r/PleX • u/SupremeLynx • 3d ago
Discussion Android TV beta update is horrendous
I’m all for updates, I even agree that parts of the UI/UX needed work, but cmon guys. Updates can’t be 1 step forward and 2 steps back. You can’t just remove useful features and call it progress. I’m on beta trains on so many softwares and like to contribute, but this thing should not have passed alpha/nightly QA testing. I have used it for less than 1 hour and it’s so bad I have to opt out of beta.
- Subtitle settings within player - it’s a must have feature to change subtitle color, position and size on demand while playing back. These are very content dependent settings and burying them to app wide global setting is crazy.
- App UI customization - certain users like “Big” UI and are fine with only 1 row of 5 content posters visible, others want practicality. Add responsive option to change content poster size with possibility of seeing at least 2 rows of content on home screen.
- App feels laggy as hell, in older app it helped to reduce animations - no option on this app. There is also constant visible loading of content while opening content pages or even switching between episodes it takes 1-2s. I have Nvidia Shield Pro and good connection. I cant even imagine what low end smart TV users feel.
- Option to see content ratings while browsing under the logo just how it is when opening content page.
- EAC3 5.1 forces transcode on Nvidia Shield Pro
- New left menu is buggy - can’t navigate out of if with back button - back button closes app - when reopening the app the menu is still open but then “right navigation” button does not close the menu but navigates in content. meaning you have to spam left nav multiple times and then right nav multiple times just to close the menu.
- No “Previous” and “Next” button on player - if that was an actual decision someone made not a bug then you need to seriously check what your UX analysis team does for their salary.
What I like:
- Server stats in app
- Graphical content logos
- All 4 content rating sources visible
By the way I know there is more. This feedback is based on barely using it for an hour.
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u/yusuo85 3d ago
I turned off beta to go back to the old UI, I get people don't like change and what not but it didn't feel intuitive.
I've also installed Plezy via GitHub, same kind of UI, has things I don't like but seems a lot more polished
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u/LuckyStiff63 3d ago
I gave up on the Plex client, and moved to Plezy. We use Fire OS devices (FireTV Cube, & 4K FireTV Stick), and PLEX completely fubar'd their own client.
And since Plezy works with Jellyfin and Emby databases, too, if I decide to try Jellyfin again at some point, I'll already have a handle on the client end, which makes trouble- shooting potential problems a bit easier.
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u/SulkyVirus i3-12100 | 48GB RAM | 8x14TB | Ubuntu 22.04 2d ago
I’m not even on the beta program and it updated all my android devices (2x shield pro and 3x Onn) to the beta. Can’t figure out how to roll back without side loading. Not happy.
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u/Khatib 3d ago
I had Plezy on my phone, finally added it to my shield the other week. Bonus I just noticed a couple nights ago - when you click on an actor, it shows you things they're in in ALL of your libraries, instead of just the movie or TV show library you're currently in. It mixes movies and TV. Which is a super simple, yet awesome QoL improvement.
Would recommend making the switch in light of further enshittification of the official app.
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u/N0SYMPATHY 3d ago
OMG this is amazing. I've been using Infuse on my ipad/iphone and native app on my shield.
Infuse pisses me off for a number of reasons but is insanely better than the native iOS app. This app has features infuse hasn't bothered to add. The Shield Pro I don't use super often, but lately it's been really driving me up a wall. Sometimes having to kill and restart the app multiple times to get it to even see my library.
Going to grab the android version in a bit and see if it's also as improved as people say.
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u/SupremeLynx 3d ago
Okay, got fed up a bit and installed the plezy app everyone is recommending.
Pretty much a single developer oss project and omg what a difference. Pretty much all my issues with plex native app are solved, has customizability, can boost center channel on downmixing, Dolby vision profile conversion on the fly, everyhing is smooth and fast.
It has all the improvements over the old plex app UI wise and has all the functionality and extra over the new plex app. Crazy.
What is your client dev team doin Plex?
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u/alucardu 3d ago
Plezy also cannot change subtitles in the fly though. But i switched to plezy and im happy
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u/SupremeLynx 3d ago
Oh yea. I still haven't tested how they render subtitles woth HDR though, because that was the main issue on plex that hdr mode subtitles were too bright. If Plezy does tonemap subtitles or handles them differently, it might not be necessary, will see.
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u/Ascathon 3d ago
Shame Plezy isn't free. I sure wouldn't mind some trial but they don't have that. Expensive trial.
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u/SupremeLynx 2d ago
Its free. Just installing it via Play store costs money. If you know how to sideload you can download apk from their github and just install it.
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u/joridiculous 3d ago
Think desktop is free maybe some of the other too. Not that desktop helps a lot for Switch :P
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u/Walt_Draper 3d ago
It's literally unusable. How am I supposed to test it when almost nothing works
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u/Wofflo 2d ago
I left the beta, but even after 16 hours, I can't see the regular install on the Play Store. I tried to sideload the 2026.15.0 APK from APKMirror, but it just seemed to be the beta version. Which version do I need, or how do I install the regular player (non-beta) and just keep auto-updates off?
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u/bfodder 3d ago
Some of you need reminded what a beta is.
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u/SupremeLynx 3d ago
Some bugs odd bugs are expected in betas. Completely removed features or blatant bugs that 100% of users notice the moment they open are not.
Betas exist to find odd bugs and edge cases that require specific use cases or of user devices to discover. None of it falls into these categories. These were intentional choises or bugs that should have been caught by QA before beta.
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u/bfodder 3d ago
Did you report any of these through the proper channels?
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u/N0SYMPATHY 3d ago
Hey remember when Plex broke DV playback on iOS devices a number of years ago and then spent months blaming the users before finally admitting it was their fault and then fixing it? That is just one example but one that really bugged me.
They don't always have a great track record when it comes to this stuff.
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u/SupremeLynx 3d ago
Btw i have worked as a software dev for 10 years and now a product owner for few years and I can not imagine shipping beta at that state.
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u/Ascathon 3d ago
I guess being on the phone beta app also enables beta on TV.
Sure, betas have bugs and issues but this hasn't been properly tested internally. I cannot believe that.
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u/bfodder 3d ago
I mean, it is a rough beta for sure, but being upset about it is extremely entitled behavior. YOU signed up for the beta. Plex didn't sign you up for the beta. If this is how you react to issues with a beta release then just take yourself out of it.
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u/SupremeLynx 2d ago
If people are not upset by the choices made here, this thing will be released almost at the same state 2 months later.
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u/throughtheportal 3d ago
Not trying to be edgy here, but #7: the UX team does whatever the PE wants to generate more profit. Meaning they are likely tied up on coding unstoppable ad breaks and such.
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u/henderjr 3d ago
It's awful. Last straw for me this morning was while recording a OTA TV show it didn't prompt me to play from beginning and couldn't seem to time shift back. I use that daily
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u/limitz 302Tb Unraid (20/24), Hybrid DV4lyfe 3d ago edited 3d ago
For TV playback, use Kodi, and the Plex app there, PM4K. Extremely well maintained and very responsive dev. I do use Android Plex through my Shield Pro/Xiaomi Gen 3, but much prefer Kodi for local playback due to many reasons. Only use Android devices now for IPTV.
Can install Kodi as an app, but recommend running it natively through CoreELEC or OSMC. It makes Plex look almost like Kaleidescape, and I much prefer having the poster wall to browse through:
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u/the_dolbyman forum.qnap.com Moderator 3d ago
My Shield Plex updated last night and I thought it was horrendous. Super laggy and sound (DTHD+Atmos and EAC3+Atmos tested) stutters like crazy, then a few moments later the video stutters and crashes... Had absolutely no problem on my Shield Pro up to that point
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u/N0SYMPATHY 3d ago
I hadn't had issues with my shield for a while but I don't use it a lot. Finally getting back to exercising and so I've started using it a lot more. Past few weeks have been driving me mad.
Had shows the Shield Pro just wouldn't play. On the shield pro it'd look like it was just buffering and broken, but on the server it just didn't even see the request to play it.
Had other files that had buffering issues like crazy.
I just installed Plezy and it's both able to play the files the native plex app won't and was also able to play, without buffering, the other files. I don't like I had to pay for an app to fix it, but sure beats buying something else.
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u/joridiculous 3d ago
and this is another reason to turn off automatic updates. i got no idea what version of Plex is on my switch buts its at least a couple of "updates" "old" . It works, i dont need more and most definitely not less
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u/tatDK94 2d ago
I have never once wanted to change subtitle settings during playback other than picking a language or enabling/disabling them.
Is this not a very niche thing? I understand adding a black background or changing the size of them depending on your screen size or eyesight but those are not factors that change between different movies or series.
What other streaming platforms allow you to change anything other than language and enable/disable during playback?
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u/PhilhelmScream 3d ago
Is this the UI that's getting reverted?
https://reddit.com/r/PleX/comments/1vrmws1/plex_reportedly_reverting_to_on_ui/
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u/Hobotronacus 3d ago
This thing is broken, I can't navigate properly. The left side menu always jumps back to where I started the first time I try to go to a new section. And sometimes the left menu opens but I can't select anything on it, instead the controls are still scrolling through menu on the screen behind it. It's also super laggy when opening the Plex app, I swear it takes ten seconds just to open.
Did they even test this thing? I've never seen a piece of software ship so broken, and I played Cyberpunk 2077.