Google is removing the Movies & TV section from the Play Store

Google gave its TV app an overhaul last year, redesigning its interface and turning it into a hub for your streaming needs. In the near future, it will also serve as Google’s official home for movies and TV shows you can rent or purchase. While you can already do those now within the TV app, you can also still find movies and TV shows to buy from within the Google Play Store. In May 2022, though, Google will remove the Movies & TV tab from the Play Store menu at the bottom of its interface and will only continue selling apps, games and books.

If you haven’t taken a look at the new Google TV app yet, you’ll see a Shop tab where you can find all the titles the tech giant offers. Everything you pay for will be found in the Library tab, and all purchased content will be there indefinitely — you can either stream it or download it. Take note that you can still use Play credit and Play gift cards for transactions within the app and all your purchases are still eligible for family sharing and Google Play Points. Plus, you can still view and request refunds for your TV app purchases on Google Play. The only difference is that, if there’s a title you want to watch, you’ll soon have to fire up the dedicated Google TV app instead of Play Store to find it. 

Shazam’s new feature makes it easy to find and buy tickets for nearby concerts

Now that pandemic restrictions have started lifting, people are eager to go back to the activities they used to do, such as seeing live music performances. Shazam has launched a new feature meant to make it easier to find shows nearby, so music lovers don’t miss events they can easily go to. Starting today, when users Shazam a song or search for it in the app or on the website, they’ll also see relevant concert information and tickets on sale for upcoming shows near their location.

If they have a specific artist in mind, though, they can simply launch the new Shazam Artist page on the platform and see the dates, times and locations of upcoming performances. Tapping on any of them will show additional tour or show information, along with the ability to add any event to their calendar. Shazam uses information from concert discovery app Bandsintown for this feature, and musicians who want the service to display their event details will have to make the information available via Bandsintown For Artists.

Shazam’s new concert feature is now available on iOS and Android. “Shazam has a long history of innovation in music discovery and connecting artists and fans,” Apple VP for Apple Music and Beats Oliver Schusser said. “With the reemergence of live music, we’re excited to give Shazam users access to concerts and bring even more discoverability to artists.” Apple, which purchased Shazam back in 2018, said last year that the app IDs over a billion songs per month. With this feature, Shazam has taken its music discovery service to another level. 

Substack’s new iOS reading app helps you follow subscriptions

You no longer have to read Substack articles on the web. As 9to5Macnotes, Substack has released its first mobile reading app for iPhone and iPad. The software will help you follow your subscriptions, with notifications when a favorite writer publishes a new story. You’ll find all media formats in a single place, too. The app will also help you discover new writers if you’re eager for more.

Android users will have to be patient. You can sign up for a waiting list, but it’s not clear when Substack’s app will be available for Google’s platform.

The iOS app should be helpful if you’re an avid Substack reader who’d rather not fire up a web browser just to catch up — it’s arguably overdue when rivals like Medium have offered mobile apps for years. It may be just as relevant for writers, for that matter. They won’t have to worry so much that you might miss an email alert, or skip a piece when you’re away from your desk.

Android will soon let you archive apps to save space

At some point, most of us have had to uninstall apps to free up space on our phones. And while it’s become less of an issue in recent years with the introduction of devices that start with 64GB and 128GB of internal space, not everyone can afford to upgrade the storage on their phone. But with some luck, deleting apps on your Android device to free up space may become a thing of the past.

Google announced today it’s working on a new feature it estimates will reduce the space some apps take up by approximately 60 percent. Best of all, your personal data won’t be affected. The feature is called app archiving and will arrive later this year. Rather than uninstalling an app completely, it instead temporarily removes some parts of it and generates a new type of Android Package known as an archived APK. That package preserves your data until the moment you restore the app to its former form.

“Once launched, archiving will deliver great benefits to both users and developers. Instead of uninstalling an app, users would be able to ‘archive’ it – free up space temporarily and be able to re-activate the app quickly and easily,” the company said. “Developers can benefit from fewer uninstalls and substantially lower friction to pick back up with their favorite apps.”

Google has started making archived APKs available to developers ahead of the feature’s consumer release later this year. If you own a relatively recent and high-end device like the Galaxy S22, you probably won’t get much use out of app archiving, but it’s a feature that could be a significant boon for those with low-end devices.   

Instagram pulls Boomerang and Hyperlapse from app stores

Instagram isn’t just waving goodbye to its IGTV app. As TechCrunchreports, social media consultant Matt Navarra and various Twitter users (including KenSchillinger and WFBrother) have all noticed that Instagram’s dedicated Boomerang and Hyperlapse apps have disappeared from the Apple and Google app stores. Boomerang was still available for Android on Google Play through a direct link as of this writing, but searches no longer produce results.

In a statement to Engadget, parent brand Meta said Instagram pulled the software to “better focus [its] efforts on the main app.” Apptopia data suggests Instagram pulled Boomerang and Hyperlapse from app stores after March 1st. Boomerang (the only one of the two available on both Android and iOS) was still relatively popular, according to Apptopia, with an average of 26,000 downloads per day before it left. Layout is still available if you want to create collages.

The removal isn’t exactly surprising. The launches of Hyperlapse in 2014 and Boomerang in 2015 offered stabilized timelapse and looping videos at a time when Instagram tried to keep its app relatively lean, particularly given the lesser performance of some phones at the time. In 2022, however, Instagram is content to include a flurry of features as it fends off rivals, ranging from Snapchat-like Stories through to TikTok-style Reels. Boomerang and Hyperlapse are now just camera options. Toss in faster smartphones and there’s little need for standalone apps revolving around single features.

The departures also make sense in the context of IGTV’s exit. At the time, Instagram said it wanted to improve the video experience for both creators and viewers. This latest move is just an extension of the earlier strategy — it wants to save you from juggling apps just to produce a clip.