That’s in the TestFlight. There have not been any beta or regular releases.
Why would there be? They stated in March in this post Apple Player Update Beta Testing - #1245 by hsousa that the new UI is where they are going and would not release any new betas or be working on the old UI.
That doesn’t change the fact that there haven’t been any releases.
In the meantime, people who are not in the TestFlight are still left without an Apple TV player that can play 4K files without stuttering, an issue that has been going on for years.
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The most recent update - as far as the public is concerned - is version 8.45 released on Jan 28, 2025. I’m going to try one more time and hopefully someone here can provide an answer: When will the new version with the new UI and with a fix for the video stuttering issue be released to the TVOS App Store???
TestFlight is Beta.
Unlike with the mobile release, they are taking time to refine the new experience before pushing out to the TV clients. This is a good thing as there were many issues with the tvOS based new experience when it entered beta, and there are still issues that break things like LiveTV amongst other things. Also, as there is no PlexAmp or Plex Photos for tvOS (and currently no plans to release them), once this new app hits a public release, you will lose the ability to play Music and view Photos on a tvOS device.
I wish they would back port the player updates to the legacy client so that we could all have our cake and eat it too, but unfortunately that isn’t an option for the dev team. Unfortunately, right now if you’re suffering from the 4K stutter (and I was on the legacy client as well), Infuse or an alternative like Jellyfin remain the best options.
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I can only reiterate what has been repeatedly mentioned on this thread. My Apple TV Plex client also struggles to play HEVC. After a few minutes of flawless playback, it suddenly becomes choppy, the audio goes out of sync, and frames are dropped. It’s a truly disappointing experience.
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Now that apple announced a new API for pass through support, is plex committed to adding this? Would literally be a game changer for the community as we can finally dump the garbage that is shield pro (and alternatives that are limited in other ways). I love my vero V but at the end of the day, its not an apple tv and I can’t even watch youtube on it.
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If you’re using a AppleTV HD, you need to enable to “Old Player” in settings to support 10-bit HEVC. It will force a transcode as the devices struggle with HEVC (even with Infuse).
The new Experience player in beta automatically force transcode non-h264 content for AppleTV HD.
There’s been no word from Plex either way on this, but Infuse has confirmed they are looking into it.
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My DS218+ can’t handle a transcode like that. Why can’t I direct play? I’m using an Apple TV 4K.
I appreciate the update. Most people who own an Apple TV buy them because they are heavily integrated into the apple ecosystem. I never use the photos or music capabilities on the Plex Apple TV Client. Since I subscribe to Apple Music, I use the native Apple TV Music App and since I use iCloud for my photos I use the native Apple TV photos app. I only use Plex for streaming movies, TV shows and home movies.
That all being said, I still didn’t get a complete answer to my question and maybe there isn’t an answer but it would be great to know approximately when they will be releasing the new version of the Apple TV Plex Client to the public. Are we talking Q3, Q4, or Q1 2026?
My DS218+ can’t handle a transcode like that. Why can’t I direct play? I’m using an Apple TV 4K.
If you’re using an AppleTV 4K, there are a number of other variables that can affect performance, especially with higher bitrate UHD Content.
Have you tried Infuse? Does it play back smoothly?
If Infuse does work as intended, I’d recommend opening another thread for support specific to your issue.
Plex has not published any release roadmap of the new Experience. All I can say, as a beta tester myself, is that they have been patching and updating at a regular basis, but that there are still major issues that need to be fixed before they should push it public. Otherwise, you’ll have the same issue that mobile issues saw when that client was rushed out at the end of April (and that many users are still experiencing).
I have not tried Infuse. I saw it requires payment, and I’d rather pay Plex Pass if paying was the solution… I never had to use a separate player to play my HEVC, Plex always worked. What would you say would be the most likely solution? I’ve tried:
- Enabling match frame
- Enabling old player
- Enabling old audio engine
And nothing worked…smaller x264 files play nicely. The issue seems to be limited to higher bitrate UHD (x265) files.
My NAS is hard-wired to the ethernet and so is my Apple TV, so a network issue is very unlikely. Maybe slow HDDs?
@Craig_Holliday Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
If you don’t supply details and samples… shrug
I can provide any additional details. I think it’s pretty clear though.
Could be.
If you are using the legacy player and not the new Experience TestFlight for HEVC media:
On AppleTV 4K:
- Disable Match Framerate in tvOS
- Disable Old Player
- Disable Old Audio Engine
If AppleTV HD:
- Disable Match Framerate in tvOS
- Enable Old Player & Direct Stream
- Disable Direct Play
- Disable Old Audio Engine
Otherwise, I’d recommend opening a new thread and share sample media so people can people can test.
If your UHD media is “sourced” from questionable sources, there is also a chance that it was encoded improperly for playback on an Apple TV and that can cause stuttering and playback issues. This is especially relevant for Hulu and Disney productions.
I can confirm that Match Framerate in tvOS is disabled, as well as the Old Player and the Old Audio Engine.
The movie plays nice for 15-20 minutes, then playback becomes choppy, audio goes out of sync and there are lots of loss frames.
If I pause, and hit play again - It’d play nice for a few minutes (1-2), then do this again until it reaches a point in which playback is no longer possible. As a PC builder, this looks to me like thermal throttling. However I can’t further narrow this down.
It’s a UHD file with high bitrate, with DTS audio and PGS subtitles. Can’t share a sample because of copyright…
You’re experiencing the issue that this thread has been discussing for over a year. There is no current fix.
You keep saying this, but unaware of this setting anywhere in the beta player
If I pause, and hit play again - It’d play nice for a few minutes (1-2), then do this again until it reaches a point in which playback is no longer possible. As a PC builder, this looks to me like thermal throttling. However I can’t further narrow this down.
Sounds like an incompatible file that isnt running on the hw decode engine, thus straining and throttling. Use a more compatible file to prevent overwork.
