Is Plex still a thing?

whitecrook · 30 Jul 2026 at 09:43

iamgigglz said:
If you're even slightly open to the idea of trying again I would recommend it; Plex has made some seemingly mindless choices in recent years but they have also improved the general app experience immensely.

for a lot of people plex doesn't solve any problem, but only adds complexity to things. He just wants to watch a film, you dont need plex for that.

iamgigglz · 30 Jul 2026 at 10:13

whitecrook said:
for a lot of people plex doesn't solve any problem, but only adds complexity to things. He just wants to watch a film, you dont need plex for that.

Agreed, although I often find myself using plex rather than streaming services just to dodge ads.

whitecrook · 30 Jul 2026 at 10:42

iamgigglz said:
Agreed, although I often find myself using plex rather than streaming services just to dodge ads.

that makes no sense, what do you mean ?

Tavis75 · 30 Jul 2026 at 10:48

whitecrook said:
that makes no sense, what do you mean ?

Most of the streaming services these days have ads (unless you pay), if you're watching your own films on Plex, you don't get ads.

whitecrook · 30 Jul 2026 at 11:21

Tavis75 said:
Most of the streaming services these days have ads (unless you pay), if you're watching your own films on Plex, you don't get ads.

Yes but you can watch your own films without plex and still get no ads. I was confused as to why he mentioned using plex to avoid the ads, as if plex had some kind of magic within.

iamgigglz · 30 Jul 2026 at 11:35

What Tavis said.
A problem we've encountered is when a show like Taskmaster is rated 18+ because of the odd four letter word, it opens the door for some properly disturbing trailer ads for horror films. My young son has...let's say a healthy relationship with bad language, but the horror ads will give him nightmares for a week.

whitecrook said:
Yes but you can watch your own films without plex

I have a Netflix subscription and Sky Ultimate TV but not Sky Cinema, so if a movie/show isn't on Netflix I either have to pay for it separately or sit through ads.

whitecrook · 30 Jul 2026 at 12:41

iamgigglz said:
What Tavis said.
A problem we've encountered is when a show like Taskmaster is rated 18+ because of the odd four letter word, it opens the door for some properly disturbing trailer ads for horror films. My young son has...let's say a healthy relationship with bad language, but the horror ads will give him nightmares for a week.

Yeah. Ads suck. I avoid ads on principle.

I have a Netflix subscription and Sky Ultimate TV but not Sky Cinema, so if a movie/show isn't on Netflix I either have to pay for it separately or sit through ads.

OK great. Still not sure what you meant by the comment. It doesn't really matter though...

> although I often find myself using plex rather than streaming services just to dodge ads.

Only thing is are you using 'plex' to mean 'my own movies' in the same way people use 'WIFI' to mean 'internet'

iamgigglz · 30 Jul 2026 at 12:55

whitecrook said:
Only thing is are you using 'plex' to mean 'my own movies' in the same way people use 'WIFI' to mean 'internet'

I though it went without saying but yes, by "Using Plex" I mean using Plex to watch my own movies and series.

whitecrook · 30 Jul 2026 at 12:57

iamgigglz said:
I though it went without saying but yes, by "Using Plex" I mean using Plex to watch my own movies and series.

I dunno what happened. I think i got confused with the poster you replied to edscsk and got my knickers in an almighty twist. lol. no wonder it made no sense.

edscdk · 31 Jul 2026 at 08:26

iamgigglz said:
If you're even slightly open to the idea of trying again I would recommend it; Plex has made some seemingly mindless choices in recent years but they have also improved the general app experience immensely.

might have to as im now back on the bay after possibly 10 years clean!

iamgigglz · 31 Jul 2026 at 08:54

edscdk said:
might have to as im now back on the bay after possibly 10 years clean!

russ9898 · 17 Aug 2026 at 18:24

My biggest gripe with Plex is the new UI on the Firestick app, I really cant gel with it at all. I have been recommended Plezy as an alternate way to consume content from my Plex server however whilst its far from terrible, you can tell its still relatively under developed in its current state.

picnic · 18 Aug 2026 at 09:15

I can't believe they released it, it crashes on me regularly while using the live TV menus, jumps to the wrong places. Thanks for the mention of Plezy, I'll take a look.

russ9898 · 18 Aug 2026 at 09:21

picnic said:
I can't believe they released it, it crashes on me regularly while using the live TV menus, jumps to the wrong places. Thanks for the mention of Plezy, I'll take a look.

It's certainly worth a nosey, the biggest issue I have identified so far is that if I try to play 4k content on a 1080p TV, it often plays in an incorrect aspect ratio Vs the Plex app, despite its other numerous flaws does manage to play in the correct ratio

Double07 · 18 Aug 2026 at 11:53

I use it via my Shield Pro and its very rarely anything other than...... well fine, which is what I want. It does help that I bought a lifetime pass donkeys years ago so I've certainly had value from it.

Dirk Diggler · 18 Aug 2026 at 12:20

Have any of you tried using a different server to access the same library with any success?

russ9898 · 18 Aug 2026 at 13:51

For those disappointed with the new Plex UI, we may be in luck.

Plex reverts TV app layout after intense user backlash

Facing heavy criticism over a "tedious" UI redesign, Plex is rolling back changes to its TV app layout. Here is what is returning.

www.neowin.net

cokecan · 20 Aug 2026 at 14:30

Living and working in tech, I tend to keep up to date with stuff like this but honestly, I had no idea there was even a new UI being pushed for Plex, let alone the fact they've reversed it as per the link above! lol I've been a Plex user for eons, with lifetime Plex pass. For me, it's been one of the most robust and reliable things I've ever used. Literally the Plex Server app gets no attention bar the occasional update applied via the Shield Pro Plex app when prompted, and just sits there 24/7 dishing out content when needed. Even the Plex app on the Shield has been damn reliable for me and my family also. It's a part of daily life and has been for years. I am surprised to hear of so many people having issues with any of this. I'm sure there are valid reasons for all of it, or perhaps I've just lucky, but it's one of them things I don't even think about anymore. I turn the TV on, Plex TV is usually already open, I select what I want to watch and done.

Jimbeam3678 · 20 Aug 2026 at 14:47

cokecan said:
Living and working in tech, I tend to keep up to date with stuff like this but honestly, I had no idea there was even a new UI being pushed for Plex, let alone the fact they've reversed it as per the link above! lol I've been a Plex user for eons, with lifetime Plex pass. For me, it's been one of the most robust and reliable things I've ever used. Literally the Plex Server app gets no attention bar the occasional update applied via the Shield Pro Plex app when prompted, and just sits there 24/7 dishing out content when needed. Even the Plex app on the Shield has been damn reliable for me and my family also. It's a part of daily life and has been for years. I am surprised to hear of so many people having issues with any of this. I'm sure there are valid reasons for all of it, or perhaps I've just lucky, but it's one of them things I don't even think about anymore. I turn the TV on, Plex TV is usually already open, I select what I want to watch and done.

I'd agree mostly, however the plex client on Apple TV struggles with large 4K/HDR content. Thats where the infuse app earns it license fee.

Klunt Bumskrint · 20 Aug 2026 at 15:48

My LGC8 now has this persistent bug where the Home section is empty. Not on my C2 though. It's really quite annoying, I've reset the tv, reinstalled the app. I have to unpin and repin a library to fix it. Can't see them updating that app anymore though.