Which is your favourite platform to rent movies on?
Since I cancelled my DStv subscription, I used to like Google Play Movies. But I have had problems on my Nvidia Shield with the last 3 movies not wanting to play. I successfully “returned” 2 movies but the third was refused. And of course there is no lovong being actualling running things at Google, so you cannot talk to anybody.
I have since started renting on Apple on the PS4, much better performance and I now have a new use for the Playstation.
I haven’t rented a movie in a loooong time. The way transactional VOD services are siloed makes for a frustrating user experience so I end up not bothering.
Netflix, Showmax, and Amazon Prime Video run just about everywhere. If something isn’t available on there, I probably won’t watch it.
I like to watch a whole host of Christian based movies and battle to find a lot of these on the traditional platforms, therefore I use Google Play Store, though that is where I have been getting my rentals from. I find that the ecosystem of Google is great for me 'cos I can link it to my family through rental or purchase and among all my devices and apps.
I find them fairly affordable too and the rental times fit well into my lifestyle of being time restrictive.
I wasn’t aware the console Apple Movies worked in South Africa, I will check that out, thanks.
I also subscribe to Netflix, Showmax and Amazon Prime Video and then I log into DSTV Now with my parents’ details. If a movie isn’t available on there… then it will eventually. Or I pirate it.
We only have Netflix right now, and their new selection of movies has been pretty good recently. I share an Amazon Prime with a friend (who in turn use my Netflix) but the selection is very limited. And when you use a VPN then the app actually tells me it cannot work with a VPN.
I also use an app called JustWatch that tells me what is new on the various platforms I have subs to. You can localise it for SA which is great too. Also, if you look for a specific movie it will tell you where to to rent / buy it from, or if it is included in a current sub you already have. VERY handy!
Agreed! Have been using the JustWatch website online so find where stuff is available. I use the ZA site for both the services we have subscriptions to, and to check the US networks I don’t have access to to see what’s showing there. That’s how I discovered that Season 4 of The Handmaid’s Tale has started airing - now to decide whether to wait for to get here, or to go hunting for it elsewhere…
The only issue with it is that it doesn’t show DSTV/MNet movies and shows at the moment. Doubly odd because you can see BoxOffice and Showmax on it.
There’s also an iOS version of the app for the Apple eaters:
Personally, Apple TV seems terrible. We had the free year that lasted up to March, but I cancelled before the paid sub kicked in. None of the content appealed to us and it seemed very sparse in comparison to Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime and Showmax.
I personally feel the quality of content on Disney+ is far ahead of the others, especially considering the kind of stuff we watch.
As everyone else have commented, we have Netflix, Showmax and using the parental’s DSTV Now logins. Our Android TV device has Google Movies built in, and if there is a movie we REALLY want to watch and can’t find anywhere else, I would rent it from there. So far I’ve had no issues at all with Google Movies as it plays very well with our Android TV device.
I actually have some funds in my Google wallet that I forgot about (if they haven’t expired them, if that happens). I had wanted to try renting a movie, but I would have no way to play it on my TV…
I’d have to check out if their DRM works on Linux…
I concur! Best by far! Wide variety, especially if you go digging. There are some really obscure movies and classics on there, but their suggestions can be boring at times.
It’s about the same price as a Netflix sub, but you obviously need access to a decent VPN. I bought a 27-month Surfshark sub for around R850 precisely for that reason - a once-off payment giving me more than 2 years of VPN bliss. Having access to all the Disney classics and modern titles, Marvel- and Star Wars EVERYTHING, a whole host of Fox Networks series and movies with NatGeo doccies and docu-series on top of that just feels like insane value.