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Google started pushing out a new version of its Google Play Movies & TV Android app earlier this week, introducing a minor redesign of the service meant to facilitate the overall user experience by streamlining some actions and making other elements of the app easier to access. The software version 3.28 transitions all trailers from a scrollable carousel rendered below the content summary card of any listing to the very top of the page, consequently making trailers the first thing you’re able to see and interact with when you tap on a movie or TV series. The change effectively turns the cover art of every listing into a trailer but doesn’t provide an alternative to the old video carousel, meaning that if some shows or films used to feature several trailers in their Google Play Movies & TV listings, you’ll only be able to watch one of them following the update. It’s possible that Google eventually tweaks the current solution, i.e. allows users to scroll through several trailers at the top of each listing, but that’s still far from a certain scenario.
The new version of Google Play Movies & TV also puts a higher emphasis on price tags which were already relatively pronounced in previous builds, being denoted as bright red writing on a black background. Following the update to the latest iteration of the app, you’ll see the price tags outlined with the same shade of red, with the end result essentially being a traditional button. The company presumably made this change with the goal of delivering a more intuitive interface seeing how even first-time users should now automatically understand that any price tag can be tapped. Finally, TV series now also feature language details which were already supported by movie listings, allowing you to easily find out what kind of subtitles and dubs are available for any programming you may be interested in.
An APK teardown recently performed by Android Police also revealed the existence of several “Movies Anywhere” strings which are independent to those related to the Disney Movies Anywhere program, suggesting that more titles purchased on Google Play Movies & TV may soon be viewable through Disney’s content service and vice versa. No further details on the feature have been revealed but its existing references in the app’s code suggest that it may be going live in the near future.
