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Television

Plex's Upcoming App Redesign is a Big Swing at Going Legit 71

Posted by msmash from the slow-and-steady dept.
An anonymous reader shares a report: Plex is beginning to test its "newly reimagined Plex experience," which will be available first on mobile and is coming to TV platforms "very soon." Plex says the new experience has been in development for almost two years and is "designed to bring everything you love into one seamless interface." But don't worry -- while the new version of the app is currently missing some features, Plex says it will be "closing those gaps" and will keep the current app available during the preview, which will hopefully prevent a Sonos-like debacle.

A big change for the new app is redesigned navigation that more clearly delineates between media you might have on your Plex server and the company's streaming and on-demand offerings. The bottom bar has dedicated tabs for your media libraries, live TV, and on-demand movies and shows. The Watchlist, which lets you make a list of things you want to watch, has a spot at the top of the app. And artwork is shown more prominently.
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Plex's Upcoming App Redesign is a Big Swing at Going Legit More

Plex's Upcoming App Redesign is a Big Swing at Going Legit

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  • How is making the UI continually worse a 'swing at going legit'?

    Is there a certain amount of enshittification required for legitimatude?

  • I want an app that lets me watch local media I have in my house and I am willing to pay for it rather than ad supported stuff pushed in my face. Paid for emby premium lifetime access after Plex gone loco.

    • Re:You had one job... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Idimmu Xul ( 204345 ) on Friday November 22, 2024 @01:13PM (#64965079) Homepage Journal

      > I want an app that lets me watch local media I have in my house and I am willing to pay for it rather than ad supported stuff pushed in my face. Paid for emby premium lifetime access after Plex gone loco.

      https://jellyfin.org/ [jellyfin.org]

      • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

        by ncc74656 ( 45571 ) *

        > Jellyfin

        This. I still have a Plex server running alongside Jellyfin for my parents, who I'd set up with Plex when I last visited them a couple of years ago. Since then, I've spun up a Jellyfin container and gotten it dialed in; it works like a champ with a couple of Chromecasts at home and my phone and notebook on the road. When my wife and I visit them next month, I'm putting the Jellyfin client on their Rokus and shutting down Plex.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by darkain ( 749283 )

        When Jellyfin has feature-parity for device support, I'll be making the jump. But right now, none of the family's smart TVs support it. The choice is between "it works, but shitty" (plex) or "it doesn't work at all" (jellyfin). I WANT to make the switch, but simply cant.

        • When Jellyfin has feature-parity for device support, I'll be making the jump. But right now, none of the family's smart TVs support it. The choice is between "it works, but shitty" (plex) or "it doesn't work at all" (jellyfin). I WANT to make the switch, but simply cant.

          On the Apple TV, at least, there are options that work with a Jellyfin server - such as Infuse.

          Infuse has some paid add-on features, but you don't need them to watch your Jellyfin content.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by flink ( 18449 )

          I believe Jellyfin has a plugin that makes it a DLNA server, which most smart playback devices can interact with. It's usually not as rich of a UI as a dedicated client can provide, but it gets the job done.

          • DLNA is an absolute shitshow. To say it's not as "rich of a UI" is a complete understatement. Yeah the last time we ran a story on Plex someone recommended Jellyfin and I gave it a try. Try is all I could because after spending a weekend on it I couldn't get it working reliably with my TV and went back to using the Plex app.

            Jellyfin needs a decent front end and needs to be pushed to the app stores of several smart TV manufacturers. The backend already seems to be quite decent.

        • What's your TV OS?
          There are clients for Android TV and WebOS (which I use).
          Additionally there are clients for desktop OSs, Roku, Android and IOS.
          Works great.

    • How is it that you have never heard of Kodi? It's 6-7 years older than Plex depending on whether you count from when it was XBMP (from which it changed quite a bit) or when it was XBMC (which it is immediately recognizable as a rebrand of.)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dargaud ( 518470 )
      I came here to say that. I have a well curated media library, all organized, and Plex makes a complete mess of it, I can't find anything with it and it shows prominently always the same files (I have no idea why). I currently use VLC because I can navigate the DLNA directories, but it's very basic (only filenames are shown, srt files are often ignored...). Looking for a better solution that has no outside access.

      • You can setup Jellyfin on a raspberry pi server. Then you can use VLC on any device that supports VLC to watch the content. You can also use a Firestick connected to a TV to access Jellyfin.

        Works pretty good for watching local content. If you Internet enable the server, it also shows you descriptions of your individual files. It's like having your own personal streaming service.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by dargaud ( 518470 )
          Thanks for the recommendation. Just tried it over the WE. The are plenty of videos it thinks are Batman (!?! the series), and it launches tens of ffprobe processes on my server for hours on end, bringing the server to its knees. I'll have to spend more time to tune it up, but so far I'm not impressed.

          • Hmm. Interesting. I did have an occasional wrong name on some files but none of the other problems you mention. This was a couple of years ago I was using mine, so maybe things have changed and not for the best?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by lsllll ( 830002 )

      I paid for the lifetime Plex subscription many years ago and can tell you Plex is not what you want for local viewing. It's way too bloated and does too many things. For all my local media viewing at home, I use Kodi on all devices, just because I love directories and subdirectories and hate searching with metadata.

      • I hate browsing and organizing because it's really a waste of time. Search that works is essential because I have 10k's of all sorts of media categorized only by movies, documentaries, courseware, TV, and music.
    • Exactly. Fuck streaming content and ad bullshit. I paid for a fucking lifetime license for a promise of no ads that it would be this and not change. "Not all motion is progress."

  • About time (Score:4, Funny)

    by BetterSense ( 1398915 ) on Friday November 22, 2024 @01:13PM (#64965073)
    My number one frustration with Plex has been that's constantly shoving me recommendations and content from online sources, and that it's impossible to distinguish between a file that's on my own server, or some file they are shoving at me from some online source when I didn't ask them to do that.

    If this app redesign at least makes it visually possible to distinguish between media on my own server vs. from other sources, it will be a step in the right direction. But what I really want is a switch that just TURNS OFF all online content completely. I 100% only want to use Plex to access my own media on my own server. That's all I want. I want an option to TURN OFF EVERYTHING except the one thing I want to use Plex for: accessing media on my own server, and disable everything else.

    Plex, are you listening? Many of your users just want to use Plex to access their own media on their own servers. That's what Plex is good at. That's the niche you fill. Stop trying to be a new Roku or a new streaming content aggregator, we already have those. We are already paying you for a subscription to your service, stop ignoring us and shoving spam at us. I'll even pay $5 more to bribe you with a "premium subscription" that REMOVES FUNCTIONALITY I DON'T WANT, such as DOING LITERALLY ANYTHING BUT HELPING ME ACCESS MY OWN MEDIA ON MY OWN SERVER.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dstwins ( 167742 )
      I think their changes are going to do that, to better distinguish content that YOU OWN, vs. Content that you are capable of streaming vs. Content that you may want to purchase. This way the MPAA won't come breathing down their necks because there is a clear (I suspect hard) separation between those two buckets..

    • I gave up on Plex several years ago because every update seemed primarily designed to drive you harder towards their paid "features", which few people care about. That's their right as developers, but I'm not obligated to buy into their system when all I want is to watch my own content from my own server.

      Jellyfin works fine.

      • Their hard-on for pushing new paid features is driving people away. I've had to remove all of the stupid "On Plex" options multiple times from the app on my parents' tv. I assume they're magically being reset every time there is an update. How convenient (for Plex, not users).

        I agree, Jellyfin works fine and does 99% of what Plex does.

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      But what I really want is a switch that just TURNS OFF all online content completely. I 100% only want to use Plex to access my own media on my own server. That's all I want. I want an option to TURN OFF EVERYTHING except the one thing I want to use Plex for: accessing media on my own server, and disable everything else.

      Sounds like a skill issue on your part. These settings have existed for years now as part of your Plex account controls. You just need to disable everything on this screen [app.plex.tv] to remove ad-supported content. I believe that will cover the search function on apps, too. But if it doesn't you can correct that by changing the search setting on the client itself by going to the preferences on the far right [imgur.com] of the search bar and uncheck everything below the heading "On Plex". These same controls exist on TV/streamer c

      • I did pursue this. I just logged into that page and every single option is already disabled. But it doesn't work; plex still pushes me shit I don't want.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by SeaFox ( 739806 )

          You're gonna need to be more precise in your description of what you are doing and seeing than "pushes shit I don't want" if you really have disabled all the Online Content. If you have any features whose sole purpose is to recommend content (like Discover or Rentals) pinned to the left sidebar, make sure you unpin those, too.

    • But what I really want is a switch that just TURNS OFF all online content completely.

      Here you go [kodi.tv].

      The only value to Plex is the online stuff, which is more polished than most Kodi plugins.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by redshirt ( 95023 )

      I downloaded the preview. They did away with the left side dropdown menu. Now there is just a menu on the bottom. Four choices: "Home", "My Libraries", "Live TV", "Discover"

      I've been fiddling with it a bit. Seems like an improvement to me.

      Content download doesn't work. It just says "Unable to queue download". I haven't tried to debug yet.

    • My number one frustration with Plex has been that's constantly shoving me recommendations and content from online sources, and that it's impossible to distinguish between a file that's on my own server, or some file they are shoving at me from some online source when I didn't ask them to do that.

      There's probably big differences between apps, but for me at least the "Discover" option is the one where I get these worthless recommendations. I have simply unpinned everything from my home screen except for the libraries from my local Plex server so I never see any recommendations anymore beyond what I have in my library.

    • Same. They're purposefully enshittifying and taking good things away so they justify making more changes.

  • I frequently have to switch back to VLC because PLEX can't handle shit. It's at the point where it's barely used because of how bad it is. Their delineation claim sounds like an outright lie. It tries to re-enable their commercial trash at every update.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tippen ( 704534 )
      What player are you using? Curious, because I never have problems with Plex being able to play anything on my server...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by waspleg ( 316038 )

        The PLEX client on a Firestick. It says unable to decode and various errors all the time, I just look it up in VLC from the network share and it's fine.

    • I have yet to find a media that my PLEX server and clients won't play. Not really sure what you've got going on. In fact, my Plex server is using hardware decode on an Nvidia GPU so I can run multiple 4k streams at once to several Android TV clients throughout the house, including one hooked up to a proper surround sound setup that does passthrough of Dolby TrueHD / Atmos or DTS Master Audio just fine.

  • Just as long as they don't forget that some of us only have Plex BECAUSE we only consume our own content and nothing else. And don't make the default UI experience after updating into a game of whack-a-mole all the "features" they're trying force on us.

  • Plex Watchlist experience (Score:3)

    by Mirnotoriety ( 10462951 ) on Friday November 22, 2024 @01:57PM (#64965179)
    Do you mean Plex watching my viewing habits and sells that to the advertisers, who force feed me advertisements.

    • You mean the hardware and movies you get for free has to somehow be paid for? Unbelievable! The nerve of some people.

      • You mean the hardware and movies you get for free has to somehow be paid for? Unbelievable! The nerve of some people.

        No one wants the free shit Plex offers. No one has ever wanted it. Then they started pushing shit like Tidal and then tying in a bunch of ad supported streaming crap that no one asked for. They simply got greedy because I guess they don't make enough money off of lifetime and monthly passes.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by SeaFox ( 739806 )

          Have you disabled the free shit Plex offers yet? It's literally a few checkboxes in the settings.

          There seems to be a big overlap in the Venn diagram between people who complain about the presence of the ad-supported content and people who don't disable it. I'm looking at the web interface to my server now and I see no content that is Plex-supplied at all on the Home tab, and I don't even have that stuff disabled. I just have the sources unpinned on this particular computer.

  • Who legitimately wants this shit? Does anyone actually use Plex's ad supported streaming options? The only time I've ever seen anyone use them is because they searched for something and didn't know the difference between what is locally available vs what is "free" via a shitload of ads (and probably metrics).

    I've been running Plex and Jellyfin in parallel for quite some time. It may be time to just shut down Plex.

  • Yet another story about how Plex is supposed to be better than something something something. I bought an Emby Lifetime Premier subscription and lo and behold, an IPTV plug-in that works pretty well, you know, the way Plex used to work 5 or 6 years ago but doesn't now. As soon as someone notices Plex trying to do any more shady crap I'm moving on to Emby full time. They lost my heart and mind years ago. I hardly believe that they're trying to "make it better". They're trying to make their company "more

  • What's with all these comments about can't tell if it's local or elsewhere? The only place that happens is the home page, one you select your library section "movies", "TV shows", Etc, you have only your own media. I don't find it confusing at all.

    • More than that, you can disable the crap you don't own, and remove it from the pinned sections on the left so you never see it.

      If people spent 30 seconds learning how to use something rather than 4 seconds and then running to bitch on the internet, they'd probably have less to bitch about.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sirket ( 60694 )

        Seriously, I'm reading these threads and keep asking myself "Are these people even using Plex? Or do they literally have no idea at all how to configure their account settings and client sidebars?"

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by samdu ( 114873 )

      Ditto. I've never had an issue determining what's local and what's Plex Streaming.

    • I think you're seeing the result of Plex varying significantly between set top boxes and the telephone app. Having recently attempting to use plex on my phone I discovered at least in my case I can't even find my owned material.

      One size does not fit all in this discussion, at least in my experience.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sirket ( 60694 )

        Are you using a flip phone from 2002? Because when I use the Plex app from my phone it's all right there- front and center.

  • Going Legit (Score:3)

    by awwshit ( 6214476 ) on Friday November 22, 2024 @03:12PM (#64965331)

    > Going Legit

    Because managing media that you own on your own system places you into 'illegitimate' by default.

    • Not by default, but by observation. The vast majority of Plex servers are serving illegitimate pirated content. That's just a simple fact, and thanks to Plex hoovering your data they know this as well.

      Are you one of the few people who legitimately own the license to 100% of the content on your own media server? Then good for you. But don't pretend you are the "normal" use case.

    • If you ask major media rights holding organizations, then yes. Any local media you have may be pirated, and they need to be able to check it before allowing you to play it. According to them, a media player needs to enforce that to be legit.

      As a consequence, open-source media players are by definition non-legit, because an user can rip out any license checks.

      • https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/... [eff.org]

        While RIAA will threaten you (they want you to pay an SCMS tax and be limited to hobbled devices to protect their business by law):

        It’s OK to copy music onto an analog cassette (not for commercial purposes), it’s OK to copy music onto special audio CD-Rs, minidisks and digital tapes (but again not for commercial purposes). Beyond that there’s no legal “right” to copy the copyrighted music on a CD onto a CD-R, but burning a copy onto a CD-R or transferring a copy onto a computer hard drive or portable music player won’t usually raise concerns so long as the copy is made from an authorized original CD that you legitimately own and the copy is just for your personal use.

        Noncommercial use is protected, including format-shifting for personal use.
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org].

  • The way to become a legit company is to push ads into everyone's faces and steal and sell all of their users' usage info and library metadata. Can't wait for this new legit corporate version of Plex. And to those asking yes they are listening, they know what we want and you want and I want is to just see our own local files but they don't give 2 shits about that because only heavy ad pimpage and data theft will make them more money at this point.

  • Kodi (Score:2)

    by malx ( 7723 )

    For those here complaining that all they want is to watch their own media from their own server, may I suggest you check out Kodi https://kodi.tv/ [kodi.tv] ?
    It does just that, and in my experience very well.

    Plex and Emby and Jellyfin are for streaming content. Do you even want streaming?

    If you just want a 10-foot media player for content on your own NAS/local server, that's where Kodi excels.

    I don't mean the dodgy "Kodi boxes" you see sold on Ebay (occasionally) and certain shady online stores. These come with not j

    • I want something that allows me to stream my own material also when I am outside my home network. Plex enables me to do that, and I used it very much to my advantage while in a recent work-related hotel stay. I don't think the other players in this space can do so.
  • It's great if you have a lot of content to rewatch, but I just stream all new stuff for free which makes Plex pointless.

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