When it comes to media, Apple has a lot going for it with iTunes (not the software because that’s a dumpster fire), they offer great content including special features, and in October 2017, they upgraded all the movies in peoples library (those which had the option) to 4K resolultion for free. Now it looks like Google might be getting set to do the same.
In one of their infamous teardowns of version 4.8 of Google Play Movies & TV over at Android Police, they’ve discovered some lines of code that appear to offer a free update to 4K. The strings also point to an option to sort by upgraded movies, so you can find all that delicious new 4K content.
> and <
<string name=”interstitial_upgrade_description”>Enjoy this higher quality on any supported 4K device</string>
<string name=”interstitial_upgrade_header”>%1$d of your movies just got a free upgrade to 4K</string>
<string name=”interstitial_upgrade_cta”>Check it out</string>
<string name=”interstitial_upgrade_skip”>Skip</string><string name=”filter_upgraded_to_4k”>Upgraded to 4K</string><string name=”snackbar_message_multiple”>%1$s of your movies were upgraded to 4K</string>
<string name=”snackbar_message_single”>%1$s was upgraded to 4K</string>
<string name=”sort_by_upgrade_date”>Date Upgraded</string>
<string name=”upgraded_to_4k”>Upgraded to 4K</string>excerpt from /xml/internal_preferences.xml
<CheckBoxPreference android:title=”Enable 4K Upgrade Interstitial” android:key=”enable_4k_upgrade_interstitial” android:defaultValue=”false”/>
Google finally began offering 4K resolution movies here in Australia last year, but the rollout has essentially stalled with only a few new movies – mostly Sony titles – being added to the list of those on offer through the Play Store.
This offer of free upgrades may head to the US-only which would be a disappointment, but then again it could go worldwide, we won’t know until Google makes the announcement, so fingers crossed.
…now if only there was a way to get a discount to add a new movie in a series to an existing bundle.
It’s about time Google did something to improve the video resolution on offer in the Play Store. I was looking to buy the Matrix in their sale last week and it was only in SD, which is abysmal for such a graphically intensive film. I just checked on iTunes and it’s in 4K!
Any word if they are also adding Atmos support like the ATV 4K?