Free Google Play Movies 4K upgrades might be coming

July 2022 · 2 minute read

With the roll out of 4K HDR content on iTunes last year, Apple took the notable step of upgrading prior purchases to the higher quality free of charge. Google Play Movies might be taking a similar step according to a teardown of the Android app today.

According to Android Police, version 4.8 of Google Play Movies & TV features several strings relating to upgrading content to 4K resolution. When rolled out, a prompt in the Android app will note which movies “just got a free upgrade to 4K.”

Users can watch the “higher quality” on supported devices, with one string suggesting that the upgrade will be free following in Apple’s footsteps.

<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>

Meanwhile, the app will gain a new filter that shows what content was “Upgraded to 4K,” with the ability to sort your library by “Date Upgraded.”

<string name=”filter_upgraded_to_4k”>Upgraded to 4K</string>

<string name=”sort_by_upgrade_date”>Date Upgraded</string>

<string name=”upgraded_to_4k”>Upgraded to 4K</string>

Google might be finally getting around to offering such a program given the proliferation of content, as well as hardware. For example, in July, Play Movies & TV added support for HDR casting to the Nvidia Shield and Sony Android TVs. Google Play started offering 4K content in late 2016, and slowly rolled them out to other countries.

Meanwhile, the Roku client received an upgrade this year, while the mobile app was refocused as a directory to other streaming services where movies and TV shows are available to watch.


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