Buyers of digital movies in the US will soon no longer be able to use Movies Anywhere to share their movies with family and friends for free. Two specific features are being discontinued.
Movies Anywhere is a digital movie locker that supports over 8000 movies, synced across Amazon Video, Apple iTunes, Vudu and more. The initiative is backed by Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal, and Warner Bros. Studios such as Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM have yet to join the initiative. It is supported on Amazon FireTV, Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, LG webOS, Samsung Tizen, and Vizio SmartCast TVs.
It is an easy and reliable way to build and secure a digital movie library, but it only works in the US.
How Movies Anywhere's Screen Share features work(ed). Photo: Disney
Movies Anywhere will continue to work, but the service is discontinuing two useful features that allowed users to temporarily share specific movies with friends and family for free (Screen Pass), and to watch movies together remotely (Watch Together).
Here are Disney-owned Movies Anywhere's statements on the matter:
At Movies Anywhere™, we are continually making changes to the website and app to help our users enjoy and grow their collections.
As the experience continues to evolve, we want to notify you that effective May 1 users will no longer be able to use the Screen Pass™ feature to send a Screen Pass. For Screen Passes sent prior to May 1, recipients will still be able to accept and finish watching the movie before their passes expire. As of June 1, the Screen Pass feature will no longer be supported.
We are committed to focusing on an experience which highlights the things our users are most passionate about, primarily growing their collections and watching their favorite movies across platforms and devices.
As the experience continues to evolve, we want to notify you that effective June 1, we will no longer offer the ability for users to Watch Together.
