Android / Android TV - Support split files

Feature Suggestions
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1

The Android TV and Android Plex clients do not support multi part files with the new player. This is a must have feature in my opinion.

2

There is an existing feature request for this: Feature request: Android stacked file support

3

Well it dates back to 2012 and has zero vote. Is it really relevant?

Also, a Plex employee suggested to create a feature request in a dedicated thread.

Maybe this will help? This is a pretty basic feature - almost a must have for a product such as Plex.

4

Though I’d consider this a bug, since the feature used to work and stopped with an update a bit more than a year ago, I fully support getting this (re)implemented and am voting for this.

5

voted for it

6

Given that this is a regression, and something that Plex’s own documentation suggests doing, I’m annoyed there is even a “feature request” for this.

2 Likes
8

Agreed – this is clearly a bug that they won’t acknowledge for Android.

9

edit: to clarify, there are different kinds of ‘stacked’ files

  • stacked files = multiple copies of the same video (has the number in the corner), like having a 720 and 1080 version, or theatrical/extended/directors cut.
  • multi-part files = multiple episodes combined together in a single file
  • split files = 1 video split into different files, ie disk1/disk2 or part1/part2, etc
10

Thanks for the clarification @TeknoJunky.
I renamed the thread and indicated “split files”.
Note that this name was originally suggested by @anon18523487 :face_with_monocle: but the thread is referring to split files.

11

Sorry the above definition is incorrect.
The documentation refers to both “stacked” and “split” files. They are supposed to be the same thing.

The little blue number appears when you have “multiple versions” of a video.

12

Erm
 sorry.
I am citing now from the referenced movie naming guidelines:

start of quote

[quote]

Movies Split Across Multiple Files

Movies that are split into several files (e.g. pt1, pt2), can be played back as a single item (in most, but not all, players) if named correctly. The split parts must be placed inside their own folder, named as usual for the movie. Name the files as follows:

  • /Movies/MovieName (release year)/MovieName (release year) – Split_Name.ext

Where Split_Name is one of the following:

  • cdX
  • discX
  • diskX
  • dvdX
  • partX
  • ptX


and you replace X with the appropriate number (cd1, cd2, etc.).

/Movies
   /The Dark Knight (2008)
      The Dark Knight (2008) - pt1.mp4
      The Dark Knight (2008) - pt2.mp4

Notes :

  • Not all Plex apps support playback of stacked media
  • All parts must be of the same file format (e.g. all MP4 or all MKV)
  • All parts should have identical audio and subtitle streams in the same order
  • Only stacks up to 8 parts are supported
  • “Other Videos” libraries or those using the “Plex Video Files Scanner” do not support stacked content.

However, to get a better overall experience, we encourage you to instead use a tool to join/merge the individual files into a single video. There are multiple ways you can do this and a quick search in your favorite search engine should give you some options on how to “join” files. An unofficial guide with one free tool has even been posted in our forums.

Related Page : Forums: Joining multi-part movie files with MKVtoolnix GUI[/quote]

end of quote

As you can see
 all three wordings “stacked”, “split” and “multi-part” are used in the same paragraph about “multiple movie files that represent one movie”.
So, the wording you suggested, is at least used misleadingly in official Plex documentation.

Edit: I can see that @OttoKerner was faster in responding.

1 Like
13

Thanks for creating this request. I hope they finally fix this.

14

Also a problem for me. Worked in the old player, works on my iPad, doesn’t work on the new player on my shield

15

How does Plex Server support a feature, but Plex Android offers zero way to use said feature
 This is not even something we should be having to asking for a feature, this is a straight up bug


1 Like
16

I agree – they won’t acknowledge it’s a bug.

1 Like
17

I am now watching Star wars rebels and a lot of episodes are stacked. But my android client only plays the first part. It’s a shame that stacked content doesn’t work on android tv

1 Like
18

I have confirmed this works on:

  • Roku
  • iOS (iPAD)
  • Chrome Web player

Yet, it does not work on Android.

1 Like
19

User support to have this bug fixed is there
 27 votes by now.

Second highest “android-tv” voted feature suggestion for anythig non-implemented.
Third highest “android-mobile” voted feature suggestion for anythig non-implemented.

So, our voices are loud, our wish is fair, implementation is solid for other clients. Question is now for the Android development team: do you hear us?

It’s nothing new or spectacular, just make it work as it used to work in the past and works on other player platforms.

Thank you.

1 Like
21

As with a lot of things like this, the engineers who can fix this are given the information from employees who barely understand the issue so probably give terrible explanations. These employees have no authority and cannot escalate issues despite demand. They either won’t ask the engineers for a timeframe or the company doesn’t have deadlines and just say “it’s on the list”. Kinda pathetic imo.

22

So, Roku now not only plays the multiple parts, but consolidates them into one virtual file. A three part, 1 hour per part video, how shows as a single 3 hour video when you play it. So clearly this isn’t a feature, it’s a bug in Android.

I hope this is fixed.

1 Like