As the title says ‘can you downgrade the plex app on xbox one?’
My son has an xbox one which connects to my plex server, an old Mac running v0.9.x.x of the plex server software and now his xbox cannot connect to it as it requires v1.5.x.x which I cannot run.
My PS4 and Raspberry Pi work fine, but apparently his xbox app required updating, it wasn’t optional, surely that can’t be right can it? Not if it is going to stop it from working.
Or is he going to have to buy something else that can run plex and connect to an older server?
Why can’t the previous version still be available? as it retains functionality for some users.
Why can’t the update be optional? as it will break functionality for some users.
Or do users of older versions really not matter?
I understand older versions will not have the latest and greatest features, that’s fair enough, but to actually remove a working application and replace it with something that will not work, that’s really not fair.
@edjonesy said:
Why can’t the previous version still be available? as it retains functionality for some users.
Why can’t the update be optional? as it will break functionality for some users.
Or do users of older versions really not matter?
I understand older versions will not have the latest and greatest features, that’s fair enough, but to actually remove a working application and replace it with something that will not work, that’s really not fair.
There wasn’t a lot of choice in the matter. After updating the app to the new version, Plex can’t submit the old version to Microsoft to be placed as a legacy app. Because the older app was written on the original framework it can’t pass the certification process to be placed in the store as its own app.
I can understand your point about the microsoft certification process, but in that case, release it as a second application so both apps can coexist, the first app receiving no further updates.
As it stands, with the mandatory update requirement, it has ruined stopped some users from being able to use plex.
Some I’m sure will go out and buy a small device to run plex on, such as a Raspberry Pi, some will go out and buy a new computer to run the later version server on, but the point is, some people can’t do that. Some people will have already invested in a nas which will only run up to v9.x.x of plex server, no more movie watching for them, some people can’t afford to buy something new or old to run the later version of the server on.
It’s these people who up until a few days ago had a working, carefully curated library of movies and TV shows now still have that but cannot watch it anymore because they had no choice but to run an update which broke it for them.
I understand that there will always be new versions, that’s great, there should be progress. These updates will sometimes have particular requirements, meaning they will no longer work on legacy or older hardware, fair enough, I know there are features I won’t have on my server as it is not capable of running the latest versions, but to take a working app and stop it from being able to access a library, and not give the end user the option of NOT installing it, that’s mental!
The way it’s always been handled on Roku is ideal. On that platform you can have your normal version as well as a development version such as PlexPass. Obviously this allows you to have multiple versions available to use and test.
@cayars said:
The way it’s always been handled on Roku is ideal. On that platform you can have your normal version as well as a development version such as PlexPass. Obviously this allows you to have multiple versions available to use and test.
Unfortunately, the way it works on the Xbox is nowhere near as forgiving. Even beta test version of the app has to be submitted in a fully working state. And since the beta version of the app is still just an update to the already functioning version of the app, once it’s done with beta testing it would still overwrite the last version of the app. In this case specifically there is also other hurdles that have to be overcome because the major changes in the app.
Xbox actually does support opt in builds and branches. They could totally give the old version to customers if they wanted, it doesn’t even have to go though a full cert as the package will have already been certified.
@danthekilla said:
Xbox actually does support opt in builds and branches. They could totally give the old version to customers if they wanted, it doesn’t even have to go though a full cert as the package will have already been certified.
Xbox does support these features for UWP apps. And as you can see in these forums Moussa is taking advantage of that when he sent out a special branch to test a fix for some users connections issues.
The problems arise when you have an app that isn’t part of the UWP framework and you then replace it with one that is and then you try and go back to resubmit the old app. Flight branches are intended to be full working versions of your app to test fixes and changes before going live. So anyone would be hard pressed justifying having a test branch of your app being an older version that can’t be updated or even fixed anymore.
Microsoft’s documentation states:
Note that package flights must pass the certification process, just the same as a regular, non-flighted submission.
So even though you can already select previously submitted packages it still has to pass the certification process.
The very last step states this clear when it says the package flight will go through the certification process.
Submit your package flight to the Store When you've specified packages and configured any options needed, click Submit to the Store. Your package flight will then go through the app certification process. Note that packages included in your package flight must comply with the Microsoft Store Policies, as with all submissions.
I can understand your point about the Microsoft certification process, but in that case, release it as a second application so both apps can coexist, the first app receiving no further updates.
The typical responses that Ninja’s get to questions about why something changes is always for the ease of use for the average user. And having your most up-to-date app listed in a store next to/after a legacy app that can’t be supported isn’t good. Now whether or not the new UI is good or bad or easier or worse is something that can be debated for hours, and I have absolutely no control over that.
These updates will sometimes have particular requirements, meaning they will no longer work on legacy or older hardware, fair enough, I know there are features I won’t have on my server as it is not capable of running the latest versions, but to take a working app and stop it from being able to access a library, and not give the end user the option of NOT installing it, that’s mental!
Unfortunately, your first sentence kinda hits the nail on the head. The old app was written on framework that is not updated, using a media player that is also frozen in place, and the app itself is frozen as well. Those three things make it nearly impossible to keep the app as an official app, as making something that you can’t support official just won’t work.
With all that being said, I am not saying I don’t hear what you’re saying. I am just trying to explain why getting the old version back isn’t going to happen. And I fully recommend leaving feedback about the UI if you see something you don’t like, I have seen a number of posts that the developers have pulled out because of the good feedback and forwarded it onto the UX team. I personally am indifferent to the new layout there are some things I like better and somethings I don’t like at all, and I sent my feedback in on these things as well. At this point all we can do is let the developers know what we don’t like and see what the UX team does with it.
But wouldn’t it have been relatively trivial to call the new Plex client an independent product and maintain both in the Xbox store? Imagine how many more happy people Plex would have had if that were the case. I feel for people who have been locked out of the ecosystem effectively by a double-barrel upgrade, particularly as with better deployment planning it was completely avoidable.
This feels like one of those watershed moments, though it probably wont be; this deployment has had so many issues that individually could have been considered trivial and overcome or borne with some grudging acceptance in exchange for a better product, but cumulatively they are no longer trivial. There’s been a fairly consistent voice of people saying “I could take xyz but zyxplusabcdefgh is too much”.
If I had faced this on Android (or even iOS) I could have found a way back to a previous version. The risk of harm to public perception with locked down systems like Xbox is very real. Users now unable to run it quite literally have no option other than to seek an alternative.
Thanks everyone for weighing in on this subject, it seems to have impacted quite a few people in either locking them out of using Plex or by using some new UI which, the general consensus is ‘not good’, neither I or my son can comment as we can’t see it on his Xbox as it won’t open our library.
@jmckee in reference to my quote ‘These updates will sometimes have particular requirements…’ the point I was trying to make there was that progress is inevitable and actually a good thing, but that progress shouldn’t then remove something that worked and so lock out a proportion of users just because they are running an older version of the server, if the new version was going to stop that from working, they really should have released an additional version. I know a lot of people use Plex for free, I’m one of those, so why should I be complaining? Perhaps that’s a good point for a different discussion, but I’m sure there are others out there who have paid for a Plex Pass who have been affected, or people who are using a NAS which isn’t accessed by the Xbox One app anymore, those people have paid out for a service which has been taken away from them.
