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Plex Is Coming To Apple TV
sfcrazy writes: Apple announced that it is turning Apple TV into a platform, opening it up for third party developers. They have already published the beta of tvOS and tvOS SDK, which developers can play with. Which means Plex is now a possibility on Apple TV. The founder of Plex said, "There is no question we will be able to offer Plex on the platform. There are multiple ways to go about it, based on the tvOS SDK we now have access to. We are now evaluating the best path for Plex and will begin work in earnest once we have evaluated the options. The ability to access great and proven iOS frameworks on the device is great for developers like us — we know the stuff is solid and will perform really well. Our goal is to enable people to enjoy Plex on the hardware platforms of their choice, and there is no doubt this will be a top platform for us."
Never heard of it, but now you will be able to get on an apple tv. Isn't it exciting!!!!!
Plex is a horrible interface. I have it running on my Amazon Firestick as a cleint and an imac as a server. The two constantly fail to find each other. I always end up restarting it on mac and rebooting the fire stick a couple of time before the content appears on the other. I used it as a way to show DVDs on my firestick. But it stinks. Now I use Emby media browser and it works like a charm every time. Emby is also free besides working better.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
You called the article "dumb" because of your lack of knowledge? Interesting concept...
Not plex per se (I'm not a fan of where they took the project since late 2013) but I've always considered lack of support for local media to be a showstopper for Apple TV.
Huh? I've been using iTunes to serve up rips of my purchased DVDs and Blu-Ray discs to my Apple TV for years.
I'm not all that crazy about using iTunes, but it works and has been fairly stable for me. And the Apple TV (and Macs in general) has been the only client that never seems to hiccup on some older movies I've got (like The Front Page) that, for whatever reason, are at a slightly non-standard aspect ratio. I'm looking forward to trying out Plex as an alternative (although I'm in agreement with you- I'm not particularly happy with the path they've headed down).
#DeleteChrome
Plex is a home media server, forked from XBMC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plex_(software)
Wikipedia says the server is "freemium" so I guess it's free but you can buy upgrades. There are apps for iOS and Android; the apps aren't free either. And there is some kind of cloud account you can get, and use for syncing your content across the Internet.
I've never heard of this before, but it seems worth checking out if you don't already have a media center solution.
Plex web site:
https://plex.tv/
Breakdown of what you can get for free vs. what costs:
https://support.plex.tv/hc/en-us/articles/202526943-Plex-Free-vs-Paid
Reddit discussion of cost of Plex:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Chromecast/comments/2f9f0k/what_is_the_true_cost_of_plex/
lf(1): it's like ls(1) but sorts filenames by extension, tersely
I'm enjoying my zombardiocrackle right now.
Pervert!
This is excellent news for me. I have a Synology and a 10.6.8-based original Intel Mac Mini that just acts as an iTunes and Crashplan server. All my films converted from DVD/blu-ray are stored on the Synology, but I need iTunes running to be able to access it on the Apple TV. With this I should be able to use Plex on the Synology and remove the need for iTunes. Crashplan can also be made to run on a Synology, so I can completely eliminate the need for that Mac Mini.
With a few more apps, like Amazon Instant and BBC iPlayer, this thing could then completely cover what I do. One caveat - just please, please, please give me paid app options and not freebies with adverts in the UI.
Here ya go...
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
When I got a chromecast, I did pay for the 4.99 app so that I could use it to stream to the chromecast. I was using Bubble UPnP + MxPlayer for android playback, but BubbleUPnPs chromecast support was limited. Now BubbleUpnP has it but requires a separate paid transcoding server, so I stuck with Plex across the board.
Paying for plex allows easy setup of across the internet streaming. I never needed that feature since I have a business class connection, static IP and VPN at home. When I am travelling, my devices llook like they are on my LAN anyway, so need to stream some other way out of my network.
The only issue I have had is that randomly (after days) the plex server program will stop responding and need a restart. That is easy enough to do, although I could probably post on their forums and look at the logs to determine why.
Silence is a state of mime.
Yeah - any iTunes library worked. Music, Movies, Photos - any content you could load onto a machine. A $150 headless win machine could do it.
The only problem was auto-loading of content. I use sabnzbd/usenet to load serial content (TV shows), and that doesn't play well with iTunes. Also, I can get Plex served when I'm not at home and iTunes isn't good at that either.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
I had never heard of it before getting a Samsung Smart TV and since I didn't actually get the 51" Plasma to watch broadcast television, I had to find a way to stream my media from a server, without actually having a laptop next to the TV. Anyway, I looked up possible technologies and DLNA that the TV supported seemed the best solution. After I painfully found out DLNA in practice is riddled with problems, I went back to google and Plex came up. A free Plex Media Sever was installed on the Mac Pro, an also free client was installed on the Smart TV, et voila, streaming with full support of any format I had, multiple audio & subtitle streams, plus excellent library organization (it recognizes your media, shows covers/meta data, even downloads subtitles automatically with the proper plugin).
I also got a chromecast dongle at some point and I use it to send some browser video streams to the TV, but for two years now Plex has served me very well. If you have a platform, like a Smart TV/Smart Bluray etc where the Plex client is free, definitely give it a try.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
What the heck is Plex again?
If I were you, I would be less concerned about not knowing what Plex is and more concerned that I didn't know how to do a quick Google search.
SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
What this announcement shows, is that players like Roku need to be VERY afraid.
Say all you want about the fact that the new Apple TV specs wise is ho hum (and I'd agree with you), but the fact of the matter is that all those people who are familiar with Xcode development and the IOS APIs now can develop for tvOS.
What that means is that in a VERY short amount of time the number of apps will go from zero to crazy in no time at all. Roku has struggled for a LONG time to get a good set of apps for people to use. There are hardly that many games for Roku (the major ones though like Angry Birds are there) and everything else are screensavers, streaming channels or Church apps (for the most part).
Say what you want about how the Apple TV sucks, the fact that millions of Xcode developers for IOS can develop for it means it will pretty much sink companies like Roku.
I'm not getting all the hate for Plex. Plex is amazing.
It's not just a media server. It's a full-blown server and media management and distribution system akin to running your own Netflix. I paid the one-time lifetime pass and it's been totally worth it. We stream to many Rokus, computers and Android devices amongst my household and immediate family.
Having paid for the PlexPass, all the clients I add to my Plex Home group are free so users don't have to pay for each client. I run it on a 6-disc FreeNAS RAIDZ2 system that has enough CPU horsepower to run Plex Server right on the NAS itself. The system is beautiful and amazingly capable. Just drop any old video file on, and Plex handles everything else: metadata, posters, trailers, organization, and any necessary transcoding to play any type of video file onto any client regardless of its capabilities.
I know Emby is popular because it's open-source, and perhaps some parts of it are better than Plex (I've never used Emby). But the reviews I've seen put them pretty close to each other, with often Plex having a slight edge overall. But probably ultimately depends on what you're doing with it and what features matter to you.
Anyone who flat out hates Plex probably doesn't understand how it's really supposed to be used and what needs it's meant to address. It's easy to hate the perfect screwdriver if you're trying to use it as a hammer.
That's not local media. That's remote. Local media is stored on the device, doesn't need the device to be on the network, and doesn't require your mac/windows box to be turned on and running iTunes.
Kinda like the AppleTV V1 was.
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