 38
    So.....this should mean iOS 10.3 and tvOS 10.2 are extremely imminent then. I'm calling tomorrow :smiley: 
  • Reply 7 of 38
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    BlockBuster and other Video Store Rental places. Though really we all know in the end it's been the studios and these dumb limitations. They fight everything, and then when these lose and whatever new things is allowed, it ends up being a boom for them, and yet they still don't get it.
    mike1StrangeDayspscooter63stompytallest skilwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 38
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Those limitations were created by studios, not Apple. Movies are licensed products.
    mike1StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 38
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    I didn't even realize this limitation existed, I would've assumed I could've watched a rented item on any of my devices. Wow.

    Also, isn't Amazon still 48 hours? Makes way more sense if you for example fall asleep during a movie and want to finish it the next day after the cutoff point or whatever.
    GeorgeBMacwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 38
    Makes way more sense if you for example fall asleep during a movie and want to finish it the next day after the cutoff point or whatever.
    Last I knew with iTunes rentals is if you rented a movie at 8:00 one night and didn't finish it it is due to expire at 8:00 the following night. However, if you continue watching it before it is set to expire you can still finish it, even if it goes past the expiration time. 
    zenwavespropodmike1StrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 38
    Is it me, or does Apple shuffle the right-click menu with every release?   I seem to be playing "where is 'show in playlist'" tonight after the upgrade...

    *rant off*   :)
  • Reply 12 of 38
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    This is long overdue. The restrictions have been needlessly inhibiting rentals.
    Correct but it's not Apple fault though. The copyright owners (studio I guess) have the say.
    mike1watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 38
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,408member
    Oh hey, they redesigned the MiniPlayer again. Finally...maybe. It's a bit finicky/buggy though. Seemed like an improvement for a minute as you can make it into a different few sorts of combos (artwork or not, Up Next or not), etc but as soon as you start toggling between those options or like trying to show artwork after showing Up Next etc the window jumps around and behaves strangely. So strange how much trouble they have nailing down functionality for something so small.

    $10 says it stays exactly this buggy until the next major revision, at which point they'll completely redesign it again.
  • Reply 14 of 38
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 15 of 38
    brucemcbrucemc Posts: 1,541member
    zenwaves said:
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    Agree. Totally determined by the content rights holders though.  And apparently different by country, as rental period in Canada is 48 hours.
    mike1
  • Reply 16 of 38
    doggonedoggone Posts: 377member
    brucemc said:
    zenwaves said:
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    Agree. Totally determined by the content rights holders though.  And apparently different by country, as rental period in Canada is 48 hours.
    Ditto.  Only time I've rented from iTunes is when it was not available anywhere else or I was traveling and knew I would only be able to watch it that evening.
    The 24h restriction for Apple is bogus.  No other provider is dealt with that timeline.
    GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 17 of 38
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    doggone said:
    brucemc said:
    zenwaves said:
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    Agree. Totally determined by the content rights holders though.  And apparently different by country, as rental period in Canada is 48 hours.
    Ditto.  Only time I've rented from iTunes is when it was not available anywhere else or I was traveling and knew I would only be able to watch it that evening.
    The 24h restriction for Apple is bogus.  No other provider is dealt with that timeline.
    Indeed, but after the success of iTunes, the movie studios have placed additional restrictions on Apple that they don't place on Amazon or whoever. This is prevent Apple from getting too much power and thus the ability to dictate terms to them. 
    StrangeDaysstompywatto_cobrabrucemc
  • Reply 18 of 38
    appexappex Posts: 687member
    "iTunes 12.6 is a free update and can be downloaded by clicking Check for Updates in the iTunes File menu". Not here. I get: "This version of iTunes (12.5.5) is the current version". And anyway, why not via Apple - About this Mac - Software Update? There is where it should be, and it not there either.
    edited March 2017
  • Reply 19 of 38
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    doggone said:
    brucemc said:
    zenwaves said:
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Totally agree - I never rent from iTunes for this sole reason. Rental period should be at *minimum* 48 hours.
    Agree. Totally determined by the content rights holders though.  And apparently different by country, as rental period in Canada is 48 hours.
    Ditto.  Only time I've rented from iTunes is when it was not available anywhere else or I was traveling and knew I would only be able to watch it that evening.
    The 24h restriction for Apple is bogus.  No other provider is dealt with that timeline.
    Not true. Every On-Demand title from your cable provider is also 24 hours. That is a studio restriction. Remember, it's 24 hours from when you first start to watch. It's 30 days from when you download.
    StrangeDaysdavenwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 38
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    How about they let us pause a rental and resume beyond the 24 hour period... where the heck did the concept of a 24 hour rental come from??
    Agreed. Again, the studios. 

    24-hours is nuts. It was what blockbuster and rental stores used for high-demand rentals -- back when they were on plastic and they had to come back to the store for somebody else to rent. With digital it makes NO sense whatsoever.

    Especially if you have a family and shit to do. And especially at this insane new $6-7 price point.
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