If anyone else was wondering, as I was, what happens if you are actively watching an iTunes rental at the moment it is scheduled to expire: I am happy to report that it graciously (appropriately) waits until you exit the movie to delete it. Presumably this is limitless and you can take your time finishing up, including pausing etc., so long as you don’t exit to the menu.
This is good news for movie snoozers or parent types who may get interrupted and fear falling victim to Apple’s really-kind-of-stupid 24 hour rental period - you can get two nights to watch, provided the second starts earlier than the first did.
Related: District 9 was pretty darn good.
My understanding, although I haven’t tried it, is that it will play as long as you leave it in situ. In other words, if you start it on your AppleTV on night 1 and just pause it and go to bed and sleep for a hundred years, you can still unpause it and watch the end. I think Chris Breen wrote that in a review of iTunes movie rentals when they came out. Of course, if your kids come down and watch cartoons on the AppleTV in the morning, then you have to make sure you start it again on night 2 earlier than you did on night 1.
The restriction is supposedly the work of the movie companies who didn’t want to give Apple a better deal than they gave the on-demand cable companies. And, of course, care nothing for what you, the viewer, want.
And, yes, District 9 was pretty darn good.
