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Morning.
On all the posts I’ve read I’ve been unable to read or find out WHY PLEX are no longer supporting the HTPC environment.
So can one of the PLEX employees please explain why you are no longer willing to support the HTPC environment?
If you are no longer supporting PMP, why are you unable to incorporate the PLEX TV MODE on the new interface?
The reason I’ve posted this question is as a direct result of that post. It does not directly explain why you are no longer supporting the HTPC environment or incorporate the TV MODE in the new app.
Second: Plex Media Player. The desktop “side” of the (admittedly Janus-esque) Plex Media Player will live on in the form of the new desktop app. For the TV layout lovers out there, we want to be clear about this: the long-term plan is for the new desktop app to replace Plex Media Player as our only desktop solution. The new desktop app is notably lacking TV mode, which means that we’re going to stop supporting the traditional HTPC setup (using a desktop computer connected to your TV or home theater) with this app. There. We said it. It marks the end of an era for us, and we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t a little bittersweet. But take heart. We looked at how most people were using the app, and most of you will have an equal (if not better) experience with a streaming device and our new players.
The new Plex app is cross-platform, therefore less work to maintain, so that seems to be the main reason why PMP (and UWP app) is being retired.
As for why there is no “TV-mode” (and remote control) support in the new app, I do not know. I’m sure there will be more details about the future of the new Plex app soon. However, they went as far as to say “we’re going to stop supporting the traditional HTPC setup” which makes me think they have no intention of adding TV-mode and remote control support. We shall see. They have months to get all of this right, so we’ll see what happens. Since everything will continue to function normally until then, I won’t panic for a while longer. And I think most of us have a streaming device with Plex (even if it’s not our favorite) in the meantime as well.
Edit: Would just like to add that I’m using the Xbox One app 90% of the time (it’s been great, all the features I need), but PMP on my tiny HTPC (Win 10, also runs my Plex server) was always my backup if there were any problems. Both worked great with Logitech Harmony remote and a little tuning. I have no other devices for my setup, nor plans for any. So I’ll be down to one supported app next year (with TV and remote support). I can see why people are looking at Emby and various other competitors now, unfortunately for Plex.
@Vanon - Thanks for the reply. I’ve started another thread, but I’m sure you’re more up to speed on this than myself.
https://forums.plex.tv/t/need-an-htpc-ui-plex-vs-emby/449325/14
It was this part that I would like an answer to. Why? The statement is one thing, but to not give a full explanation on an issue that has far reaching implications is something else.
Again thanks for taking the time to reply. I have been using PLEX for soooo many years I don’t know anything lse.
https://forums.plex.tv/t/bring-back-htpc-support/448246/28
Just sharing this vote topic.
says it right in the blog post…
“looked at how most people were using the app” they are claiming that not enough people use the tv mode and plex media player to justify development, and this was confirmed in the megathread where @elan said apparently only “444 people use it”
and then they go on to say how the new streaming devices would be a better solution according to them, meaning no need for PMP:
“Our new Apple TV and Android players support nearly all the same formats. And of course modern streaming devices don’t need as much care and feeding as desktop computers. They don’t need to sleep (much), they use a tiny amount of electricity (Al Gore made us say that) and they don’t require nearly as much effort to get up and running. They have remotes that work wonderfully out of the box (no more fiddly custom key mappings!)”
444 people. We if that’s the case, then I completely understand why they wouldn’t continue with PMP. But would it be feasible to have TV mode on the new app. That would put an immediate end to the peeps request.
I’ve just tried the new app and it doesn’t seem to have audio pass-through. Just played stereo.
It doesn’t have audio pass-through, that has been one of the big backlashes from the community.
and I’m not convinced that’s an accurate number of how many people use it. Seems way to low.
It was way less surprising to me, as a person who had to abandon PMP over the past year+ as support seemed to wane. I suspect I’m not alone, and that the numbers have been in decline for a while. It’s just so easy to plug in a cheap device (for a TV) or a higher-end device (for a theater), which are both cheaper than most HTPC’s, and offer the other streaming services.
It feels like the writing has been on the wall for PMP for a while.
On the other hand, there’s no sign that PMP will stop working anytime soon. It’s pretty likely that it’ll work long after the official support retirement date. Heck, all the old PMP versions even still work AFAIK, and those have been basically unsupported for a while.
Having spent numerous hours catching up on these topics, I can understand losing PMP and to be fair would almost agree with it if the new app had the same functionality. TV mode and keyboard/remote control feature.
I don’t quite understand why they didn’t include keyboard shortcuts, that one feels like a freebie to me.
I can accept the rest on the assumption they were trying to reduce resources for the Plex Player software. I imagine it’s way easier to maintain now without a lot of stuff that talked directly to the drivers. And just IMO, I think they didn’t include TV mode/remote because it would have just led to constant requests for the rest of the features. But that’s just me tossing out guesses.
I feel like that pretty much every plex client ever made. Shortly after they launch them it goes straight to abandon-ware.
For the original question, I’ve discussed it in these threads, but I wanted to recap my thoughts. I really think the retirement of PMP is simple: The new Plex Player needs far less maintenance work. So those resources (dollars!) can be spent on products with a far higher number of users.
So while we are quite understandably frustrated that the HTPC is being abandoned, just imagine the alternative scenario: If users of Roku, Apple/IOS, Smart TV, Android were told that there isn’t enough resources to resolve bugs and add features because they’re dedicating those resources to the HTPC, where there are far fewer users and it’s in decline.
It would probably lead to a revolt on those forums too.
Plex has finite resources (they’re not a huge company) so to an extent, I don’t think there was a win for them here. They had to make a call. I’m not happy about it, but I’ve come to accept it. I kind of wish they’d been more honest, instead of using reasons like “less electricity!”, but I can see why they’d use that route to explain.
I wonder how many people that are actually running their own Plex server (at least PMS on Windows) were using PMP. If not as their main player, then their main or only backup (if any issues with other app, bad updates, or particular files). It makes sense that there are many, many more people using the “more popular” apps if they’re just playing stuff on shared servers they found, not running a HTPC at all.
I didn’t really know Plex had evolved into this until fairly recently. I’ve always just wanted a beautiful media player to play my own files (since Boxee, WDTV, XBMC days) and this is how I still use Plex.
Obliged. 
cough raspberry pi cough for <$60 it’ll play most anything and everything, but might struggle with 4k. also a decent server if it’s just in-home, plug a small on-desk NAS like Synology DiskStation DS218j for $150, can get them for <$100 on ebay and weeee… decent 720-1080 stream box for ~$200 + 2 drives (~$100/e for 4TB).
People who build HTPC don’t want decent. They want the best.
@whitey193 & @Italia458 I’m not sure where you’re pulling that number from, but that’s certainly not what Elan said. Perhaps you mean this post? Killing PMP, but that’s not a reference to how many people used PMP, and he was quoting a number another user mentioned about participants in a thread.
I totally agree.But I have to clarify whether they talking about no longer supporting the Home PC’s as a streaming device for PLEX? *Is this what they are saying?
If so, where are you going to store and stream all your Home Movies and Ripped DVDs from? Or that feature is simply no longer part of the deal?! I have a Roku, Arduino Box and a XBox Game console but none of them allow me to play my very extensive, ripped DVD collection of films and tv series already on my PC? (Yes, I actually own every single DVD and TV Series DVD ripped to my Home PC. I have been enjoying being able to view them all, very easily using Plex, streamed to the Roku where I can watch on my HD TV, Mobile phone or Tablet, whenever I want to, basically from anywhere with mobile phone service.? Is that what they are no longer going to be supporting? Sorry if this is a stupid question or I have misunderstood!
If this is the case, WHY WOULD I NEED PLEX any longer… I can watch all the t.v. and streaming crap I want on my Roku, Xbox or my Home PC already or any number of other devices I already own? I don’t need another streaming service!
I hope I am misunderstanding this?
Please be gentle, I suffer from a traumatic brain injury, my memory is whacked so i sometimes misinterpret or misunderstand what I have read or seen. I truly hope I have in this case!
My apologies to all! If I am incorrect with my assumption.
Good news!
