The tvOS 17.2 Release Candidate has just gone live, giving beta testers and developers early access to the next major update, but a few iconic features have been removed.
As originally spotted by X user Sigmund Judge, iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows now redirect you to a more generic purchases tab, where you can still watch your purchases but can’t access these storefronts anymore.
The iTunes store is, of course, still available to use on your iPhone and iPad, but its inclusion as a video purchasing platform on tvOS is no more, with a more generic overarching store taking its place. Despite them being phased out in favor of their inclusion in the Apple TV app, their placeholder still remains on the home screen. This is likely just a problem with the Release Candidate itself, as it may disappear entirely for the full release of tvOS 17.2.
Growing Pains — iMore’s take
This is likely a further sign of iTunes Movies and iTunes TV Shows being on the way out entirely – a decision that feels necessary given you can buy content on the Apple TV app. It has been looking like a bit of a redundant marketplace for a while, and this could be one of the final steps to ending the applications for good.
It is worth pointing out the other missing features with this Release Candidate, like user reviews, theatrical poster art, and a live library count. tvOS 17.2 RC is making a few mistakes regarding the number of TV show seasons, as pointed out in the post above, but these will likely be fixed by the time tvOS 17.2 officially launches in the coming weeks.
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