How do I download movies to my AppleTV or Roku?
I have a Plex Pass. I can download to my iPad and iPhone.
But where is the option to download it to my AppleTV or Roku Devices?
There are times when I want a full quality 4K video and my isp is too flakey to deliver it.
A download option would allow me to d/l a couple of videos overnight and then watch them at my leisure.
TRANSCODING IS NOT AN OPTION,
Downloads aren’t supported on streaming boxes or smart TVs – only on the mobile clients (Plex for iOS/ipadOS and Android) and the classic desktop app (Plex for Windows/Mac/Linux).
There’s a feature suggestion to add support to (capable) streaming boxes.
Side note: you shouldn’t depend on your ISP to stream media within your home network. If that local stream is going through your ISP, there’s something fishy in your home network setup (that is if you’re streaming the media locally).
If Plex wants to sell a TON of Plex Passes, this feature would certainly go a long way to make that happen!
Keep in mind that not many streaming boxes even have that much storage.
You’ll probably already have a hard time to get an actual high-quality (non-optimized) 4K UHD movie on the current top Apple TV model with its 128 GB storage (and that’s completely ignoring that storage management on the Apple TV is very restrictive about persistent storage – that’s usually limited to stuff like config files, not media).
The 4K files I’m interested in are about 16-20 GB.
My Apple has 128GB. Same for my Roku’s that have MicroSD’s installed.
That brings us to the other big restriction. Local storage is purged by tvOS if needed (e.g. if the system is running low on storage or an app is inactive for a longer period.
From a slightly dated developer guide of Apple (I cannot find a current version; though based on some google searches, it appears the limitation is still in place).
Local Storage for Your App Is Limited
The maximum size for a tvOS app bundle 4 GB. Moreover, your app can only access 500 KB of persistent storage that is local to the device ([…]). Outside of this limited local storage, all other data must be purgeable by the operating system when space is low. You have a few options for managing these resources:
- Your app can store and retrieve user data in iCloud.
- Your app can download the data it needs into its cache directory. Downloaded data is not deleted while the app is running. However, when space is low and your app is not running, this data may be deleted. Do not use the entire cache space as this can cause unpredictable results.
- […]
This means that every app developed for the new Apple TV must be able to store data in iCloud and retrieve it in a way that provides a great customer experience.
TL;DR: these devices aren’t designed for the use case you have in mind.
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