Hi! I created a Collection of 4 TV shows. From the Collection, I created a Playlist that captured only 10 episodes (from whatever show within the Collection) that are in Unwatched status and sorted by Air Date (from oldest to newest). The Playlist works fine, no issues. Then, I went to my Plex Android app, selected the target Playlist, hit the Download button, and my ten episodes download OK. No issues until now. So, lets go and watch the episodes that I just downloaded! Not!!!
To ensure that I am not looking at the server, but to the downloaded episodes, I set my phone in Airplane mode. So, I opened the Plex Android app, hit the hamburger button, hit on More, from the Offline section, I hit Downloads.
First DESIGN issue: In the Items tab, I see the name of the target Playlist. When I hit it, the list is empty. It says 0 items | 0 sec. As the end user, if I go to the Downloads section, and I see the name of the Playlist that I downloaded, I expect to see my episodes there once I hit the Playlist; the same thing as I would do if I was connected to the server. It’s logical! On the server you created a playlist, downloaded it, why can’t you access the files from the Playlist itself? Instead, you get an empty list! That makes no sense at all. The list is just something thrown there to let you know that some data was retrieved based on the target playlist, although you do not know exactly what or where it is.
Second DESIGN issue: Since my Playlist is empty, then, within the Downloads section, I hit the Libraries tab. There, I see one entry, which is: “TV Shows - my server name”. I hit it and it seems like that I am out of the Downloads section now because all the tabs have changed. I see the “Recommended”, “Library”, and “Playlists” tabs now. Yes, indeed, I am in another section of the app because the title changed to “TV Shows…”. To my surprise, all my downloaded shows are listed now, by show, and I can play them! I may get from this that I was in the Downloads section, from there I was shown the library (listing the source server) that I downloaded, and from there the downloaded files opened. Well, that took me way too long to understand. It would have taken me less time to understand it if I downloaded content from multiple sources, because I guess that all the different sources would be listed when I initially hit the Libraries tab. But, since I only have one source, it does not make sense initially.
Third DESIGN issue: OK, I found my downloaded TV shows, but What happened with the Playlist?!?!??!? My episodes are there, sorted by show and not by Air Date, as the original Playlist was built. So, since I am still in the “TV Shows - my server” area of the app, which I opened from the Download section, I tried hitting the “Playlists” tab. Well, I am back to square one. I see my Playlist, but with 0 items inside. So, what is the purpose of this? Why do you list the Playlists if they are empty? Why listing the Playlist in the Downloads (and subsequent) sections if they will not show any offline/downloaded content? I think that the app was designed to jump back and forward between tabs without any logic on where things should go and how they should be presented based on what the end user is trying to accomplish. In terms of files management, the Downloads feature just dumps the files there. Why allowing to sync a Playlist (that has filters, sorting, etc.) if a the end we will just look at dumped data that just sits there? Horrible logic/UI design!!! This same thing happened with Sync in Offline mode, which I reported a couple years ago and no one did a thing about it. Curious thing is that on the forum post a Plex employee confirmed that they were able to replicate the issue and that they would work on it. Well, several years later, and the issue persists, and now in the new/improved Downloads feature. Don’t re-use meaningless code and logic!
I have been a Plex user for around 10 years and this is a constant. Rarely the time that you find a feature that is intuitive from the get-go. I think that the Plex apps are thought and built based on how they are developed/coded, not on how the end user will use them. I do not proclaim myself to be a Plex expert, regardless of how many years I have been using it, but that is my take.
Anyway, thanks for creating Plex, which has been a constant on my life for so many years, with a love-hate relationship (more love than hate, hehehehehe). I hope that my feedback would help on future developments. In the meantime, I would have to get screenshots of my Playlist from the server, so I can know the order to play my offline/downloaded content.
