Plex Launches a New Podcasts Beta, Revamps Mobile Apps

[MacRumors]

Plex today announced the launch of Plex Podcasts, a feature that's designed to provide Plex users with an intuitive, customizable podcasts experience on any iOS device or Mac with no subscription or media server required.

According to Plex, the new Podcasts feature offers cross-platform playback, so you can begin a podcast on one device, such as your Apple TV, and then pick it up later on another device like the iPhone.

The Plex Podcasts interface displays the latest unplayed and in-progress episodes, just as Plex does for television shows and movies. Podcasts are displayed right alongside your photos, videos, music, TV shows, and more, putting all of your favorite media right in one place.

Standard podcast controls are available to control playback, and there's an option to add your own favorite podcasts that aren't already in the Plex catalog by adding the feed URL.

As with other media, Plex Podcasts is designed to enhance the podcast experience with metadata, providing users with info about each episode and related podcasts.

The feature is available on iOS, Android, Roku and the Plex web platform, with support for other devices coming in the near future. Plex also plans to add improved metadata and smart downloading in the coming weeks.

Along with Plex Podcasts, the Plex mobile apps are being overhauled to focus on a more customizable media experience. Users are able to choose the types of content they want to see, adding select categories to the Plex home screen.

Plex for iOS devices can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Plex Launches a New Podcasts Beta, Revamps Mobile Apps

 

[bLackjackj]

Meh,..looks like ever other podcast app!

 

[Mac2Crack]

I care very little about podcasts but it sounds as though a huge feature is finally coming too PLEX mobile. " Users are able to choose the types of content they want to see, adding select categories to the Plex home screen." Been waiting for this almost since its introduction.

 

[Zorn]

Little disappointed they launched this without any type of smart playback support, like silence trimming. PocketCasts and Overcast both have this and it's pretty indispensable once you've gotten used to it.

 

[iMerik]

Little disappointed they launched this without any type of smart playback support, like silence trimming. PocketCasts and Overcast both have this and it's pretty indispensable once you've gotten used to it.

Yeah, I think I'll be sticking with PocketCasts for quite a while before I'd switch over to it for podcasting even though I use Plex often.

 

[TimSHB]

On a couple of devices I had to force quit Plex and open it again in order for Podcasts to show up.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Seems they update the look quite a bit fairly frequently.

 

[Ludatyk]

On a couple of devices I had to force quit Plex and open it again in order for Podcasts to show up.

It's not showing up for me.

 

[Dave-Z]

It's not showing up for me.

Me, too. But I launched, forced quit, then launched again and it showed up.

 

[Drzed]

Me, too. But I launched, forced quit, then launched again and it showed up.

Ah good old Plex. Eternally adding rushed new features while leaving everything else half baked and full of bugs.

Have a read of the forums. Everyone is crying out for them to spend more time on developing the Apple TV app which barely gets any attention and improving the very average DVR feature....yet in last few months Plex has created a Winamp like audio player and now Podcasts.

The company has COMPLETELY lost its direction. It’s more preoccupied in adding unwanted features in a shotgun approach just to keep building its subscriber number than actually focusing and being good at something.

 

[Dave-Z]

Ah good old Plex. Eternally adding rushed new features while leaving everything else half baked and full of bugs.

[...]

The company has COMPLETELY lost its direction. It’s more preoccupied in adding unwanted features in a shotgun approach just to keep building its subscriber number than actually focusing and being good at something.

Oh I completely agree. When Plex works properly it's great, but half the time things just don't work. My biggest gripe lately is that audio goes out of sync when using commercial cutting on DVR content.

The fact that the developers don't listen to the user community is frustrating. Forced analytics reporting (i.e. spying; they removed the option to not send analytics to them). The stupid News section. DVR programming update failures. The list goes on. I've never seen a community forum so full of bug reports and frustrated users.