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Television

Plex Wants To Become the First App You Open on Your TV Every Day (protocol.com) 108

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
Plex has an audacious plan to become the daily go-to app for everyone's streaming needs: The media center app rolled out new universal search, watchlist and discovery features Tuesday that are designed to help people find and keep track of all of the shows and movies available across a growing universe of streaming services. From a report: "The app dance, going from app to app to find something to watch, just doesn't make any sense," said Plex's senior product and design director, Jason Williams. Instead, Williams hopes that people will just open Plex to browse everything that's new on various streaming services, and then follow deep links to directly launch playback on Netflix, Hulu or anywhere else. "You're going to open up Plex every day," Williams said. "It's going to be your trusted source." Universal search and discovery have long been a holy grail for the streaming industry, but efforts by platform operators to integrate these types of features directly into the smart TV home screen have been held back by industry power struggles. Plex hopes it can avert some of those issues, and is betting on the ingenuity of its power users to help out along the way. In addition to universal search and a universal watchlist across multiple streaming services as well as personal media, Plex is also launching a dedicated discovery section in its app that highlights new titles on Netflix and other services.
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Plex Wants To Become the First App You Open on Your TV Every Day

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  • Hulu hubs has the same feature, so does Amazon FIreStick. Both allow you to manage other subscriptions through their portals. I use my firestick to watch local TV on a WiFI connection, all the channels no cables.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Mascot ( 120795 )

      Not everyone has those services/devices. Nor are they even available in much of the world.

      A globally available platform agnostic application offering the same functionality is a win in my book.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by suutar ( 1860506 )

      Interesting. I use Roku as my main media box, and as far as I'm aware it doesn't do this (oh, it can look things up, but it doesn't have a list of things I like). I do have the Plex app on it, so this might be useful for me...

      • I've noticed that Roku is slowly and steadily building in such capability, to search for a bit of content and be presented with the myriad viewing/streaming options, and then sometimes the ability to launch the specific channel ( app in Roku parlance) to bring that content to the screen.

        • I've noticed that Roku is slowly and steadily building in such capability, to search for a bit of content and be presented with the myriad viewing/streaming options

          Roku's search is good. Browsing is still a problem and I don't know Roku has tried to address that. If Plex let's me browse all my subscribed services, that'd be nice.

          OTOH, Netflix, for example, keeps trying to make the browse experience better. I know some might hate the previews when you select an item, it's kind of handy at times.

          • I've gone onto Netflix website to permanently disable the auto preview, it is a setting that is only accessible from the web page interface. I'm one of those who don't care for the little running trailer while I'm browsing. And I agree, Roku browsing is a work in progress; I think they are playing catch up after spending most of the past decade simply offering a giant sandbox for channels/apps and being egalitarian toward all content providers. Now they are jumping into originating content, it will be inter

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Guyle ( 79593 )
      Fire Sticks only integrate with a few apps - for instance, it doesn't recognize DirecTV Stream as a live TV provider, but it does recognize the stuff from Plex. If Plex truly integrates EVERYTHING into one place, without cherry picking, then this will be bomb.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Skapare ( 16644 )

        maybe they are demanding payment from other providers ... in rubles.

      • The only service I've found that works with DTV Stream is Channels DVR. Plex shows DirecTV as a provider, but not DTV Stream
    • The Amazon Fire TV Stick is a cool piece of kit to be sure - I like mine a lot.

      But it's very frustrating that it doesn't have an option to just "show me what I get at no additional charge."

      My home screen is full of content/channels which isn't included in my subscriptions.
    • Worthless if you don't run your subs through them. Also Amazon's features are terrible, your amazon content is not itself searchable or even listed under 'free stuff', it is just a giant long ribbon of content... potentially hundreds of movies. They also try to trick you by separating out 4k entries from the rest of content.

      Amazon and Hulu are only two of the apps. Both also sometimes have ad-supported content which should be deprioritized.

    • So instead of a different app, I need a different device? That's a shitty solution.

      Plex already runs on practically everything, so implementing this through an app I already use is nice. I don't care if they are "first" because I'm not throwing away my Nvidia Shield TV in order to spend more money on a lesser device for media playback. Or, in the case of my home theater TV which already runs Android TV / Google TV (whatever they are calling it this week), I don't want to add another device which makes it

  • No thanks (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by WaffleMonster ( 969671 )

    Kodi is the only app on my TV.

  • I routinely remove all their streaming shit from the menus every time I update the server and they add it back. Lifetime membership, I'm only interested in my own shit, thanks.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Junta ( 36770 )

      The moment Plex went down this path, I went off to Jellyfin (well, Emby at the time, but now Jellyfin when Emby started down a similar path)

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Kokuyo ( 549451 )

        Same story here.

        Also I don't even run Jellyfin on Android TV dirctly, because the interface is ass.

        I still use a little passively cooled box I built. Used to have windows on it, now kubuntu. Got decoding on iGPU working and the little dual core Pentium now gladly does 4k for me. The Sony Bravia from 2020 does not get networking and is put in its proper place as a dumb display.

        Between ripping the physical media and piratebay I have total control over what the kids watch and nobody gets data about it.

        I also b

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by ibpooks ( 127372 )

      It's getting really fucking obnoxious. Every update they add more and more bloat and rearrange the UI.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Mascot ( 120795 )

      I assume you're talking about "Live TV" and similar crap? If so, you should consider contacting their support, because I disabled most of that ages ago and can't say I've noticed any of it showing back up following an update.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by waspleg ( 316038 )

        Yes, but I'm running it off a Synology NAS, and manually installing the updated packages (the "official" version is an old as fuck beta so the built in update doesn't work) so it could be Synology doing it, to be fair.

        • The Docker version is up to date. Are you not using Docker with Syncology?

        • Don't have a Synology, so I don't know if it runs Docker or not, but the Plex-published Docker container will update itself on restart, but keeps your settings and library indexes on a volume so they are unaffected. A container restart to update is as easy as it gets, and doesn't appear to change anything settings-wise.

  • I'm having dotcom flashbacks (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Powercntrl ( 458442 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @01:20PM (#62419942) Homepage

    Wasn't that the big craze back in the early dotcom boom? Attempt to create the best content aggregator portal that everyone would want to set as their homepage (because it has everything and the kitchen sink on it), and watch those ad revenue dollars come rolling in. We know how that went.

    Personally, I can't stand 10-foot UIs that insist on cramming every last inch of the screen with links to content from streaming services I don't subscribe to, and auto-playing trailers for shit I have no interest in watching. Kodi gets it right. It's simple, no-nonsense, and I can go directly to watching exactly what I want to watch. Yet again, sailing the high seas provides the best user experience.

    • I can't stand 10-foot UIs that insist on cramming every last inch of the screen with links to content from streaming services I don't subscribe to

      You select the services you want to see when you log in. If you don't have Disney+ and don't want recommendations from it, you don't select it.

      • You select the services you want to see when you log in. If you don't have Disney+ and don't want recommendations from it, you don't select it.

        I guess I don't really want recommendations from anyone though. Even when I'm in a service I use, I ignore everything it wants to shove at me.

        • So use the Library view rather than the Recommended view. Or just open VLC and pick a file from your folders. It's not rocket science.
        • I do because it is how you find new content but most of them are terrible because they refuse to let you categorize properly... especially netflix. I don't want to prioritize netflix content and I do want to deprioritize foreign film and political special interest content. Why can't they just respect that?
      • My question is how will they handle their conflict of interest. Since plex offers ad supported 'free' crap will they properly prioritize ad-free variants over it? Will it prioritize free AND owned streams over unowned and non-free (I don't want another app recommending purchases) will the the service be smart enough to recognize format availability and prioritize higher quality audio/video streams or provide options flexible enough to let me choose what to prioritize?
        • It works more like JustWatch right now. It's just telling you it's available on a service and sends you to the correct site/app(direct to the show/movie if allowed). It's not direct streaming through Plex unless Plex offers it and you select it. Here's an example. [imgur.com]
          • Ah, yeah there are already a few things which do this. For those of us with nvidia shield the shield search function does this already.

            With Plex I'd like it to have intelligence regarding my streaming library just like my local videos. Using deep links to play it with that service is fine.
            • Deep linking works, but not every service supports it(it works with HBO Max and Pluto on Android at least, doesn't work with TNT/TBS)

    • "We know how that went."

      It basically turned into Google. Instead of assembling everything right on a homepage, Google aggregated everything into a well-designed search engine.

      That's not too far off from what Plex is doing here. They're integrating the search function to work on your own content and across other services, and it gets pretty clever by knowing that you have, say, Stranger Things on your server. The search returns Stranger Things and shows you your options for watching it.

      I thought it would be

  • Hate Plex - I switched to Jellyfin last year (Score:5, Informative)

    by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @01:27PM (#62419968)

    The really annoying thing about Plex is this local app, streaming local content, requires your log in be processed through their remote server! It's beyond annoying to not be able to watch MY movies because there's some network interruption between my house and their server.

    There are (pain in the butt) work-arounds for Plex on some platforms; but on others (e.g. Apple TV) this remote login process is the only option.

    Jellyfin works pretty much the same as Plex, having forked from the same code base at some point in the past. But everything is strictly local. If my TV has power, and my media server has power, I can watch my shows. What a futuristic concept!

    • The really annoying thing about Plex is this local app, streaming local content, requires your log in be processed through their remote server! It's beyond annoying to not be able to watch MY movies because there's some network interruption between my house and their server.

      Are you sure about this?

      A friend of mine has his own plex server at home, and just gives out his user/pass to family and friends that want to watch the content on his server...and this works also on Apple TV.

      I don't know that there is

      • Yes, that is the main reason I stopped using it.
        They started requiring you to login into their servers even if you were only accessing local stuff.
        There is also the scanning of whats being played and sending that data to the advertisers and relevant law enforcement officials.

        • You have a source for your claim about "law enforcement officials"? Because that's a pretty big allegation to throw out there without having something to back it up.

          • Sections 5, 6, and 27 of the ToS along with the privacy policy pretty much covers it.
            They can scan your stuff, if they do and find something 'illegal', and if required by US law, they must report it to law enforcement.

            • Ok, that looks to be a standard CYA boiler plate legal indemnification to get out of kiddie porn charges. How on earth would Plex know that you don't have license to format-shift video under Supreme Court recognized fair use doctrine?

              Seems like spreading FUD to me.

      • Are you sure about this?

        Yes. Your friend can easily verify this by disconnecting his wifi router from the internet (turn off the cable modem, for instance) and then trying to watch Plex on his Apple TV.

        We get power failures multiple times a year - often enough that we've bought a huge battery backup device that can run our TV, lights, the lightweight streaming server (an old Mac Mini), etc. Plex will not work if it can't contact their remote servers. It's ridiculous. There's no good reason for this if you're only watching your own

    • You don't need to log in. You can whitelist whatever IPs/subnets you want. It's not a "pain in the butt workaround", it's literally putting an IP or a subnet in a text box.
    • No it doesn't - Plex works perfectly fine without internet access - I've used it many times without internet without any issues.
    • I tried Plex several years ago but all of the heavy lifting had to be done by my Synology NAS 1511+ (still runs like a top) which couldn't transcode HD content without issues. I have stuck with one product for more than a decade to stream my locally stored content and that is an HDI Dune player. Rock solid performance, handles just about any audio format you can throw at it, full blu-ray menu support and does all of the heavy lifting.The interface has been improved upon somewhat but has remained consistent

    • To be pedantic, Jellyfin was forked from Emby, not Plex.

      But yeah, there's no need to pay for Plex when Jellyfin does most of what it does.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dohzer ( 867770 )

      Is Plex the system where you need two computers (server and client) to do what Windows Media Centre used to do on its own? I gave up trying to set it up when I was told I needed a server. I just wanted to run it on one media PC.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by nagora ( 177841 )

      The really annoying thing about Plex is this local app, streaming local content, requires your log in be processed through their remote server! I

      My copy doesn't.

    • Jellyfin is also terrible; had to get rid of it. UI is also garbage.

  • Situation - There are 14 competing TV apps.

    "14!? Ridiculous! We need to develop one universal TV app that cover's everyone's use cases!"

    Soon: Situation - There are 15 competing TV apps.

  • All about data collection (Score:3)

    by tekram ( 8023518 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @01:36PM (#62420014)
    Plex may say they don't explicitly collect users filename data but all the efforts they put in metadata collection and setting up proxy and authentication servers as requirements to play any local content tells everyone that they are collecting data from metadata requests.

  • can it do a text search over all the closed captions? i want to find any soon or ready to play movie where anyone says a certain phrase.

  • Since I do not have a TV, this is just one more piece of crap I can completely ignore!

    • Since I do not have a TV, this is just one more piece of crap I can completely ignore!

      You could, but you didn't and instead came here to tell us you don't watch TV.

      Incidentally, that's also why I'm here.

  • I don't have any apps on my TV, you insensitive clod!

  • I don’t have a TV, you insensitive clod!!

  • On purpose, and for as long as I can keep it that way.

    • All my TVs are dumb. On purpose, and for as long as I can keep it that way.

      I submit that the pedantry misses the goal being discussed.

      Even if the TV runs some nominal ROM to decode the output of HDMI 1/2/3/4 and alter brightness and contrast, you need something plugged into it. Is it a Roku? Plex's stated goal is that you use the Plex app on Roku to watch whatever else you're looking to watch. Whether it's live TV using a tuner card or free Crackle content or a paid Hulu show or, yes, something from the Plex server camping out on your LAN, the stated goal is that Plex is your firs

  • I believe the benefit of Plex is that it is more a central streaming hub that multiple devices can connect to while Kodi is not.

    But running a small computer + Kodi on my TV has been great, and there are numerous plugins, legitimate or otherwise, for IPTV support, commercial streaming services, etc. I have no need for a "smart tv".

    • " I have no need for a "smart tv"."

      Exactly, I use a small laptop and it can do anything anybody could want on the big monitor.
      And you can use a decent back-lighted couch-keyboard and mice instead of looking like an idiot waving a remote around to enter text.

  • We need to be able to chose the TVOS that runs on our TVs.

  • That is basically Roku's strategy. You can log on via your phone, your computer, a Roku TV, or any device that has a Roky stick plugged into it.

  • Great! (Score:2)

    by PPH ( 736903 )

    Can they do something about my round CRT? Also, I've heard that color TV is just around the corner. Will Plex be of any help?

  • The issue is everyone having their own subscription platform whereby if you only want one show you still have to pay for all the other crap that service offers.
    • Still way better than the model where you have to subscribe to a pack of 40 cable channels to watch one show.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Netflix could have been the greatest thing since sliced bread if they could just have offered everything for a tenner a month. As soon as the various media companies decided that they had to have their own services, the Pirate Bay won on convenience and service.

      • The Pirate Bay will always win, because people will always come up with a justification for using it.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          In my case some of the stuff I want to watch isn't even available here, you literally can't pay for it even if you want to.

  • Installed on True NAS core, setup the jail, started Plex, signed in, downloaded android app, signed in and found i could only play 1min of one of my home videos on my network unless I made an in app purchase. WTF? Uninstaller android app, will remove plex tomorrow.

  • My have a TV with Roku built in. I use Plex to view movies I've ripped and host only on my local network. That's all I want Plex to do-- host the movies I own for my use.

  • ...of walled gardens, the one with the overview of all the gardens is King.

  • Well that's gonna age like Milk... (Score:3)

    by MindPrison ( 864299 ) on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @04:14PM (#62420594) Journal

    Why?

    Because you still have to pay for 3-10 subscription services to get any use out of it, and by then you're not the average joe but someone who can afford 10 subscriptions or/and are willing to fork out 150-200$ on a monthly basis for being able to search for the right movie.

    One thing is to find it - the other thing is when it's behind YET another subscription streaming service. One day they're gonna learn this.

  • Meaning it is either stuff i've already seen, or pop-culture crap I have no interest in.

    Now if they looked through MY movie and tv collection (which they have) and then used a little AI, they might come up with things I might actually watch.

    But for now, it is just throwing at me links to the garbage I don't want to see. I'm not on those services for the 'trending' stuff, outside of MCU/StarWars on D+.

  • How much do you need to spend on streaming services before it starts making sense to pay for Plex?

  • Never heard of it... US != world... EU != world too...

  • what the hell is a TV?

  • I think this will hinge on how good the UI is for users, including how well it handles multiple sources. If I can see something for free from a friend, then I don't want the default option to be to rent/buy from one of your partners that pays you as an affiliate.

    And it needs to be kid/elderly use capable. That means controls on buying things. Maybe even setting a budget (you get $20/month).

    This could be a really neat option. Like Roku plus, or without the need to buy their streamer...

    I wonder how long u

  • I'd guess that no one can write a good single-user no-NAS, no webpage, application to record TV and playback video. I just want a piece of software, not a elaborate system. There's VLC for streaming; there's OBS for Webcam, but there's nothing that I can hook my barely supported, rotting Huappage WinTV to and record some on-air digital video with. Sigh.
  • You can't even create a playlist, watch a few episodes of it, go watch something else for a while, and then come back to the original playlist and pick up where you left off. Netflix figured this out, what, a decade ago?

  • "The app dance, going from app to app to find something to watch, just doesn't make any sense,"

    I totally agree. I switch on my TV and I browse the online guide. What do I need an app for to browse the online guide?

  • PLEX is losing track of why they even have paying customers in the first place. My Smart TV does the multi-platforms content search quite well ,thank you very much. I no longer care for other platforms' content when I open PLEX; I want to browse and then stream my local content FAST and with no excuses for transcoding especially on LAN.
  • I use plex, but honestly the interface sucks donkey testicles (and not in a good way), transcoding is balls and it is overall clunky. No way in hell is it becoming the first app I open, usually it is the last option if I can't find content I want elsewhere.

  • Plex doesn't just get to declare themselves to be a "trusted source". There is no trust there in my book. Most of that crap will get disabled minutes or hours after it gets installed. And it will certainly get disabled or removed the first time it gets in my way.

  • I initially purchased Plex so I could watch media from my server while travelling but then I discovered it supported OTA with additional hardware so i purchased an HDHomeRun, hooked it up to an outside antenna, and I couldn't be happier with the experience. Not only do I get a guide that's like what you'd get with a satellite or cable service, I can record shows that air over antenna. I'm in Canada, close to upstate New York so I get about 42 or so stations all in, ranging from the primary networks like Fox

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