Various Google services are available in the Play Store. One of them is Play Movies and TV. You can buy or rent these movies and then download them to watch offline on the go. Several users are often reporting that Play Movies & TV is not working and they are unable to download movies to their device.
I assume you have tried simple and obvious solutions like checking your Wi-Fi connection or mobile internet bandwidth and restarting your smartphone.
Let’s start.
1. Check Storage
Do you have enough storage space on your phone or memory card to download that movie? There are two ways to check. One is inside the Play Movies & TV app settings. Open it and tap on Manage downloads.
Here is a tip. If you can’t delete anything and still want to download that movie, lower the video quality to save space while downloading. Tap on Quality on the same screen and select SD.
Apps, videos, music, etc. Another way to check the storage space in more detail, like this, is in the phone Settings. A better way around where all that memory goes and how you can reduce it.
Tap on About phone and then on Storage to find this data. The phone will take a few moments to fill in the fields, so be patient.
2. Application Network Settings
The Google Play Movies & TV app comes with a setting where you can only download movies over data or Wi-Fi. Go to app settings and tap on Network.
If you have a stable Wi-Fi connection, select Download on Wi-Fi only. Select Download on any network if you want to use mobile data.
3. Parental Controls
All Play Store apps have parental control which allows concerned parents and guardians to protect their children from harmful and adult content. Go back to Settings and tap on Parental controls.
Check if parental controls are on and if yes you will need a PIN to turn it off.
You probably don’t have it, but that’s why you can no longer access or download the movie. If you have or have unlocked this PIN (date of birth), you can change it from Most restrictive to Least restrictive accordingly.
4. App Permissions
One of the main permissions that the Play Movies & TV app will need is access to storage. Open Settings and go to Manage app. The location may differ depending on the make and model of your phone. Search for and open the Play Movies & TV app.
Here tap on App permissions and turn on Storage permission and try again.
5. Clear Cache and Data
This is one of the routine steps we recommend to users at GT when it comes to Android app troubleshooting. Old data and cache files can get corrupted or cause errors like the one you are encountering.
Open Settings and return to the App to search for Google Play Movies & TV. Inside, tap on Clear data at the bottom of the screen and select Clear all data.
You’ll need to sign in to the Google Play Movies & TV app again, so make sure you have your login details on hand.
Repeat the same process for Download Manager and Google Play Services app but only if you are facing the Play Movies & TV not downloading error.
6. Update or Downgrade/Remove
The Play Store Movies app comes pre-installed on all Android phones. You cannot uninstall it or any of the other Play apps normally. What you can do is revert to a previous version or get an update from the Play Store.
Note that downgrading to a previous version is temporary, as your system will automatically update the app. Open Settings > Manage app and search for Play Movies & TV app to open it. Select Uninstall at the bottom of the screen. It doesn’t uninstall it, it just removes the latest updates. If you are allowed to uninstall, you can always download it from Play Store.
To update or reinstall the app, open Play Store, search for Play Movies & TV and hit Install.
Play time
The Play Movies & TV app is pretty good and useful when you can’t wait for the movie or series to arrive on one of the streaming platforms. Frankly, I don’t use it much. I have a backlog of series on Netflix, and when I finish a show, there are 10 in front of me. But we all have our own way of consuming content, and there is no one right way to do things.
I hope your problem is now solved. If you found another way to fix the Play Movies & TV app not downloading movies error, do share it with us in the comments section below.
Next: Want to increase the internal storage on your phone? Click the link below to find out how you can store more movies and shows.