Add built-in codec support to Android/iOS Plex clients (similar to Infuse)

[viniciussandin]

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Hello Plex Team,

First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on the amazing work you’ve been doing. I’ve been a Plex user for over 10 years, and I’m still impressed with how the platform has evolved and become an essential part of my daily entertainment.

I’m writing to share a suggestion that I believe could further enhance the user experience: enabling the Plex clients on Android and iOS to support additional codecs directly within the app, similar to what other players like Infuse currently do.

As you know, when the client cannot natively handle a format, Plex relies on server-side transcoding. This creates limitations for users who don’t have powerful servers or who would prefer to avoid media conversions. If the app itself could decode a wider range of video and audio formats, even as a premium feature (for example, as part of Plex Pass), I’m certain that many subscribers — myself included — would be very interested.

This functionality would bring greater flexibility and reduce the need for transcoding, providing a more consistent playback experience, especially on mobile devices and smart TVs.

Once again, congratulations on the excellent work, and thank you for always listening to your user community.

Best regards,

[MovieFan]

The Plex apps already do this when possible. There are some codecs this won’t work on due to licensing issues.

[viniciussandin]

Hi, thanks for your reply! What you said makes sense about the apps already doing this when possible and the licensing limitations with some codecs like DTS or TrueHD.

My suggestion would be for Plex to consider negotiating those codecs and offering them as a paid feature (either included in Plex Pass or as a separate purchase), similar to what Infuse does. I think many users, myself included, would be willing to pay for this in order to get direct playback in those cases and avoid relying on transcoding.