# Allow using external players on Android TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature Suggestions\ **Tags:** android-tv\ **Created:** [January 22, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/allow-using-external-players-on-android-tv/867044 "2024-01-22T02:17:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MagisterIngenia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@MagisterIngenia](https://forums.plex.tv/u/MagisterIngenia)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/allow-using-external-players-on-android-tv/867044/1 "2024-01-22T02:17:03Z")
I have a Zidoo Z9X Pro media player. The old Z9X runs Android, which lets the user select which player they want to use, thus giving the user the best combination of Plex UI + Zidoo player. However, the Pro runs Android TV, which arbitrarily removes this functionality. This makes Plex unusable, as the internal player is unable to play all my media files correctly. Jellyfin can do this but I would much rather use the Plex app. There is [an older thread](https://forums.plex.tv/t/external-player-on-android-tv/105208/37) where a dev explained why this isn’t a thing but I found the answer unsatisfying: > This is unlikely to ever happen I’m afraid, we want our player to provide you with the best experience when playing videos from your Plex server. If you are experiencing issues, please make a thread with logs (and samples if its a particular video) and we will look into the issues and make sure things play for you! > > Opening up an external player brings a lot of problems and means you can’t transcode from your Plex Media Server to deliver the content to your device in a suitable way. For low end devices like the Fire TV / Mii Box you would end up in a situation where you are forced to direct play a video that your box can’t handle, which can end up damaging your device. On mobile the setting was there due to manufacturers providing built in hardware decoders that can only be accessed via their own player, thankfully though this is something that manufacturers no longer do. This makes sense for low-end android boxes, but it’s actively holding back the user experience on high-end android boxes like the Zidoo. The hardware can direct play anything I’d throw at it, transcoding is not an issue. If you’re concerned about casual users ■■■■■■■ up their system, make it an obtuse system setting that you have to actively seek out to enable. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2024, 6:59am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/allow-using-external-players-on-android-tv/867044/2 "2024-01-22T06:59:53Z")
There’s already an existing suggestion discussing that exact question dating quite some time back. Please comment /vote in that thread in order to help us avoid distracting or cannibalizing votes. Unless I’m missing some unique aspect of your suggestion I’ll close this thread as a duplicate. > [@\[Feature request\] external player on androidtv](https://forums.plex.tv/t/feature-request-external-player-on-androidtv/96517): > > Please add the option for the androidtv platform to use an external player like in the regular android app. Had to return my nexus player because direct play just wouldn’t work in plex, but I plan on buying a Razer Forge TV or Nvidia Shield console when they come out, and really want to use plex on them. I believe being able to use another player would help fix most issues. ---
**Author:** ![tom80H](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/plex/user_avatar/forums.plex.tv/tom80h/32/19753_2.png) [@tom80H](https://forums.plex.tv/u/tom80H)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2024, 7:28am UTC](https://forums.plex.tv/t/allow-using-external-players-on-android-tv/867044/3 "2024-01-23T07:28:48Z")
2024 clean-up: duplicate