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Official Plex App Now Available for New Apple TV
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With all the lack of plex support I've been hearing over the past few months. I would've thought this thread to be flooded with happy users on the announcement of release.
I guess plex serves a very small percentage of users and they were just complaining about the lack of just because.
I guess plex serves a very small percentage of users and they were just complaining about the lack of just because.
If you only use Macs, AppleTV, Time Capsule, iPod/Pad/Phone and iTunes then maybe Plex is no big deal (assuming Apple fix searching on your 'Home sharing' files or you're happy using iMusic/iTunes Match) unless you just prefer the way that Plex does things (Apples Home Sharing UI is a bit underwhelming).
However, if you want to mix platforms then Plex seems to be more flexible: you can run the server on Mac, PC or Linux and stream to PC, Mac, iOS, Android, Chromecast, Raspberry Pi, Roku...
E.g. I have a linux-based PVR box running MythTV (there doesn't seem to be any high-def PVR solution for Mac in the UK) so its permanently switched on and it makes sense to keep all my media on it. There used to be an iTunes-compatible server for Linux (Firefly media server) but that kept being broken by Apple updates and now seems to be abandoned. Plex media server seems to do the trick, and has clients for (almost) everything.
Plex has a very active user forum, so I think most people go there to celebrate.. Heck, I am even part of a very active localized Plex user group on Facebook, so there are probably more of them than you think. And we have known for quite some time that Plex was on the way for the ATV4 anyway. 8)
Yes, you need a Mac, Linux box or a supported NAS device running the Plex server software.
Never been a fan of Plex. For starters I have a large iTunes Library so it's annoying to hit DRM'ed stuff that I can't play. I also don't think it's terribly consistent in how it handles media/metadata. I used Metatag to tag all my ripped media for iTunes and iTunes manages my ripped library perfectly fine. The only thing I wish is iTunes let my iTunes Library Share somehow blend in with one interface (like on my computer) instead of forcing me to go into the iTunes Library share area.
Just Handbrake your iTunes content.
You shouldn't have issues with the Handbrake metadata but you need to use the correct naming conventions,
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Does anyone familiar with the app know if it supports SIRI universal search api? That would be the feature that would be a slam dunk for installing.
I was hoping plex was going to solve my movie bifurcation issue (I have both iTunes purchased and handbrake ripped) - but basically use both the itunes Movie app (because the UI is much better) and the Home Share app (UI sucks but my kids want those ripped movies) - Is there a solution...good UI and all of my movies?
Oh well, thanx for the answer. I will keep on looking for a File Explorer kind of app for the Apple TV. This would be my killer app.
PLEX can transcode on the fly. i.e., you have a movie in a codec the ATV can't support, it can transcode it. You want to stream to your phone over the internet from your home DSL? it can downsample it to fit the bandwidth you select so as to not rape your cellular bandwidth....
IMO the main benefit would be that you don't need a computer (Itunes) to have the movies play from. You can purchase a NAS and plex can read the movies straight from there.
I haven't tested this plex app yet, although I have in the past, and from my testing I prefer the apple/itunes version even then going through the headache of encoding and adding metadata to each movie. However, plex has a huge following and I welcome competition.
I'm excited to try out this app to see how it compares to my existing setup.
Thanks for mentioning this; I'll have to take a look at it. At the very least, it would help me clear up an issue with content that was purchased with my wife's original iTunes account. Even though our computer is authorized to play it, the new AppleTV loves to tell us we need to authorize it for playback on the computer before it can be streamed.
I too have all my Movies/TV Shows in iTunes but Plex on my ATV4 is much welcomed for the simple fact that I won't have to convert w/ Handbrake anymore. To each their own.
Does this new Plex app give you the ability to use Parental Controls being that you have a Plex Pass ? I'm debating on buying a subscription
So happy
I've been using Plex on my aTV for many years, but it's always been a painful process and often needed maintenance. From a jailbroken aTV2 running Firecore to a aTV3 pointing to PlexConnect and now a native App I can just download.
And for v1.0 it looks pretty good too. Very much like the aTV4, there are some things missing, but the potential is there and I'm so pleased I picked one up from the start. I was expecting to see something after a few months, but to have SimpleX as a launch day option and the official Plex client less than a week later is brilliant.
So much misinformation about Plex in this thread, but comparing it to the Home Sharing experience is like comparing a 20 year old car to the same model bought today. Sure, they'll both play your media files on another machine, but one will be a much more pleasant experience
The key benefits of Plex for me are:
Clearly it's not a perfect solution for everyone, but after years of building a digital media library it's the best one I've found for my needs.
- no time spent re-encoding media - just copy it to the media folder
- metadata added to Plex library automatically, with posters, reviews, trailers, ratings, etc.
- similar interface across all my consumption devices, that a 3 year old can use (can also set individual accounts and tailor content to suit e.g. my 3 year old can't watch The Exorcist)
- flags to say what I've watched which can be used to split viewing across devices
- share my library (600+ films, 140+ tv shows, 20,000+ songs) with family and friends and access it remotely across any of my devices
- manage local device and cloud content through sync (only this requires PlexPass)
Hats off to the Plex Team
I've been waiting for this for a while now. I might have to cancel my iTunes Match subscription, buy a Plex Pass & manage all content through Plex now
You can create manages users in Plex Media Server. Not sure how that translates to Apple TV, but I assume it works.
Oh well, thanx for the answer. I will keep on looking for a File Explorer kind of app for the Apple TV. This would be my killer app.
FileBrowser for iOS works perfect for that. Hope they port the app to tvOS soon...