Menel is just theorizing. I think the question for Plex devs is whether they are aiming to release the beta with feature parity to the currently release version, meaning it lacks Atmos, HDR10+, and probably true DV, or if they want to release it at near to full feature parity with the Roku app. If the latter, I would put it at farther than July, since those things have yet to be implemented and even once they are, they will probably not 100% work right out of the gate.
I have been asking the devs for a rough road map, even if no ETAs, for a while now, and no word. I know they don’t want anymore backlash than they have been getting, but I think offering a roadmap of what they want to implement before release, or post-release, would be really great.
I think they need to have a better understanding of what MVP (Minimum Viable Product) means. We don’t need all the bells and whistles in the initial release. I’d be happy if they just released a version that has smooth video playback that doesn’t stutter every few minutes. That has been an issue for 4 years. The current player is not functional unless you are playing lower resolution videos. I think this is a very basic functionality that they should be prioritizing over DV or Atmos. Most people don’t have setups that even support DV or Atmos. Most people also don’t notice a difference between HDR and SDR. I have a pretty nice Samsung 65" and no one in my family except for myself can tell the difference between 4k HDR and 1080p. They can however notice when they are watching a movie and the picture stutters. I don’t understand why I’m on an island by myself on this. This thread was created over 2 1/2 years ago specifically due to the stuttering issues since version 8.14. It is amazing to me that it still hasn’t been addressed.
I’ve seen this same behavior in software development for 20 years.
If there’s a workaround, the devs just don’t care. The workaround for AppleTV users all these years has been Infuse. Infuse did it right, and they did it right a long time ago.
Plex should have just bought Infuse years ago and we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.
I can’t find it, but one of the devs with plex was very clear with me at some point HDR10+ was not a target.
We’re this long without the proprietary dolby extras like atmos and dv… you’ll save yourself on disappointment if you don’t hope for these.
I’m just hoping for the more efficiency reliable and less fiddly video engine for my mothers, sisters, uncles appletvs.
Me and my dad pay for infuse for HDR10+ and Atmos. The extras sometimes have costs.
Seems pretty clear here that they are targeting it at some point:
I assume that their goal is to get feature parity with the Roku app. Now that they are using the Metal API, it doesn’t make sense to pass on HDR10+, seeing how unlike DV, HDR10+ is royalty free and Samsung TVs make up a good share of the premium market. I wouldn’t be surprised if its a lower priority than getting DV on track, but the message from the dev was pretty clear.
Like I have been saying over and over, it would be very, very helpful and reduce confusion if the devs could communicate a roadmap of where they are intending on taking the beta, either while it is in beta, after release, or just whenever. No ETAs or target windows needed. But sentiment among the tvOS userbase is very sour and I mean, the internet is going to be negative no matter what, but I think some direct communication rather than short comments here and there would only be helpful to them. This would be good again after the backlash to Plex raising lifetime subscriptions to $750. Tell people what they are getting for that cost and what that money will do beyond infrastructure maintenance. They need any win that they can take.
I will not stop beating this drum. I’m one of the few who has some amount of faith in the Plex devs, because I sympathize with the somewhat poor business model they backed themselves into, and understand that due to revenue concerns and after the layoffs, they likely only have one or two people who are working on the tvOS app, and possibly those people are working on other platforms too, so with that I get why development is slow.
If the beta is getting close-ish to release, say in a couple months, it makes sense to hold off on a rough roadmap until then (though any kind of communication would still be great), but if the beta app is still a long way off due to the non-trivial efforts involved in getting HDR10+, Atmos, and true DV implemented well, they could really stand to communicate this to the userbase.
I’m sure it’s not exhaustive, and it doesn’t include all the bullet-points in which you’re specifically interested, but they did provide at least a portion of their roadmap which should be interesting to personal media users. (I’m personally interested in IPv6 support.)
Also, I’m not trying to dismiss your point that Plex could garner some goodwill by providing some additional roadmap info. I’m just not sure everyone read past the “price is increasing” part of the announcement.
Yeah you right. Its a pretty general roadmap though. I guess I’m talking specifically about the tvOS app. There is a large tvOS user base and like I said, its soured pretty dramatically over the last couple years, so it could just really use some communication
Absolutely. The title of this thread is “Apple Player Update Beta Testing,” and the participants here are focused specifically on tvOS. The features listed in that so‑called roadmap don’t address the core issue for tvOS users, and to be clear, that list isn’t a roadmap at all — it’s a collection of possible features with no commitments attached.
For my part, the only thing that matters is reliable, smooth video playback without stuttering every 30 seconds. That’s a fundamental expectation, not an advanced feature. It’s difficult to understand why this hasn’t been resolved after four years, and based on results alone, the grade is an F‑.
I’ve been doing a significant amount of AI‑assisted development recently using Claude Sonnet and Claude Opus, and I was able to build a fully functional app in about an hour. With the AI agent capabilities available today, resolving an issue like this should realistically take about a week.
It must be seriously close to a public release, as a everyday player for my family, it has been very stable. LiveTV and DVR functions have improved dramatically in recent weeks, Navigation oddities have also had a lot love.
So hopefully the endless speculation, positive or negative, will take a slide. At least I hope so as it has become a weary discussion needing some cheer.
I have a question regarding Dolby Atmos (EAC3-JOC) support in the new Apple TV app.
My setup is:
Apple TV 4K
LG TV with eARC
Sonos Arc
With streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+, Atmos works correctly and Sonos reports “Dolby Atmos”.
However, with Plex, files containing EAC3-JOC (Dolby Digital Plus Atmos) are always played as Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 (or sometimes Dolby Digital 5.1), even though Plex reports Direct Play for both video and audio. Atmos metadata never seems to reach the Sonos.
Infuse on the same Apple TV, with the same files and the same setup, correctly triggers Dolby Atmos.
Can anyone from the Plex team confirm whether EAC3-JOC Atmos support has been improved in the new Apple TV app preview? Has this specific issue been addressed, or is it still a known limitation?
For me, this is actually more important than TrueHD Atmos support, since EAC3-JOC Atmos is fully supported by Apple TV and is the format used by most streaming services.
Have the subtitles on LiveTV been fixed with the new update? If so, that seemed to be the last UI hurdle.
If that is fixed up and it doesn’t see release by the end of this or next month, I would assume that they are working on implementing HDR10+, Atmos, and true DV before release. But I definitely agree on needing some cheer.
I don’t think Atmos is actually supported. It is one of the primary missing features I mentioned above.
It doesnt currently work on the latest test flight version of the app, a few of us have been asking for a response from someone at Plex for a while now to see if this is on the radar also coupled with Dolby Vision not currently working correctly, but so far haven’t had a reply from Plex.
Most all of us here have Plex Pass from years ago. I don’t think any of us care at all about the enforcement of remote viewing. We just want a working Apple TV app for way too long, now.
