Most of the time when an app gets updated, it’s either fixing something that went wrong or adding in something new. The latest update to Sony’s official PlayStation video app doesn’t fall into either of those two categories. The sole change to the app, according to the changelog on the Play Store, is “Chromecast support has been removed.” What?

For the uninitiated, PlayStation Video is the official movie and TV show streaming service for the PlayStation 4 and PS5, allowing users to watch and download the movies and shows they purchased through their PlayStation accounts. Back in March, Sony announced that it would be shutting down the service, closing off new purchases of movies and episodes on August 31st. Sony seems to be exiting the streaming market entirely to re-focus on gaming, following the shutdown of the PlayStation Vue service in early 2020.

But at the same time, Sony committed to continuing support for users who had made purchases, saying that any video purchases made via the PlayStation Store would remain accessible on the PS4, PS5, and mobile devices. Even so, the app has seen better days. Most of the recent reviews are negative, claiming that it’s been constantly crashing for months. One might hope that removing casting capability was for some kind of bug fix, but that doesn’t appear to be the case.

So yeah, apparently it’s a bad idea to buy movies and TV shows via the PlayStation Store from here on out. The Android app probably won’t be improving anytime soon, and in fact, may get markedly worse. Luckily the PS4 and PS5 support its ostensible competitors, with streaming apps from services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Disney+ easily available on the consoles. Videos bought or rented through the Play Store can be watched on the official YouTube app for PlayStation.

PlayStation™Video
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