Apple Player Update Beta Testing

Plex Players Player Betas
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Hi everyone!

We’ve been working hard on improving playback performance in our Apple TV client, namely when streaming high bitrate HDR content and/or using the latest 2022 (fanless) Apple TV.

This is something that not only we’ve been investigating for some time, but that has been reported multiple times here in the forums. And on that note, I want to take this opportunity to genuinely thank all users who actively provided feedback in forum threads, via DMs with our Customer Success Plexians and who have been patiently waiting for updates. It’s folks like you who make Plex awesome, and we wouldn’t be where we are today without you. :heart:

What To Test

We’re obviously interested in folks throwing everything they have at this. We tested with a lot of content, but if there’s one thing we learned over the years is that there are a lot of esoteric format combos out there!

Besides high demanding files like a 4K HDR Bluray rip, we’re particularly interested in folks who run their devices in closed cabinets and were seeing dropped frames likely caused by thermal throttling before.

How To Test

We are taking this slow and, as such, will be manually curating a TestFlight group to test specific builds. If you’re interested in participating, please fill out this form so we can not only add you but have an idea of what devices/setups you might be able to provide feedback on.

Once we’re confident this update isn’t introducing severe regressions, we’ll push it out to the main beta channel and include it in an upcoming release.

Build Information

Via TestFlight, download and install version 8.37 (8587). The build should also contain a messaging in the “what to test” section that signals it’s part of this test initiative.

Automatic TestFlight updates are disabled automatically when installing a custom build other than the latest one, so keep monitoring this thread for updates and/or check TF once in a while.

Note: for folks who were testing the previous build, we also put out a refreshed build: 8.37 (8585). This build has been rebased on latest app changes, but contains no other player-related improvements and should not be used as basis for feedback.

Known Issues

Let me start off by saying that if you wrap your Apple TV in plastic it will still thermal throttle, even when rendering on Metal. Believe us, we tried. :laughing:

There are currently the following known issues with the latest test build:

  • Memory Pressure: on certain demanding files (e.g. high bitrate 4K HDR movie) memory pressure can cause the app to crash.
  • SRT subtitles don’t correctly render when more than one line on screen
  • PGS subtitles are not being displayed

If you find any of these issues, please don’t report them. We are aware of them and are looking into it. If we need help debugging them, we’ll ask.

Providing Feedback

Please use this thread to help us ensure these changes are working well by reporting any issues here, ensuring you include the devices used (e.g. Apple TV model, TV/receiver setup), logs and screenshots/videos when applicable.

Also, please take a quick look at any existing reports and see if you’re potentially filing a duplicate. If that’s the case, reply to that message or link to it, so as to better help us understand the context of your report.

To keep posts light, I’m going to :heart: feedback posts if they don’t require any more feedback, as a way to acknowledge they’ve been logged and will be looked into.

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340 posts were split to a new topic: Apple Player Update Beta Testing - Archive

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Cool deal.

Will this work provide any benefits to the iOS devices?

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Yes, the player is used on both iOS and tvOS although we haven’t found any significant performance issues on the former.

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The builds will have MPV/Metal mentioned in the release notes, and we’ll share the build number here as well when it’s made available.

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Is there any way that this new build could support 4K Dolby Vision (all profiles) and Dolby Atmos? I would rather use an Apple TV in a heartbeat compared to an Nvidia Shield and I would gladly buy a 4K capable Apple TV to test out the functionality.

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If you let me know what your media looks like, specific profiles and any other defining features, I can run some tests on my side.

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Hey y’all!

I’ll be pushing out the builds and helping with feedback.

First build should be out now:
8.34 (build 8096)

Please check your emails for invites and the new build.
Also check your spam folders and all that.

Let us know if there are any issues!

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First impressions from using this build this morning are that I’ve not noticed any stuttering so far on my ATV4K (2022). I’ll play more over the weekend. EAC3 Atmos is still miles out of sync on audio (and shows as Multi-in on the amp) which makes it unwatchable. I’m hoping that this will get addressed at the same time as Atmos support?

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I’m using a 2017 Apple TV and my first impressions are similar: the 4K videos that were previously unwatchable are now playing fine, that’s definitely an improvement. At the same time, different video types still have different A/V delays, so the delay needs to be readjusted between them. From what I’ve seen so far, the actual delay numbers that I have to use are more or less the same to the previous implementation of the player.

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A great start with improvements in drop outs for my setup. Terrestrial TV via HDHomeRun in Australia mostly 1080i / Interlaced broadcasts. After 2hours of viewing no drop outs. So this maybe a fix, time will tell.

As for file types I had an issue from my Movie Library.

I have several 4K HEVC main 10 (HDR10) titles that will not start but play perfectly in Web app and MacOS app, iPad Pro M2. All I see is a spinner in the middle of screen on the ATV 4K.

Using Playback settings/ Original Quality will work instead of Auto Change. Unfortunately the OCD of Media Info/ debugging will not disappear and Title plays. The setting Menu does disappear. Am I missing something here?
Apple TV 4K 2022: 8.34( 8096) TestFlight

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Apple TV 4K (2022) (3rd Gen) MN893X/A
LG 65 B8
Mac Mini - Mac14,12 (MacOS 14.4.0)
Plex Media Server: 1.40.1.8227-c0dd5a73e
Network: Gigabit Ethernet (Cat 6)

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I have tried a few files I had that would cause stutter happy to report 0 stutter on these files… ATV4K 3rd Gen inside a closed media cabinet

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Just consolidating from the other thread… another user posted a sample file that stutters on both tvOS and iPadOS using 8096:

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Nothing else to do. I am manually managing all invites so i’ll be sending out a new wave of invites when i have time today.

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@Plex Employee’s, have you tried testing out HomePod Mini’s paired together as Stereo, for audio/sync improvements? I have 2 HomePod Mini’s paired and forgot to mention that in the form when I signed up, but can certainly provide feedback once I get my TF invite! :slight_smile:

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That person was replying to someone offering a sample file. They were obviously talking about that specific file.

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Thank you, everyone, for the feedback so far!

I’m continuing to review feedback and will have more updates as I continue my testing this week. I’ll also invite more users to TestFlight, so if you have yet to receive an invite, look for it in the next day or two.

One Big Update:

After reviewing the feedback over the weekend, we realized we had made a mistake. We have a feature flag that enables the MoltenVK/Metal renderer, but that feature flag was disabled.

This means the previous testing was only for the MPV update and not the new renderer, which has had some improvements but not to the extent we want.

That said, we have enabled the new renderer. You can now test with the same build to see if there are stutters, thermal throttling, playback failures, etc.

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DV Profile 5 is still using AVPlayer currently. This is on my list to investigate :+1:

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You should be able to go into the TestFlight app, click on the Plex app, and in the App Information screen there should be a Versions & Build Groups option. In here you should be able to select the build with these player updates.
Try that and I’ll double check that you’re added to both groups. You’ll still be in the other beta so I would turn off automatic updates.

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