In a convergence of megaminds that would seem to threaten the space-time continuum itself, Google released a version of its Google Play Movies & TV app in the iOS App Store last week.

The app’s cumbersome title seems symbolic of the rigmarole involved with actually using it. Dodging the hefty 30% fee Apple skims off the top of any in-app purchases, Google has not given users the option to actually buy its streaming goods through the app. Instead, potential viewers must go through a separate browser to access their show or film of choice, and pay for it there before they may view it on an Apple mobile device.

Once the content is indeed on there, however, Google Play Movies & TV is fairly straightforward. You browse the content you have bought via another online venue, select and play. For those poor, confused individuals who own both an Android phone and an iOS tablet, or vice-versa, this new arrangement should make life at least a little more convenient through the advent of interspecies streaming. And of course the option to bring the video to the big screen via Chromecast will be a boon for those Apple streamers with no option to do so currently.

For those who do not count Google as part of their commercial video consumption, it seems unlikely this new development will bring them into the fold. Even though it has built up a fairly impressive collection of content, Google’s video library lacks the prestige of some of the more buzz-worthy TV and film streamers. What’s more, the new app currently only allows for streaming over a wireless Internet connection, and is not available for offline watching.

Still, content is a major piece of the Google future, and while this move isn’t a major realization of that future in and of itself, it is a piece in that much bigger puzzle. A puzzle that also includes November’s launch of Google Music in the iOS store. iTunes paved the way for tech companies looking to merge every kind of content into one ecosystem, and profit hugely off it. Google’s own ecosystem has arrived, and it has no problem using its competitors own avenues to slowly but surely pull people into it.

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