As expected, the tvOS 26.4 developer beta removed the iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Show apps and migrated users to the TV app for shopping and media playback.
Apple has been slowly weaning users away from purchasing content from the iTunes TV Shows and Movies app for several years. In Monday’s developer beta, Apple took another step toward killing apps entirely.
As part of the developer beta, Apple has removed the iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows apps from tvOS 26.4, as noted MacRumors. Consumers will no longer be able to purchase shows or movies through apps, but will be able to do so directly through the Apple TV app.
Users will still be able to access their previous purchases through the Apple TV app. Purchases from Apple are also made through it.
The move is a continuation of Apple’s long-term effort to consolidate its media businesses. Instead of buying content from two stores and accessing a streaming service through a third, everything is now under one app.
The decision to remove tvOS versions comes long after similar moves were made in 2023. For iOS 17.2 and iPadOS 17.2, Apple updated the iTunes Store app so that the Movies and TV Shows section directs users to the TV app.
The iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows apps on tvOS did a similar thing, telling users to use the TV app instead. Although the apps were believed to be phased out in December 2023, Apple appears to have slowed down to give users more time to migrate their media buying habits.
Other changes in tvOS 26.4 include changes to the Apple TV’s audio format settings, replacing immersive Dolby Atmos with surround sound, and the ability to continuously connect audio for HDMI.