The Movies & TV exodus from the Play Store app has begun

There's only one place to buy and rent movies from Google going forward

Google announced earlier this year that it would remove the "Movies and TV" section from the Play Store. Instead, you will only be able to use the Google TV app to rent or purchase new movies or TV shows. That transition has finally begun, as the big G has started phasing out the Movies tab from Google Play.

The company has updated its original announcement on the Google Support page (via 9to5Google) from March 22, 2022, to reflect that "Movies and TV is now in the process of being removed from the Google Play app." If the Movies tab still shows up on the Play Store of your device, you will see a banner in the tab informing you of the impending transition.

You don't need to worry about losing access to your previously acquired movies and TV shows from the Play Store. Your existing library, wishlist, and purchased content are still accessible from the Google TV app. You can also continue to pay for new movies or TV show rentals using Play store credit and gift cards.

The Google TV app provides better content recommendations thanks to its deep integration with various streaming services, though Netflix is notably missing. You can stream content from different sources instead of just being limited to Google's paid library. The new Highlights tab in the app surfaces entertainment news, interviews, trailers, and more, so you can always find interesting stuff to watch. It also offers a better watching experience for many since it features a built-in virtual remote for your Android TV or Chromecast.

The change is only limited to mobile for now, as the Play Store web front continues to have a Movies tab from where you can rent or purchase content. If you were used to buying movies from the Play Store on your phone, you could find this change annoying at first. However, the Google TV app does seem poised to offer a better media consumption experience, and has been the place to go to for a seamless purchasing and watching workflow for a long time.