Hey there,
I get an error message whenever i try to download anything over the Plex Android App.
It doesn’t matter what kind of video or audio codec, or container the file is in. Nor if i download “original quality” or transcode to lesser quality.
Android App: 8.28.0.30077 Plex Media Server: 1.25.2.5319 (Ubuntu)
I reproduced this and have the server log. From 18:08 (6:08 p.m) is when it happens:
Plex Media Server Logs_2022-01-08_19-56-41.zip (942.6 KB)
Would really appreciate help
Cheers guys
No one? I Think i provided all the information needed. If not please let me know
Best regards
What exact error message do you get?
The logs show you’re trying to trigger the download several times (approx. 10 sec between each attempt). There seems to be some “invalid file size” – though that doesn’t seem to stop the server side of things.
The android logs might be more telling about what’s (not) going on.
Thx for replying tom80H,
you are correct, i tried to download repeatedly since it gives an error right after pressing “Download”.
I have the App set to download “Original”. Most of my files are 1,5 to 4GB in size, and right now i have 30Gb of Storage available… Setting in App is to use the available space.
The error is something like:
“Some items could not be downloaded”, and “There was an error downloading this file. Swipe to remove or tap to retry.”
Here is the Network log from the Android device:
network.log (8.6 KB)
Cheers
Seeing the same issue also. Worked fine and now it’s broken due to some updates presumably.
The support seems to be non existent… But I guess it might have something to do with the Android App.
Mine was updated on January the 5th and i’m pretty sure it worked before the End of the year.
So let’s hope some Update fixes this or the Support (through a miracle) still replies and finds the issue
Cheers
So… It seems to be the new Android App that breaks the downloads.
I downgraded to Version 8.27.2.29938 and Downloads work. Original Quality and Transcodes as well.
Tried then the new Version available on the Google Playstore and they stopped working.
New Functions:
• Player: prevent content getting stuck after advert playback.
• Player: upgrade ExoPlayer to v2.16.1.
• Downloads: improve download speed when downloading onto external storage.
• [Mobile] Live TV: setting recording offsets would cause a crash on Android 12.
• [TV] Navigation: focus would jump up when opening sidebar.
• [TV] Background tasks would start too frequently.
• [TV] Preplay: use correct icon for ‘play trailer’ icon.
Don’t know which one of those broke the Download function on Android 
Cheers
Same problem here. Currently on 8.30.0.30648 on android and get the same repeating error when trying to download. Downloads work fine from the Windows store app. Same problem on both my Pixel phone and Fire tablet. Little help, Plex support?
Attaching the relevant portion of the log from my android device.
log.txt (19.6 KB)
Same problem here.
Doesn’t seem to bother anyone from the Plex Team… I am still using an old Plex Version on my Android Phone where downloads still work.
I mean “kinda”… Some bigger movies still fail even tho i have enough space set up on the App and on the phone.
Seems that the download function still needs work…
I am about to use another OS for my Plex Server, this might fix it. Otherwise Jellyfin is still an Option
I’ve had the same issue for months on my Pixel 5a. Here is how I was able to work around the issue. I found that I was able to download successfully on cell data, so it has to be something with in-network wifi. I found several other threads that seem to indicate DNS-related issues.
After trying several things, here are 3 options (pick one) that all worked for me:
I wish we didn’t need to do this, but the above solutions all worked for me. I think ultimately the issue seems to be inside your network DNS related.
Changing my network’s DHCP DNS servers to Google’s did NOT work (at least in my testing).
Hopefully this helps someone.
Hey there jhoward15,
thank you very much for your reply, thought the topic was pretty much dead without any help from the Plex Developers.
I am prepared to test your solutions and see if they work, but honstly i am not that positive 
All my Home devices have a static IP assigned, and my DNS server on the router is set to 1.1.1.1. i don’t remember but i think i tried already the Google DNS and the provider DNS.
I never tried the cloudflare app (1.1.1.1), but i use the blockada App which is basically a VPN app to block Malware, adware and what not. There the DNS is set to 1.1.1.1. even if it wasn’t, my router has 1.1.1.1 set as default DNS as i said previously. But still i will give it a go during this week.
Btw. I have 2 commercial VPN subscriptions, none of those sorted this out either.
As for your last solution i will try that but i doubt it will work, because the message that “the download has failed” appears right after pressing " download". So i probably won’t have time to enable wifi. Eheheh 
Other than that:
Plex has released 2 or 3 new App Versions for Android since i opened this thread. They didn’t fix this issue. So i am still stuck with the old one that works: 8.27.2.29938.
And for what it’s worth i already tried downloading while i was on vacation in Hotels. Didn’t work either.
Will report later. Thx again
Yeah - based on what you have set up, I’m not sure my suggestions will help. Worth a shot, but I wouldn’t be optimistic either. I guess there may be several download issues going on. My suggestions help with the DNS-related ones.
I will tell you that changing my network’s DNS did not fix the issue. I think it has to do with DNS rebinding protection on the router. In my case, my phone was still making DNS calls to my router which redirects to 1.1.1.1. Networking is out of my area of expertise, but the router and Plex didn’t play nice together and bypassing the router for DNS on my phone fixed it for me (which is why the cell data only worked too). But I may have a different issue. There are a couple of other threads on the DNS issue.
On the cell service then wifi solution - for me on cell data the downloads work. If yours don’t, it may be a different issue.
Nice to know the last working version though. Sorry my suggestions didn’t do it for you
I also used Yatse for a while accessing my Plex server. The interface is worse, but the downloads work well.
As i said: i don’t know. May or may not be DNS related. I will test it later this week.
Thanks for the Yatse tip. I used that app loooooong ago for Kodi. One has to pay for the download function, right? I’ll tive it a try if anything else fails.
It might even be my best bet since older versions of the Plex app work, and the newer ones don’t… So i am 99,9% certain that something inside the Plex App somehow got broken after an Update…
Will get back to you later.
Cheers and thanks again
PS: i am not a network genius by any means. That rebind protection thing i know, because i had to mess with those router settings before… It was when i configured Netflix to run with a SmartDNS service.
The Netflix App always accessed the Google DNS Servers despite your own DNS settings, and that way blocked users from accessing Netflix US while located in other country. So you had to set up that rebind protection thind.
Why Plex would do something similar and only in the recent versions of their app is a mistery to me.
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