Can't download movies on iPad.

Does the number in Settings > General > About > Videos indicate that they are on the iPad - that 'videos' number will also include any videos that you have in the Photos app, its a combined Videos and Photos total. And do they show in Settings > General > Usage > Videos ?

You could try closing the iTunes and Videos apps via the iPad's multitasking bar and then do a soft-reset of the iPad and see if you can download them and/or find them in the Videos app after the iPad has restarted.

To close apps : double-click the home button to open the taskbar, and then swipe or drag the iTunes and Videos apps screens from there up and off the top of the screen to close them, and click the home button to close the taskbar.

To do a soft-reset : press and hold both the sleep and home buttons for about 10 to 15 seconds (ignore the red slider), after which the Apple logo should appear - you won't lose any content, it's the iPad equivalent of a reboot.

Hi eblangton,

Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.

You can check for incomplete downloads using these steps if the movies you've purchased do not appear in the Videos app:

If your download was interrupted using your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

1. From the Home screen, tap the iTunes app.
2. For iPhone or iPod touch, tap More > Downloads. For iPad, tap Downloads.
3. Enter your account name and password if prompted.
4. Tap the blue download arrow to resume.

iTunes: How to resume interrupted iTunes Store downloads

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1725

You can also use the steps in this article to download past purchases:

Downloading past purchases from the App Store, iBookstore, and iTunes Store

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2519

Cheers,

Jeremy

Hey, Jeremy:

I think eblangton may have issues similar to me and my iPad. For some reason, in the iTunes Store app, there is a Watch button for some purchased movies that are not downloaded to my iPad, instead of a Download button. If I press Watch, I'm taken to the Videos app and nothing happens (of course, I can't watch what's not downloaded). Also, under Purchased --> Not on This iPad, these movies do not show up despite not being stored on the iPad currently. I have to go to Purchased --> All in order to see these movies at all. Which then brings me to what I wrote at the top: Watch button and then Videos app and then nothing ...

Needless to say, the purchased movies inquestion are not in the Videos app. In the iTunes Store app, I signed out and signed back in.

Any ideas? Thanks.

I have the same problem: *some* purchased movies in the iTunes app have a WATCH icon in place of the download cloud icon but there are no corresponding movies in the Videos app. It started recently, but I don't know if it started with 7.1 (this is an iPad Air). Some data:

There are no paused/pending downloads.

The number in Settings > General > About > Videos does match the number of TV shows plus the number of movies that actually show up in the Videos app.

Closing the iTunes and Videos apps didn't help.

Signing out and signing back in at Settings>iTunes & App Store>Apple ID didn't help.

But I think I have found an annoying work around: under Settings>iTunes & App Store>Show All I can set Video to on. Now I go to the Video app instead of the iTunes app. All the videos I've ever bought show up there, whether present on the iPad or not. When I tap one of the iTunes app WATCH movies there is a download cloud icon inside!. I tap the download cloud icon and the movie seems to be downloading.

It is shocking that apple still has not fixed this issue, which has been there for many months.

However, your workaround with showing all films in the Videos app works fine.

Had this problem all week finally managed to solve it. In settings i have "show all videos" turned off (not sure if it matters)

Here we go

Step 1: Open itunes and scroll to the bottom of the launch page and sign out of your account.

Step 2: IMPORTANT leave itunes and manually close it out by double tapping home and swiping up on the application. (maybe do this for the videos app to for good measure)

Step 3: relaunch iTunes and navigate to a video you are sure that you own and check that it has a price/buy option available (to confirm that you are indeed signed out) When i did this i saw the "watch" button for a quarter of a second then it transitioned to the price.

Step 4: log back into your itunes account at the bottom of the itunes spash page (or wherever) and then navigate back to a video you would like to download and voila!!! the cloud/download button is back!!!!

I might be a little late to this but I'm so happy to hear its not just me. I've had this problem for months. Before that I started noticing my iPad wouldn't tell me how much space my movies were taking up. I had 7 movies downloaded, I could watch them with no issues but when I'd look in the usage it would show "No Data" for Videos. I did a force restart then tried a full restore and used my iCloud back up when those didnt work I just did another restore but did not use my iCloud backup for fear of putting the same error back on my iPad. Nothing has ever fixed it. Occasionally I'll look and its reading it properly, but that seems to become more rare as time between restores goes. Now when I try to download movies I own i get "Watch" hit it and it takes me to the Videos app where that movie is not. I've gone as far as to get a new iPad from Apple using my warranty, that did nothing so its clearly something with Apple's servers or a bug in iOS. I'm baffled and disgusted this isn't fixed. I've spent thousands of dollars on iTunes movies and hardware to watch them. I absolutely refuse to buy another Apple device until this is fixed. I'm in the market for a new iPad but I just cannot justify buying an iPad with a larger capacity until I can actually use the extra space. I don't see why Apple releases fixes for every other small problem that affect seemingly no one but this one, which affects me enjoying movies i've bought and also stops me from buying new movies doesnt get fixed!

I can also mention another issue that seems to be related: I pay for iTunes Match, its a cool service but it leaves music on your device as you listen. While trying to free up space I delete the music on my device from the usage menu. I noticed it freed up about 10gb which seemed impossible since it only used 300mb. I went to my "Videos" app and they were all there, but when I tried to play a movie it crashed the videos app, when I reopened the app the movie disappeared. This happened with every single movie until none were left. This happened to me twice and I refuse to try again. Its some glitch that not only deletes the music but movies too.

I've been to Apple's Genius Bar, they're all confused by it and don't seem to interested in fixing it, I assume they simply can't.

PLEASE FIX THIS APPLE!

That work around does work but I have almost 300 movies and usually download SD versions to my iPad to conserve space. Its just nonsense they haven't addressed this or fixed it. That's one thing I severely dislike about Apple, they are tight lipped about problems, they don't acknowledge them and say a fix it coming. Instead we have to sit here confused and hope they're actually reading these forums. I've not been happy with my iPad for almost a year between constant failed downloads, which transitioned into not seeing the accurate storage amount to now not being able to download a movie without a big workaround. You can say "If you're not happy just buy an Android tablet" Sure, I could do that but I've invested lots of cash into the Apple ecosystem. Its frustrating and a highly disappointing that they aren't better at communicating. I hate to come off as the guy who wants to complain but I've gone through every troubleshooting option from Apple, my own mind and more. I could write a small handbook on trying to fix this problem lol.

CXK I have to ask, did you try my solution from above? And like you I needed this fixed in order to DL standard def movies due to file size so the view all videos option doesn't work for us.

try my solution. Don't jump ship.

I've done it in the past but as I was replying the other day I tried it again but it didn't work for me. It still said "Watch" even when I was logged out. The only short term fix I've ever found was holding the home and lock button and occasionally it would work.

I went through my purchased movies today for the heck of it to see which ones said it and didn't. I tried to find some sort of rhyme or reason to it but could not. If they'd fix this I'd strongly consider buying a 128gb iPad once the next models release but until then, theres no way.

I have the same issue.

I have 2 iPads and 3 iPhones and the same issue on them all.

I have about 500 movies, half of which do not work and says 'WATCH'.

I have been to the Genius bar but of course it's 'nothing to do with them'.

My account has been in 'Trouble Shooting' mode for almost 4 months with Apple and no fix. I've been given the work arounds but that's not what I want. I want it to work as advertised.

I wrote an email to Tim Cook, who didn't respond personally but one for 'his' advisors did. He's very nice but can't help either.

They keep giving me free rentals, which is not what I'm looking for.

Is there anyone on this forum who can help?