Movies Anywhere, the app owned by Disney that allows users to access their digital movie collection through various services, closes two features, “Screen Pass” and “Watch Together.”
Launched in 2020, Screen Pass lets you loan out three movies per month within the app, which recipients can then watch for up to 72 hours. As of May 1, users will no longer be able to share their purchased movies with friends and family. Cord Cutters News first noticed the change.
“At Movies Anywhere, we are constantly making changes to the website and app to help our users enjoy and expand their collections,” the company wrote on its website. “As the experience continues to evolve, we’d like to inform you that starting May 1, users will no longer be able to use the Screen Pass feature to send a Screen Pass. For screen passes sent before May 1, recipients can still accept and watch the movie before their passes expire. As of June 1, the Screen Pass feature will no longer be supported.
In a separate post, Movies Anywhere announced that it would also be discontinuing the “Watch Together” feature on June 1. Essentially a watch party feature, the feature is a synchronized viewing experience where you can send a room code or URL to up to nine friends to watch the same movie together.
The company didn’t give an exact reason for ending these features, but said it would focus on experiences its users “are most passionate about,” including expanding their movie collections and watching titles across multiple platforms. Basically, it sounds like not enough people were using Screen Pass or Watch Together.
AapkaDost reached out to Movies Anywhere for comment.
While watching movies together and sharing movies were once popular trends, especially during the pandemic, more and more people are going back to the cinemas or having IRL viewing parties at their homes. According to media measurement and analytics firm Comscore, the 2023 box office exceeded $958 million in ticket sales as of Feb. 27, compared to $98.7 million in 2021.
Also, the digital movie space just isn’t as trendy anymore and streaming services are getting their moment in the spotlight. The streaming market is a nearly $60 billion business, with giants like Netflix, Disney+ and HBO Max serving millions of subscribers.
Movies Anywhere (formerly Disney Movies Anywhere) launched in 2014 and offers digital movie collectors a single hub where they can access all the movies they’ve purchased on iTunes, Vudu, Prime Video, YouTube, Xfinity, and more. In 2017, it was jointly operated by Disney, Universal, WB, Sony Pictures, and 20th Century Fox.
The most recent feature to launch was “My Lists”, an AI-powered feature rolling out in 2021. My Lists automatically organizes movies together based on genre, cast, franchise, and so on.