Watch movie on iPad while downloading?

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Level 1

0 points

Watch movie on iPad while downloading?

I'm downloading a rented movie on iTunes in my iPad. It seems like I can't start watching it till it's done. Is this true?

iPad 32 gb, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Apr 3, 2010 7:03 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

ivan54

Level 4

2,844 points

Apr 3, 2010 7:15 PM in response to sth8

Yes, from the iPad User Guide, page 93, "Rented movies won’t begin playing until the download completes."

Guess they want to insure there's no interruption in the download.

ivan

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Answer 2

AdyF

Level 1

0 points

Oct 11, 2010 2:08 PM in response to ivan54

I too have just discovered this 'intended consequence' whilst attempting to watch a rented film on my iPad. Why won't they let you begin watching before it's finished? I can half understand the comment, made above, regarding interruptions but I'm using a Wifi only enabled device - there's the same risk of interruptions if I rented the movie on iTunes on my Mac. iTunes on the Mac will allow me to begin watching before the movie is fully downloaded....what's the big difference with the iPad? I want to use my iPad to watch the movie because I can't rent in HD on the Mac.

Get it sorted please Apple - this is another problem that makes me regret moving to the Mac and buying an iPad! You will lose good loyal customers like this!

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Answer 3

Oct 27, 2010 4:50 AM in response to ivan54

This answer implies that it is possible to watch a purchased movie while downloading, but how? I've seen no instructions on this. The title doesn't appear in the Videos app until download is complete and I'm not seeing it in the purchased playlist either. Clicking the title as in iTunes does nothing.

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Answer 4

mrdrewl

Level 1

0 points

Mar 1, 2011 8:23 PM in response to epbrown01

You wont see it in iPad until it finishes downloading but on iMac and AppleTV it can be started right away. I too found this frustratingly stupid. Especially since as mentioned above one can't rent HD for certain films on iMac. Even more frustrating is that on my iPad it often takes hours to download a single movie!!! What's the point if I could drive to the red box, rent the movie, come home and watch it, and then return it and come back home, all before the iTunes version finishes downloading? VERY FRUSTRATING

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Answer 5

Larlour

Level 1

0 points

Mar 5, 2011 8:12 AM in response to sth8

I woke up this morning and was playing around on my ipad... Decided to rent movie, took 4 hrs to download but even more frustating is that i couldn't strt watching even when over half was downloaded!

Very disappointed...

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Answer 6

rehlers

Level 1

14 points

May 8, 2011 10:08 PM in response to sth8

I just downloaded my first and last iTunes movie rental. I thought I'd be able to watch it on the iPad while downloading. As noted above this makes the service mostly useless and a complete waste of money.

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Answer 7

Jun 1, 2011 6:49 PM in response to rehlers

This about sums it up. Sure would like to see this changed soon.

In other news.....love my iPad Apple!

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Answer 8

Jun 16, 2011 6:06 PM in response to sth8

I agree, please fix this. It makes rentals on the iPad worthless.

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Answer 9

KLLU2fan

Level 1

0 points

Jun 25, 2011 10:46 PM in response to sth8

Yes, I agree. This is very silly. Apple please fix.

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Answer 10

Jul 25, 2011 8:38 PM in response to sth8

+1

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Answer 11

Sep 25, 2011 7:52 PM in response to sth8

This is first and last time for me renting a movie on iPad - completely incomprehensible why Apple would think that anyone would want to wait hours to start playing stuff back when on other devices the playback is immediate. Just fix it - and don't even think about justifying it with any kind of ridiculous policy.

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Answer 12

Demo

Level 10

166,494 points

Sep 25, 2011 7:57 PM in response to timsquare

Well I guess you told them didn't you. Oh wait - no you didn't. Apple doesn't participate on this user to user only forum.

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Answer 13

Chrinny

Level 1

0 points

Jan 1, 2012 3:07 PM in response to sth8

Last time I rent off iTunes it ruined my night sort it out

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Answer 14

JWG99

Level 1

0 points

Feb 14, 2012 11:00 AM in response to sth8

You would imagine, as in Apple Tv or on your imac, that you could start watching a downloading movie mid-download, but no, no, no at least on your ipad. Apple hits $500/sh and Jobs (unfortunately) no more means you imagine mistakenly. How annoying. Please create a competitor, WORLD!

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Answer 15

Lacoruna

Level 1

4 points

Feb 18, 2012 5:03 PM in response to JWG99

Having same issue tonight. Bottom line is unless you have luxury of planning for your movie several days ahead, iTunes is a terrible option for movie renting, period.

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