Does the Plex app work better on the Apple TV device than it does on the Roku? I am getting some freezes (could be a buffering issue) in Plex on my Roku.
If you’re getting freezes or hiccups on Roku my recommendation is to unplug it for a few moments. That clears out more caches and can fix oddities reboot\restart won’t clear. I don’t even bother with rebooting anymore, I just go right to “unplug it” these days when my Roku boxes or TV starts acting up. My TV acts up a lot more than my dedicated boxes. To be fair it’s not very often though - my main issue is my soundbar and TV will sometimes not communicate correctly is all (that’s not a Plex issue).
As far as “better” … that’ll depend. AppleTV GUI will be a LOT snappier than the Roku one even on the nicer boxes. Playback though… that can depend. AppleTV does a good job but the development languished for quite some time and when it did start picking up again to get it sorted out, the New Experience came along and gobbled up that development.
A lot of folks using AppleTV and wanting good 4k Bluray rip playback tend to go with Infuse instead of Plex client. It seems to handle it better. You can get Infuse Plex Connector setup so Infuse can act like a front-end to your Plex setup as well. I think if you’re doing pretty standard playback though the Plex client works just fine.
I’ve been using Roku for years and look at AppleTV occasionally when I get annoyed with Roku feeling sluggish but Roku playback has been pretty reliable (and supports DTS passthrough even with DTS-MA files) so I haven’t been too tempted to switch when you see the mixed reception of the Plex client on AppleTV. Also, it’s not hard to block Roku ads and trackers with a filter at the router or DNS level so the ad\tracking issue with Roku doesn’t really impact me.
Here’s a previous discussion about it that might help you out - it comes up pretty often. 4K rips + Plex + Apple TV = am I doing this right?
There’s a nice chart another user posted there too for some capability questions too.
Have you tried streaming to a browser on a Mac/PC? I would make sure it is the Roku client (and not server issues) before switching to another client.
Thank you so much for your detailed response. Much appreciated!
Yes, I have tried streaming in the Safari browser on my Mac Mini. I do not have the freezes that I get in the Roku Plex app on my TV. But thank you for asking!
Thank you for all the information. I read through the previous discussion you linked to, and it seems the best option is Apple TV device with Infuse. I have a Mac Mini M1, a MacBook Air M3, and an iPhone 15+, so I am basically in the Mac universe. However, I really don’t understand the Infuse product. Does it handle subtitles as well as Plex for Roku does?
I tried your suggestions about unplugging the Roku when it freezes, but I still get some freezes afterwards. I am convinced it is the Roku apps causing the freezes because it also happens with another Roku app for the Tablo (OTA recording). So far, the Prime Video app on the Roku seems pretty stable. I don’t get freezes there.
Do you think getting the Apple TV device and Infuse is my best option?
I haven’t used it personally to give a solid personal opinion and there isn’t really a “best” option in this situation; some folks consider the Nvidia Shield the best client but I had hiccups with it myself that made it not a good fit.
But by all accounts, particularly since you’re already in the Apple garden so to speak, it likely would work out best for you to go with an AppleTV if the Roku isn’t working out. With or without Infuse really.
Infuse is basically it’s own media player that works similarly to Plex\Emby\Jellyfin but doesn’t need a server and client setup. It’s more like the app Kodi if you want a comparison.
You don’t need Plex to use Infuse. It does much the same experience all on it’s own as a dedicated app (the functionality of Plex Server and Plex Client in one app that runs on the device itself - essentially). You point Infuse at the files just like you point Plex server at them, and then Infuse does the rest (metadata and artwork and playback). You don’t need Plex to use Infuse and lots of folks use Infuse on its own, particularly if all they have are Apple devices and don’t want to manage a server setup.
It’s just an option to have Infuse work with your Plex server so you can have that central management of media via Plex (which some prefer), but still get a more sophisticated client side playback support Infuse provides that may work better for you than the Plex client itself.
At the same time, TONS of folks use Plex on AppleTV very happily without Infuse and the newer AppleTV app in dev should work better than the current Plex app once it gets sorted out. If you have hiccups with playback via the Plex client, Infuse is the go-to solution and some folks prefer it particularly for higher quality 4k BluRay rips.
So … I’d say try Plex on AppleTV (you can always return it) and if you run into playback issues you aren’t liking then give Infuse connected to your Plex server a try. And if that’s not working you can return it all and only be out some time.
Once my Roku devices get too aged or annoying I will be picking up an AppleTV and depending on how it works will decide then if I wanna also use Infuse as my “front end” (I’d prefer not just for simplicity sake). By that point I might have moved on to Emby or Jellyfin though so who knows! 
AppleTV handles subtitles really well natively (SST, SSA and PGS are all natively supported) so Infuse should have no problem as well. Better than Roku which only supports SST.
Before investing in any additional hardware, I’d strongly recommend testing Infuse Pro on your Apple TV. It offers (very) broad media format support with very few (if any) compromises). It does lack live TV support, however
Huh?
The topic is “Apple TV vs Roku” with discussion around the experiences with AppleTV because they don’t have an AppleTV.
Whoops, my mistake. This is a case where I should have gone back through the entire thread before posting.
@CinemaJunky Please ignore my previous post.
No worries - just wanted to call it out in case there was just something lost in translation. It’s easy when editing and copy\pasting to end up with a comment that comes out unintentionally.
Indeed. Sorry for the additional “noise.”
Wow, thanks for the very detailed reply! You’ve given me a lot to think about as I work to improve my viewing experience. Much appreciated!
You’re welcome!
I’m in a similar boat - debating AppleTV and the future of my aging Roku devices - so it’s all stuff I’ve kept in mind myself and sharing and I’m glad it’s helping someone.
So now I have a few choices:
1). Stick with my Roku (model 4660) and use either Plex or Jellyfin to watch movies. Jellyfin is local, but still has problems with subtitles being out of sync, as does Plex. Plex has a further problem with downloading subtitles erroring out sometimes.
2). Upgrade Roku to current model (4850) to see if that fixes the freezes I am getting on Plex. The price is $99.
3). Switch to Infuse and Apple TV. It’s pricier than a new Roku, having to pay $99 for a lifetime license to Infuse and $150 for Apple TV (3rd gen and including ethernet and 128 GB memory). $120 on eBay. I. downloaded free trial of the app to my Mac mini and connected to my Plex server. It corrected the subtitles being out of sync on both Plex and Jellyfin. I was using the app on my Mac mini since Infuse can’t run on Roku, but I was seeing glowing reviews of Infuse on the internet, including subtitle downloads.
Since I have the extra money for Apple TV and Infuse, and I am already an Apple household, it seems like a no-brainer.
Any additional comments?
I use ATVs at home and was using Infuse when needed (high bitrate and a few remux) and it was great. I was able to get into the plex new experience beta a few months back and I honestly haven’t used Infuse for Plex since. From what I’ve seen others say it’s much better than it was last year, so seems like they’re getting closer to releasing, but that’s just a guess.
If you go the ATV route, I’d buy the annual or monthly license for Infuse and not lifetime, and cross your fingers the new app comes out soon, if it’s still not meeting your expectations, can upgrade Infuse to lifetime.
Thanks for the advice. I want to keep using Infuse Pro on my Mac Mini for the full free week I have before I decide for sure. But so far so good.
You use it at home on your TV’s , I assume, and not just on MacBooks, or Mac desktops. What I don’t know is if Infuse will be the exact same experience on my Mac Mini as it will on an ATV device hooked up to my TV via HDMI, with a wired connection to a switch.
