Android TV makes buying, renting movies easier with the new Shop tab (Updated)

Update, June 28, 2023 (04:17 PM ET): We asked Google for clarification about the new Shop tab, and it said that content from other streaming platforms would not be available there. In other words, you’ll only be able to purchase content from Google-owned products. If you were hoping for a place to aggregate all your purchases from various places, this wouldn’t be it.

Original article, June 28, 2023 (12:00 PM ET): Android TV has become a popular choice as a TV OS thanks to its great content recommendations and the ability to get out of the way when serving this content. Google is hoping to streamline content access and discovery further on Android TV by introducing a new Shop tab that will let you buy or rent movies.

Starting today for users in the US — and over the next few weeks, globally — Google is rolling out the Shop tab on Android TV. As the name implies, it would be the one-stop shop for finding new movies to buy or rent without needing to open multiple apps to make these purchases.

The Shop tab will also house a Library section that will let you access your purchases. These will include all content purchases made from your Google account across YouTube, Google Play Movies & TV, other Google TV and Android TV devices, and the Google TV mobile app. Once you purchase a piece of content, you can access it across TVs and on the Google TV app on your phone or tablet.

Note that the Shop tab is coming to Android TV as a whole platform and not just to Google TV as a subset of it. Google TV is Google’s own content discovery and content aggregation layer on top of Android TV, and it has a few monetization surfaces already. So adding more monetization opportunities to the Android TV home screen will likely benefit Google’s bottom line. It is not immediately clear if content from non-Google apps will be surfaced within the Shop tab.