Prevent downloading "movpkg" files from apple store.

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Prevent downloading "movpkg" files from apple store.

The last movie I downloaded in the apple store is a "movkpg" file. How can I prevent my MacBookPro to download "movpkg" files? I only want "m4v" files because the "movpkg" files are not visible on my Apple TV 4K. I can only see the movie on my MacBook. And that is not what I want. And I can't use these files on other places.

And I don't understand why Apple is using this incompatible format. Also, there is no warning that the file will be downloaded in another format. So, I bought a useless movie.

Hans Lijnbach

Posted on Oct 17, 2022 1:51 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Hans Lijnbach Author

Level 1

13 points

Oct 23, 2022 3:10 AM in response to ted2019

Urquhart1244 and ted 2019, both thank you for your response,

Indeed it is a great step down, this MOVPKG files. I can't backup the file and I can't use home sharing.

Unfortunately I don't have an older version of Mac OS on my MacBookPro.

I will give it a try on my iPhone using iTunes and also give feedback to Apple.

And, I don't understand why the store doesn't give any information about the format of the file.

If I get information about the file format upfront, I have the choice to download the file or not.

Now I bought a unsuable movie.

Hans Lijnbach

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Answer 2

Oct 17, 2022 4:08 PM in response to Hans Lijnbach

HLS (.movpkg) is unfortunately not supported for Home Sharing at this time. You can give feedback to Apple that users want this for their iTunes Store downloads. It does not appear to be an Apple TV issue per se: Home Sharing to iPhone or iPad also doesn’t list these HLS downloads: I believe it is already excluded for Home Sharing on the Mac.

Previously (in macOS Catalina 10.15) users could de-select HDR, and select Most Compatible, and simplify the audio options, to force M4V file downloads. That former option (HDR) is no longer available in Big Sur or Monterey. You can give feedback to Apple that Home Sharing users want M4V download options.

Also see:

discussions.apple.com/thread/254270416

discussions.apple.com/thread/254277354

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Answer 3

ted2019

Level 1

71 points

Oct 22, 2022 10:34 PM in response to Hans Lijnbach

It's been asked many times. Supposedly HLS (MOVPKG) are Lossless compressed and that is why Apple is switching over. Regardless the format appears to have other limitations such as no sharing or local backup like iTunes .m4v files had. We should do a feature request for this as it is a step down I agree.

From what I can tell the only workaround is to download using iTunes (not the AppleTV+ app). I haven't check recently but last time I did that works on your iPhone using iTunes (not AppleTV+ or Music) to download your purchased files.

Obviously you could also use an older version of MacOS if your computer supports it, the last to support iTunes was Mohave. Or you could use a PC since they are still limited to iTunes only. Both these could be done using VMware but no easy or free workaround.

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Prevent downloading "movpkg" files from apple store.

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