Are there any devices that still show backgrounds?
And if there are, is it worth buying one? Or are they eventually going to get the new Plex UI that eliminates backgrounds?
I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of time choosing the best backgrounds for all my plex videos: movies, shows, seasons, even collections. I’ll be pretty furious if all that time was for nothing.
What do you mean by “backgrounds”? If you’re referring to a movie or TV show background showing up when you play an item, my Roku Ultra displays those just fine. Otherwise, I’m not sure what you mean.
That’s definitely the background I’m talking about - and you’re right, it does show up for a couple of seconds while the video is loading.
But that’s just a small part of how backgrounds worked in the old app.
Backgrounds would appear when you’re browsing - movies, shows, collections, seasons, anything. When you’d select the video, the background would display behind the details (poster, title, description, buttons, etc.). There were even two options for how the backgrounds displayed: “fuzzy” or “dimmed”.
(I’d love to post a screenshot, but I can’t open the Plex Retro app to get one)
I would surmise that the “extra” background functionality is no longer available. It appears to me that the Plex team is attempting to make the various client platforms more unified in look and experience, and in so doing are removing any behavior that cannot be replicated across all clients.
I know there’s a lot of love for the “retro” Plex look, but the fact is that the software has moved on from that iteration, and while making your voice heard can sometimes lead to positive changes, it might be wise to embrace the evolving platform. Trust me, I was a huge fan of the retro app, but I let it go a couple of years ago.
I was able to answer my own question. The Fire TV Stick shows the backgrounds that I put so much time into.
Really the whole UI is different on the Fire TV Stick, and there are plenty of things that the new Plex Roku app does better. But the backgrounds are there, and for me personally, that’s enough.
To illustrate the difference, here is my “Lord of the Rings” collection:
ROKU:
FIRE TV STICK:
Just to be clear. All the apps are going to get the new interface including the Android TV app on Firestick, Shield, etc ( which is currently being worked on). So don’t go buying new devices thinking those apps will never change. I just don’t want you to spend money only to get upset again.
If you want backgrounds I suggest making a feature suggest here and make sure you tag it with uno
Thanks @BigWheel, I really appreciate getting some information directly from a Plex Employee.
I’ll probably still use the Fire TV Stick for the immediate future, but now I won’t be surprised when it upgrades to the new UI and I lose my backgrounds there too.
I had no idea that feature suggestion was the way to go here - I will submit one right now. Thanks!
@BigWheel I just discovered that the PS4 app has working backgrounds. Unless I’m crazy, it’s also using the same UNO UI that the new Roku app is.
Is that exactly the answer to my question?
Or is PS4 going to lose backgrounds at some point?
Those screens on the PS4 app were the same as before UNO. I don’t think they are leaving but I don’t want to make promises.
Personally I would like them too in the Roku app, but not my decision.
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