I use the Apple TV (4th generation) and the Plex app for TVOS…posting here because Apple forum on here isn’t very active, nobody ever seems to reply, Apple TV section of the forums don’t seem to get anywhere near the level of activity as the general and other sections do. I don’t know if this is a specific issue related to just the TVOS app version or if all Plex apps for clients work the same way so if the moderator could keep my topic here I would appreciate it.
When playing media from the tabs at the top of the tv screen using the Plex app, if I access videos from “discover”, “all” tabs, etc when I click on a file to play it opens up a window giving me the option to play, mark as watched and settings…when I go into settings I can manually verify the quality is set to “play original quality”…this happens with any file I play (my guess is from my settings in the app for video I have it set to maximum because my network supports those kind of speeds) and that’s what I want…to play in original quality. If I access the same files by going to the “by folder” tab, when you click on a video to play you don’t get the same options before the file starts playing, it just starts playing.
I wanted to verify that if I access files “by folder”, are they still playing in original quality? I assume yes but since you’re unable to verify this when accessing media this way I just wanted to double check. Keep in mind I am obviously talking about local media, not streaming from the net.
This issue doesn’t seem to exist when accessing media via computer using PMP or web app, it’s related to the client app only. Again, not sure if this is how all Plex client apps work or if it’s just related to the ATV Plex app.
Thanks
P.S. If anyone is confused by my question I can always snap some pics and add them to the post but I assume that everyone here is familiar with playing media from the different tabs and how they operate.
same settings apply.
you can configure the standard setting from the main menu in the Plex client app (settings > home network quality) – you don’t have to set this for every single video you’re going to play. As you noted… the pre-play screen shows this for confirmation and to overrule the global settings (not only for quality but also for which audio track / subtitle to play).
When it comes to the folder view, Plex’ behavior on the Apple TV is a little odd… on iOS and other clients you will still end up on the pre-play screen where you can not only do the actions you have mentioned but also see the movie’s metadata, see related movies (extras, collections…) etc. So it’s a little odd when the Plex client on tvOS will immediately start the playback.
OK so I can be rest assured then that since my global settings for the app are set to maximum for quality playback that’s how it will play regardless of how I access the videos?
On Apple TV the setting is settings/home streaming, under “video quality” (I have it se to maximum.) I guess it might not read the same for every client’s app. So this sounds like a Apple TV thing then, I wasn’t sure if all the app versions acted the same or different.
Yea I tried testing out the Plex app on my iPhone, it’s locked but says I can play files back for 60 seconds to test drive it out before paying the 5 bucks but it doesn’t even let me test it out for 60 seconds. As soon as I start to play something it immediately stops and says I need to unlock the app first, a bit of false advertising there I must say.
Thanks for the answer, it was driving me crazy not knowing for sure if I was still playing in original quality or not when accessing files via folder view. I appreciate it very much!
I made a post for feature request early this morning regarding this issue and it seems someone didn’t like it and they wiped the post, I’m pretty speechless! To think that I’m considering upgrading to a Plex Pass and that such inconsideration would go on in these forums isn’t very attractive at all and certainly doesn’t push me to hand over my cash when the support forums are the only way to get support in the first place. Really rubs me the wrong way.
