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Movies Anywhere - New Digital Movie Locker

B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Symphonia said:
I used my iPhone 7 to browse the iTunes Store - which I should've done originally - and found some pretty decent films. The only problem is that it only shows the option to buy in HD, not 4K. Will tthe option to buy 4K appear if I proceed to checkout? And will the 4K films I buy on iTunes - Deadpool, for example - show up as UHD in VUDU?
Click to expand...

that's what I meant by Disney not liking iTunes' pricing requirements.

iTunes only has one purchase/price for HD/4K. Buying the HD copy gets you the 4K copy. Buying the HD copy now will give you the 4K upgrade for free when (if) it comes. If you are an iTunes/Apple movie buyer, this is amazing.

The downside is that these purchases will only transfer to other MA retailers as HD copies (being that you are only paying HD prices).

So, paying $30 for a new UHD movie on Vudu will get you the UHD version on iTunes. Paying $20 for the same movie on iTunes will get you the UHD copy on itunes, but will only give you the ($20) HDX copy on Vudu.

So for the time being if you can match the iTunes UHD price on Vudu, you may be better off buying on Vudu. If you can't match the iTunes price on Vudu.... then I guess make the call. Is it worth the extra money on Vudu to have a UHD copy on all services?
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
Symphonia said:
I used my iPhone 7 to browse the iTunes Store - which I should've done originally - and found some pretty decent films. The only problem is that it only shows the option to buy in HD, not 4K. Will tthe option to buy 4K appear if I proceed to checkout? And will the 4K films I buy on iTunes - Deadpool, for example - show up as UHD in VUDU?
Click to expand...

iTunes movies that you own in HD automatically give you the 4K/HDR entitlement when available. If you buy a movie on your phone, the 4K/HDR version will be available to stream from your 4K Apple TV.

So far, the only 4K movie I've purchased on iTunes is Spider-Man Homecoming, and that's showing in my Vudu library that I own UHD. So yes, it seems like this works as long as both services have 4K/UHD available.
 
C

chidrock

Member
Sorry if this is a dumb question, but if I get a digital copy with a Disney movie should I redeem it for an iTunes copy or a MA copy?
 
T

TotalMackerel

Member
borghe said:
that's what I meant by Disney not liking iTunes' pricing requirements.

iTunes only has one purchase/price for HD/4K. Buying the HD copy gets you the 4K copy. Buying the HD copy now will give you the 4K upgrade for free when (if) it comes. If you are an iTunes/Apple movie buyer, this is amazing.

The downside is that these purchases will only transfer to other MA retailers as HD copies (being that you are only paying HD prices).

So, paying $30 for a new UHD movie on Vudu will get you the UHD version on iTunes. Paying $20 for the same movie on iTunes will get you the UHD copy on itunes, but will only give you the ($20) HDX copy on Vudu.

So for the time being if you can match the iTunes UHD price on Vudu, you may be better off buying on Vudu. If you can't match the iTunes price on Vudu.... then I guess make the call. Is it worth the extra money on Vudu to have a UHD copy on all services?
Click to expand...

Just to warn people, this seems to have some issues at the moment. Bought HD/4k version of Alien Covenant in itunes and it shows as SD in Vudu :(
 
S

Symphonia

Banned
GalacticMouse said:
iTunes movies that you own in HD automatically give you the 4K/HDR entitlement when available. If you buy a movie on your phone, the 4K/HDR version will be available to stream from your 4K Apple TV.

So far, the only 4K movie I've purchased on iTunes is Spider-Man Homecoming, and that's showing in my Vudu library that I own UHD. So yes, it seems like this works as long as both services have 4K/UHD available.
Click to expand...
Will any UHD purchases I make through iTunes only be available to watch on Apple TV, or will I be able to watch them using the Samsung TV VUDU app?
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
Symphonia said:
Will any UHD purchases I make through iTunes only be available to watch on Apple TV, or will I be able to watch them using the Samsung TV VUDU app?
Click to expand...

I'm actually not sure if the Samsung Vudu app can play 4K content. I know it couldn't when I got my KS8000 but don't know if that's been updated.

From what I can tell, in my experience I'm getting my iTunes 4K purchases to show as 4K in Vudu. I haven't actually tried to play the movie with Vudu, but the site is showing that I own UHD for the 4K movie I bought in iTunes.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
GalacticMouse said:
I'm actually not sure if the Samsung Vudu app can play 4K content. I know it couldn't when I got my KS8000 but don't know if that's been updated.

From what I can tell, in my experience I'm getting my iTunes 4K purchases to show as 4K in Vudu. I haven't actually tried to play the movie with Vudu, but the site is showing that I own UHD for the 4K movie I bought in iTunes.
Click to expand...

My Sony (XBR) Vudu app plays at 4k, and I think it's the same app (android, basically) so if yours is up to date it should work if Samsung has decent rollout.
 
S

Symphonia

Banned
GalacticMouse said:
I'm actually not sure if the Samsung Vudu app can play 4K content. I know it couldn't when I got my KS8000 but don't know if that's been updated.

From what I can tell, in my experience I'm getting my iTunes 4K purchases to show as 4K in Vudu. I haven't actually tried to play the movie with Vudu, but the site is showing that I own UHD for the 4K movie I bought in iTunes.
Click to expand...
It does, I’ve purchased a few movies through VUDU that are 4K. I’m just confused by whether Apple will restrict 4K purchases to Apple TV.
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
Symphonia said:
It does, I’ve purchased a few movies through VUDU that are 4K. I’m just confused by whether Apple will restrict 4K purchases to Apple TV.
Click to expand...

All I can tell you is that I’ve bought Spider-Man Homecoming at 4K in iTunes and my Vudu account is saying I own UHD. I’m not sure if it’ll work in all instances and some others in the thread seem to have been having different experiences with the handshaking between MA and the various retailers.
 
X

X05

Upside, inside out he's livin la vida loca, He'll push and pull you down, livin la vida loca
Cheebo said:
Every single one of those are able to use Movies Anywhere via multiple apps though.


Roku has Vudu, Amazon, Google Play, and Movies Anywhere apps which all connect to your MA library

PS4 has Vudu & Amazon which connects to your MA library.

PS4 has Vudu & Amazon which connects to your MA library.
Click to expand...
You can use the YouTube app as well if you are logged in IIRC. Not sure of the quality though.

GalacticMouse said:
I'm actually not sure if the Samsung Vudu app can play 4K content. I know it couldn't when I got my KS8000 but don't know if that's been updated.

From what I can tell, in my experience I'm getting my iTunes 4K purchases to show as 4K in Vudu. I haven't actually tried to play the movie with Vudu, but the site is showing that I own UHD for the 4K movie I bought in iTunes.
Click to expand...
On the KS series, UHD playback should be available. The issue now is on the KU series, which according to VUDU is due to a bug (or more) in the firmware that Samsung has not bothered to patch.
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Symphonia said:
Will any UHD purchases I make through iTunes only be available to watch on Apple TV, or will I be able to watch them using the Samsung TV VUDU app?
Click to expand...

only Apple TV. It seems the deal Apple struck with studios for 4K pricing means that second-party HD content coming to iTunes (like Movies Anywhere) only gets the HD version, and second-party content going from iTunes to other services (again, like Movies Anywhere) also only gives the HD version. The only way to get the UHD version on all services through Movies Anywhere is to pay the premium UHD price on a retailer that has the UHD version separated out.

basically if you want to take advantage of Apple's low prices on 4K, you are limited to watching the UHD version only on Apple TV.

GalacticMouse said:
From what I can tell, in my experience I'm getting my iTunes 4K purchases to show as 4K in Vudu. I haven't actually tried to play the movie with Vudu, but the site is showing that I own UHD for the 4K movie I bought in iTunes.
Click to expand...

What movie? I have around a dozen or two UHD movies in iTunes and the only two I have in Vudu are Guardians Vol 2 (digital copy) and Pacific Rim (bought in Vudu). Everything else synced as HDX in Vudu.
 
S

Symphonia

Banned
I’ll leave it then. I’m having issues connecting iTunes as it is, but the fact that they’re restricting 4K HDR titles on iTunes to Apple TV only is a con. I don’t intend on buying Apple TV.
 
B

Baron von Loathsome

Member
I guess this can only pick up your movies from so many degrees away. I have three movies that I had to redeem on Sony's store - Drive, Drive: Edgar Wright Edition Baby Driver, and Spider-Man Homecoming. Two of them appear in my main UV library, all three appear in my Vudu library, but none of them appear in my Movies Anywhere library, despite the libraries being linked to one another.

Guess I'll be redeeming my Sony movies on Movies Anywhere from now on unless they fix this.
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
Baron von Loathsome said:
I guess this can only pick up your movies from so many degrees away. I have three movies that I had to redeem on Sony's store - Drive, Drive: Edgar Wright Edition Baby Driver, and Spider-Man Homecoming. Two of them appear in my main UV library, all three appear in my Vudu library, but none of them appear in my Movies Anywhere library, despite the libraries being linked to one another.

Guess I'll be redeeming my Sony movies on Movies Anywhere from now on unless they fix this.
Click to expand...
Drive eventually showed up for me after like two days
 
J

J-Skee

Member
I'm definitely having a problem with Heat (1995). I redeemed through iTunes & it's not showing up in my MA account at all. I'm going to give it a couple of days, but that may be the first & last movie I try to redeem on iTunes for now.
 
D

DarthWoo

I'm glad Grandpa porked a Chinese Muslim
J-Skee said:
With Lego Batman, I had to disconnect & reconnect my Amazon account in order for the movie to show up in Google Play. Try that & see me if it works.
Click to expand...

It did work, and I tried disconnecting everything and reconnecting, but now all the DMA movies that were somehow showing up in Vudu but not Google Play are gone from everything.
 
S

skaflone721

Neo Member
borghe said:
only Apple TV. It seems the deal Apple struck with studios for 4K pricing means that second-party HD content coming to iTunes (like Movies Anywhere) only gets the HD version, and second-party content going from iTunes to other services (again, like Movies Anywhere) also only gives the HD version. The only way to get the UHD version on all services through Movies Anywhere is to pay the premium UHD price on a retailer that has the UHD version separated out.

basically if you want to take advantage of Apple's low prices on 4K, you are limited to watching the UHD version only on Apple TV.



What movie? I have around a dozen or two UHD movies in iTunes and the only two I have in Vudu are Guardians Vol 2 (digital copy) and Pacific Rim (bought in Vudu). Everything else synced as HDX in Vudu.
Click to expand...
So far, about 15 titles port from iTunes as UHD to Vudu. This is if you bought it in HD on iTunes or even redeemed a regular HD code there. The list is on the Google digital movie community and it's mostly Warner and Universal titles. I personally had a HD Furious 7 code redeemed in iTunes and transfer to Vudu as the full "you own UHD" version. My F8 code also has the "4K, HDR" option in iTunes but did NOT port into Vudu as UHD.

There are however some strings with this. You can't have an HD copy already in Vudu or your UV. Otherwise it won't override the HDX entitlement.

Sony movies like Spiderman Homecoming bought on iTunes are a mixed bag since some say it ported to Vudu UHD as well, and some say they got HDX. There are no iTunes codes, so that's really weird since they are all purchased in iTunes.
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Tangled Up in Blue said:
Can confirm. Also, it’s not showing up at all in Google. Between this and Blade Runner FC, it’s got to be an iTunes problem. Fix your shit, Apple!
Click to expand...
I mean... that’s a stretch. If anything, Movies Anywhere is the broker. If there is a problem it is practically always up to the broker to resolve.
 
T

Tangled Up in Blue

Banned
borghe said:
I mean... that’s a stretch. If anything, Movies Anywhere is the broker. If there is a problem it is practically always up to the broker to resolve.
Click to expand...

I’ve had about 200 movies move seamlessly across Amazon, Vudu, and Google. I’ve only had two movies glitch, iTunes was the common denominator in both, and others in this thread are reporting the same problems, so I know it’s not just me. So, yeah, it’s Apple’s problem and it’s on them to fix it. Now, whether or not they actually care enough to fix it is another thing.
 
W

Weevilone

Member
Tangled Up in Blue said:
I’ve had about 200 movies move seamlessly across Amazon, Vudu, and Google. I’ve only had two movies glitch, iTunes was the common denominator in both, and others in this thread are reporting the same problems, so I know it’s not just me. So, yeah, it’s Apple’s problem and it’s on them to fix it. Now, whether or not they actually care enough to fix it is another thing.
Click to expand...

The "common denominator" is iTunes, Fox, Movies Anywhere, etc, etc. There is more than one common denominator at play here. Apple may be the one you don't like, but that doesn't necessarily make it the source of the issue.
 
T

Tangled Up in Blue

Banned
Weevilone said:
The "common denominator" is iTunes, Fox, Movies Anywhere, etc, etc. There is more than one common denominator at play here. Apple may be the one you don't like, but that doesn't necessarily make it the source of the issue.
Click to expand...

I bought a Warner Bros movie on Vudu. It’s showing up everywhere except iTunes. I bought a Fox movie on iTunes. It’s showing up in the wrong resolution on one service and not at all on another. Looking in this thread and on other forums, iTunes seems to be the platform causing the most problems for the most people, and those problems seem to be repeating for many people (Blade Runner FC is a big one). So, is it possible that iTunes isn’t the cause of my issues? Yes, anything is possible. Is it most likely iTunes is causing the problem? Yes.

As for me hating Apple, I’m typing this on an iPhone 8, so whatevs.
 
W

Weevilone

Member
Tangled Up in Blue said:
I bought a Warner Bros movie on Vudu. It’s showing up everywhere except iTunes. I bought a Fox movie on iTunes. It’s showing up in the wrong resolution on one service and not at all on another. Looking in this thread and on other forums, iTunes seems to be the platform causing the most problems for the most people, and those problems seem to be repeating for many people (Blade Runner FC is a big one). So, is it possible that iTunes isn’t the cause of my issues? Yes, anything is possible. Is it most likely iTunes is causing the problem? Yes.

As for me hating Apple, I’m typing this on an iPhone 8, so whatevs.
Click to expand...

My point is that everyone is trying to collect data on what's happening right now, so drawing false or just premature conclusions sucks. You have data, but no conclusion.

FWIW the Fox stuff I bought on iTunes seemed not to want to port to Google, though it was in MA and Vudu (though SD on Vudu).. It took 2 days but it finally made it to Google.
 
K

Kolma

Member
Weevilone said:
My point is that everyone is trying to collect data on what's happening right now, so drawing false or just premature conclusions sucks. You have data, but no conclusion.

FWIW the Fox stuff I bought on iTunes seemed not to want to port to Google, though it was in MA and Vudu (though SD on Vudu).. It took 2 days but it finally made it to Google.
Click to expand...

Good to know, Scott Pilgrim finally appeared on my MA from iTunes. Waiting for it to appear on Google.
 
W

Weevilone

Member
I'm trying to get the developer mode stuff going on the 4K apple tv. Good grief, I didn't realize how out of date my Macbook was. I've been updating stuff for hours and I'm finally like 25% into the new Xcode.
 
J

jetsetrez

Member
Sorry if this has been asked before, but am I able to unlink and then re-link the same retailer account? Or would it still require the 180 days, even if the account is the same one I was previously linking? My Google Play movies aren't porting in, and the support email I got back suggested disconnecting and reconnecting the retailer, but I don't want to make a mistake on the off chance that a customer support person for such a new service isn't actually aware of their service' policies. I found this in the FAQs, but the wording could be misinterpreted:

"You can connect or disconnect a Digital Retailer account at any time, but you will not be able to connect your Movies Anywhere account to a different account for each Digital Retailer for 180 days."
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
jetsetrez said:
Sorry if this has been asked before, but am I able to unlink and then re-link the same retailer account? Or would it still require the 180 days, even if the account is the same one I was previously linking? My Google Play movies aren't porting in, and the support email I got back suggested disconnecting and reconnecting the retailer, but I don't want to make a mistake on the off chance that a customer support person for such a new service isn't actually aware of their service' policies. I found this in the FAQs, but the wording could be misinterpreted:

"You can connect or disconnect a Digital Retailer account at any time, but you will not be able to connect your Movies Anywhere account to a different account for each Digital Retailer for 180 days."
Click to expand...

Same accounts on each end are fine, just can't be different ones. I've done a few disconnects/reconnects for VUDU and iTunes
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
Tangled Up in Blue said:
I bought a Warner Bros movie on Vudu. It’s showing up everywhere except iTunes. I bought a Fox movie on iTunes. It’s showing up in the wrong resolution on one service and not at all on another. Looking in this thread and on other forums, iTunes seems to be the platform causing the most problems for the most people, and those problems seem to be repeating for many people (Blade Runner FC is a big one). So, is it possible that iTunes isn’t the cause of my issues? Yes, anything is possible. Is it most likely iTunes is causing the problem? Yes.

As for me hating Apple, I’m typing this on an iPhone 8, so whatevs.
Click to expand...
I wasn’t saying anything about Apple hate.. I was saying a) we don’t actually know where the problem lies (people have chimed in all through this thread on virtually every service and studio), and b) at the end the FIRST place to go for a fix is the broker. A service might give you the single copy that was screwed up or such.. but it’s the broker’s job to make sure stuff coming in gets to where it’s going and if one of those things is failing to work with the end point to fix it.

For instance Blade Runner Final Cut or THE Final Cut shouldn’t matter. If it DOES matter that is a failure on MA’s part.
 
TwoDurans

TwoDurans

"Never said I wasn't a hypocrite."
Bought Spiderman and redeemed the digital copy through Sonys site which pushed it to UV which pushed it to Vudu. It's been 12 hours and the movie is not on MA.

I wonder if I should have redeemed it through MA instead.
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
There’s a bunch of 4K movies at great prices on iTunes but I’m waiting to see if MA can agree to let iTunes 4K purchases count as 4K in Vudu and the other services. Don’t want to buy 4K for it to only stay 4K in iTunes and nowhere else
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
DOWN said:
There’s a bunch of 4K movies at great prices on iTunes but I’m waiting to see if MA can agree to let iTunes 4K purchases count as 4K in Vudu and the other services. Don’t want to buy 4K for it to only stay 4K in iTunes and nowhere else
Click to expand...

Which movies? I’m not seeing a lot of 4K movies on sale
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
Zeyphersan said:
Which movies? I’m not seeing a lot of 4K movies on sale
Click to expand...
Just in general really, the iTunes prices are good or on sale more. Like Transformers and Kong Skull Island are cheaper than Vudu, or something like Office Christmas party UHD is $10 on iTunes and $30 on Vudu. Many movies in 4K on iTunes are on sale or cheap while they are maxed out price for UHD at Vudu. And Vudu annoyingly has many of these movies on sale but just don’t include the UHD version in the sale so it will be like $10 HDX but $30 UHD.

But I really want to know that there’s gonna be flexibility to flip back and forth through these services without being screwed out of 4K across the board
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
unless the other services get the UHD agreement that iTunes has, unlikely. I'm guessing Vudu (for example) would be less than thrilled that spending $20 on iTunes (with Apple's agreement) getting the $30 copy on their service, with their (likely) less favorable agreements.

Now my guess is, just like iTunes Music Store ($1.29 standard pricing for DRM-free audio) the Apple arrangement will become standard for the industry.. but prior to that I don't see UHD easily transferring.
 
Z

Zeyphersan

Banned
Alright kids, iTunes engineering got back to me. Well, my senior advisor got back to me relaying the message from engineering.

Anyway, he did indeed confirm that “second session” movies (Movies Anywhere and redemption codes) are not eligible for the 4K upgrade. The redemption code thing is really weird to me, but I don’t have any blu-ray codes to redeem so can anyone else confirm that a normal blu-ray redemption actually PLAYS in 4K and not just says 4K?

In what sounded like a little bit of an aside, he conveyed that the 4K position Apple has with the studios is very... precarious. The studios have put a ton of restrictions on it, including the “no downloading” rule which is a very real thing. Apple had to make a lot of concessions for the 4K pricing and free upgrades. And we’ve seen so far that the 4K versions can be pulled server-side at a moments notice. Ex Machina only just got the 4K version back, and I don’t think Baby Driver is up yet. The advisor sounded optimistic that things would get better and easier going forward, but obviously nothing guarantees that.

He also said engineering was aware of the issue of not being able to buy a 4K title if it’s already there from Movies Anywhere. Didn’t say anything was in the works, just that they know.
 
DOWN

DOWN

Banned
Zeyphersan said:
Alright kids, iTunes engineering got back to me. Well, my senior advisor got back to me relaying the message from engineering.

Anyway, he did indeed confirm that “second session” movies (Movies Anywhere and redemption codes) are not eligible for the 4K upgrade. The redemption code thing is really weird to me, but I don’t have any blu-ray codes to redeem so can anyone else confirm that a normal blu-ray redemption actually PLAYS in 4K and not just says 4K?

In what sounded like a little bit of an aside, he conveyed that the 4K position Apple has with the studios is very... precarious. The studios have put a ton of restrictions on it, including the “no downloading” rule which is a very real thing. Apple had to make a lot of concessions for the 4K pricing and free upgrades. And we’ve seen so far that the 4K versions can be pulled server-side at a moments notice. Ex Machina only just got the 4K version back, and I don’t think Baby Driver is up yet. The advisor sounded optimistic that things would get better and easier going forward, but obviously nothing guarantees that.

He also said engineering was aware of the issue of not being able to buy a 4K title if it’s already there from Movies Anywhere. Didn’t say anything was in the works, just that they know.
Click to expand...
Thankfully on Vudu, if there’s a title you really want in 4K but currently only have in HDX, you can still buy the 4K version to replace it. Hopefully that would properly replace it in iTunes...
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
DOWN said:
Thankfully on Vudu, if there’s a title you really want in 4K but currently only have in HDX, you can still buy the 4K version to replace it. Hopefully that would properly replace it in iTunes...
Click to expand...
Like I mentioned, you still can upgrade a title by gifting it to yourself.

I don’t buy that pulling 4K files has anything to do with licensing though. That literally makes no sense. Delaying? Sure. But putting out, then pulling, then returning? Wha??

Edit - I also have 5 HD codes that got upgraded to 4K. The only codes I didn’t get upgraded (that have UHD versions available) were SD codes that got upgraded to HD as a part of the MA on-boarding process.

Now.... HD redemptions going forward? Yeah I’d like to hear people report first before I use that reliably.
 
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