Praise Kier, this was super helpful. Thank you!
has anyone been brave enough to try the latest app version on IOS 2025.18.0 ? if so is it any good? if so is it any good? PIP in particular with Live TV
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No way! Will stay with the old app until it’s not supported from iOS. Till then they fix the new app or I become familiar with jellyfin. Will see what happens first. One thing is clear for me. There is no way back after I switch to another solution
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I agree, right now I am not updating my server or the app in case something breaks or degrades.
@Becki have you, or anyone, found a similar approach to doing this for AppleTV. I’ve secured and deployed the final (original) version of plex on all my iOS devices and I’ll just stay with that forever or until Plex gets the new iOS app into a state of parity with the old app.
But what do we do about AppleTV? I really need a way to save/backup and prevent the AppleTV app from updating to a new experience version.
Anyone?
The use of ipatool via brew makes the downgrade to the built #871812101 really really easy…
ipatool download -b com.plexapp.plex --external-version-id 871812101
And, as mentioned here, Apple Configurator 2 allows to deploy it at once on devices with a different App Store ID. Back to the last decent version!
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This does not support tvOS though.
Apple Configurator can handle Apple TVs, but given I do not have this last device, impossible to find out if the same IPA file is working…
Given that Plex has a TestFlight app for AppleTV that is different than the iOS app, it looks to me like they use different IPAs now. The question is whether the old IPAs covered both iOS and tvOS? Anyone know…seems unlikely to me…
Bonjour,
Merci pour les informations partagées précédemment concernant la possibilité de revenir à une ancienne version de Plex sur iOS, la nouvelle étant pour moi imbuvable.
Je souhaitais apporter ma contribution. J’ai découvert une application pour Mac/Windows que vous connaissez sûrement : iMazing. Après quelques recherches, il s’avère que c’est une application validée par Apple. La licence coûte 49 € par an et, croyez-moi, je ne regrette absolument pas mon achat.
J’ai utilisé iMazing pour rechercher l’historique des versions de Plex et j’ai eu la joie de voir s’afficher à l’écran toutes les versions complètes depuis sa création. J’ai pu restaurer une version de fin 2023 et, bonheur suprême, j’ai retrouvé mon Plex d’antan !
Au-delà de cette fonctionnalité, iMazing offre énormément d’autres avantages pour gérer son iPhone.
Voilà, j’espère que ma contribution sera utile au forum.
Ha I came to ask the same thing, but I’m guessing if people have a solution that works there’s no rush to change it
the solution of not upgrading is a bit tedious , who is going to be brave?!? 
Firstly, many thanks to the OP and all the commenters in this post. I have been patiently/not so patiently waiting for months for the Plex team to fix the new iOS app (in particular the mobile downloads, which was my main use of the iPhone app) and as it appears that will never happen I have followed this guide to downgrade.
I did have trouble transferring the non-updateable app (after uninstalling the current version) to my iPhone 16 (iOS 18.6), so these are the steps I followed for anyone that might have a similar challenge:
- Followed the linked guide in the original post to the letter, using a Windows 11 VM, iTunes 12.6.5 and Charles Proxy and getting build number 871812101 of the Plex app. In the Github post there is an alternate/”easier” method listed using “ipatool” but I did not try this myself. There are a couple of places in the guide where the downloaded app needs to be deleted, if you miss the download popup (as seen in the screenshots) this can be done from the Library tab in iTunes.
- Once “Plex 8.45.ipa” was available I transferred it from the Windows VM to my Macbook Pro (2016, MacOS 12.7.6) and extracted the files using Archive Utility as described in the OP. However, the steps to create the modifed .ipa resulted in a file that would not install via cable, airdrop, imazing (as suggested in another comment on this post) or sideloading (AltStore).
- Instead, I installed Apple Configurator 2.16 as described in this comment (my MBP cannot be updated to MacOS 14 as needed by the current MacOS app store version). Using Apple Configurator I could install just the extracted “PlexMobile” file from the Plex 8.45/PayLoad folder directly to my iPhone, confirming it does not appear in the iOS App Store update list.
Hopefully this helps someone to return their Plex app to its former glory. I’ve been using and promoting Plex for many years as a paid member, but the new app experience and reaction from the Plex team (or lack of) has left me concerned for the future of the platform.
Thanks for the guide. Pretty ridiculous the plex users have to come up with our own workaround instead of plex just fixing the problem.
THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!! This is really amazing. It is a true testament to how bad the new version is.
Please allow me to thank you again because one thank you comment is not enough.
For MAC users, there is a much easier way to achieve all this (in my opinion at least). These are my simple steps:
Prerequisite: Homebrew installed in command line. If not installed, you can install it with:
/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)”
Plex should be deleted from your device (iPhone / iPad)
-
Install ipatool and ideviceinstaller
brew install ipatool
brew install ideviceinstaller -
Login to App Store with ipatool (use the email associated with your Apple ID)
ipatool auth login -e xxx@gmail.com -
Download the Legacy Plex app (ID = 383457673; version = 871812101)
ipatool download -i 383457673 --external-version-id 871812101 -
Remove metadata from package file
zip 383457673_8.45.ipa -d iTunesMetadata.plist -
Connect USB-C cable between MAC and iPhone / iPad
You may be prompted to “trust” the computer on the device -
Install the patched Plex version
ideviceinstaller -i 383457673_8.45.ipa
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Unbelievable. If you’re ever in Seattle let me buy you a beer.
Edit: you also don’t have to delete the old plex if you have it on your device so you don’t lose your downloads. I just used this method to be able to turn auto updates back on.
Hi, I followed your instructions and the app downgraded like a charm, but… I had previously made the small payment to remove the playback limit on the app and now it asks me to pay again. I don’t mind paying it, but it doesn’t complete - no matter if I click “Restore Purchase“ or “Activate (XXX money)“, I receive the following message:
”Uh-oh!
The operation couldn’t complete. Please try again.”
And without this, I have the Plex watermark above the photos and 1 minute limitation playback for videos 
What should I do?
Maybe don’t remove the metadata from package file before installation? 
ok, just to give an update
I’ve just Airdropped the untouched downloaded ipa file (without removing the metadata) and the Restore Purchase button worked, so now I have again the unlimited playback.
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