Browsing Synced Items when Offline is Broken

[MrTyton]

Server Version#: 1.19.3.2764
Player Version#: 8.0.1.17410

When using the Android Mobile App: Whenever my phone is in airplane mode (or otherwise disconnected from the internet), the only way for me to actually find my synced content is if I specifically do a search for it using all data sources. The libraries don’t populate with what is synced to device, and more annoyingly if I click on “Downloads & Sync On Device”, then the only thing that shows up is Podcasts. Nothing else. I have to go into my sync status settings in order to see what is even on the device, then go out of it and do a search, undoing it from pinned items and telling it to browse local stuff in order to find the shows.

This seems very broken, especially since I know that like… a year ago? If the phone was offline, then it would still have knowledge about what was on the device in the normal browsing menus.

[kodiak82ng]

similar situation here. i’m not using podcasts but trying to get synced content to work on my android devices and then review library or downloaded content doesn’t work at all.

any plex devs around to review?

[kodiak82ng]

after looking around at other requests for help on this i am not sure we’ll get any help.

in the off chance any plex devs or team members see this, here is some additional information on what i am seeing…

Server Version#: 1.19.3.2764 (nvidia shield pro 2019, with remote access enabled and working)
Player Version#: 8.0.1.17410 (pixel 3xl, samsung galaxy tab 5e, latest firmware each)

i am able to sync content to the android devices just fine including Playlists, entire Folders of music content, single tracks, and movies. when i select the “Downloads & Sync” option on the sidebar this window pops up:

then when i select the MANAGE button in top right, this window appears:

i’m not sure what i am supposed to be seeing in the first window above but would expect some listing of my synced/downloaded content so i can browse and select/play it. as you can see, nothing appears.

if i close the “Downloads & Sync” window with the “X” in the upper left and try the search (magnifying glass in upper right) i’ve found i can search for downloaded content by changing the “search locations” (dropdown in upper right) to “Downloads” as shown here:

then searching for a playlist title shows this:

and then clicking on the playlist shows all of the items:

the playlist then works just fine. the same works for searching the movie and music track titles.

so, the content is on the android device and plays from the locally saved content. it is just a pain in the rear to use this way. i have to assume there should be a list of my content in the first “Downloads & Sync” window but can’t find any mention of it working and all of the Plex articles are for the old mobile sync system that doesn’t appear in the current android apps and only partially worked in the past.

anyway, hope the helps in the chance a plex dev see this. i’m motivated to help and make this work since i’d like it to be a key component in my Plex setup.

[kodiak82ng]

i decided to take another look at this today and found that killing the Plex android app and then restarting it appears to create the library needed to show in the "Downloads & Sync” window. this might be a simple bug to fix by the devs but until then anyone else finding this later might benefit. here is what my "Downloads & Sync” window looks now:

whew. navigation is a bit wonky after selecting the “MANAGE” button but at least the library list does appear now.