@earratia I agree, as soon as they change my Roku app, I’m dumping Plex for Emby.
Change option C to:
Redesign the UI so that consolidation is possible using the OLD library format. This “notion” that all servers are equal is BAD and not thought out well.
This new UI has made me stop sharing to multiple people I’ve met here in the forums. We had exchanged servers. Previously someone had to switch to my server to use it but now even when they are using their own servers anytime they search for a movie or show they end up playing it from my system vs theirs due to the way the search feature now works.
They should have kept the old format of showing the libraries as is without the “content type” menus now used.
Consolidation should have taken place per admin account. So for example if I have:
Plex 1:
Christmas Movies
Movies
3D Movies
4K Movies
Plex 2:
TV Shows
Sports
TV News
TV Late Night
Educational
Plex 3:
Music
Pictures
Home Video
Then in the client it would show like this using the OLD FORMAT:
3D Movies
4K Movies
Christmas Movies
Educational
Home Video
Movies
Music
Pictures
Sports
TV Late Night
TV News
TV Shows
There would not be a “server choice” per say but now an “account choice”.
Of course they SHOULD have also allowed the admin to turn ON or OFF the new features such as NEWS, WEB SHOWS & PODCASTS (and rename them as well). Since these are now “Virtual Libraries” the admin would be able to grant access to each user just like any other library. If the admin enabled these feature the Library list would now look like:
3D Movies
4K Movies
Christmas Movies
Movies
Music
News
Pictures
Podcasts
Sports
TV Late Night
TV News
TV Shows
Web Shows
In this situation the user has one COHESIVE list of LIBRARIES that make up the CONTENT the admin wants THAT user to see. The admin could use multiple servers to accomplish this to split up the load of transcoding or to separate movies from tv shows or whatever.
They could have taken this a step further and allow the user to MERGE accounts in one dashboard as well. So if a husband and wife both ran servers of their own they could get a master list of all libraries. But this gives control back to the admin and user of what they want the libraries/menu to look like and allows them to continue to create libraries that make sense based on the content.
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My “Feature Request” would be that this feature request be extended to include all of the new apps that have gravitated towards the “content before server” theory. (PMP, PS4, Roku,Android, etc) It just doesn’t work in any way that makes sense.
One of the most annoying things - I have to customize each app on every device to basically ignore the servers and libraries I don’t want to see immediately (move the into the more section), and the customization doesn’t seem to stick. Updates often revert to the default see everything mode.
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I’m going to have to resort to re-purposing an old tablet with the last usable UI installed as a remote in order to get an acceptable experience. Not ideal and I should not have to go to this length to avoid this abomination of a UI.
That’s true MovieFan.Plex.
Another alternative (gasp) is to share plans up front. Especially drastic changes like UI design. You could poll members to get the reaction before a single line of code is ever written. This could be part of a Blog or email.
I bet most users would love to get this type of thing up front and vote on it using something like a web based service (not forums). This way users who don’t frequent the forums much would still be able to participate and give valuable feedback.
All that would have been needed is a few markups of old vs new with a paragraph or two explaining the new functionality.
That’s one way to prioritize work based on what users like/want.
Not to be critical but Android isn’t the first to get this UI and many of the users on the other platforms didn’t like it either. If memory serves me correctly people with many libraries didn’t like this new UI very much as it kills off their hard work setting up those libs to make sense. On the other hand users who only had a few libs didn’t mind or like the new UI which makes total sense when you think about it.
Any admin who doesn’t have multiple types setup doesn’t experience the “hidden” library syndrome that admins with many libs do. One movie, one TV Shows, one home video ect doesn’t really bring out the downfalls of this new UI.
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For me the issue primarily is the consolidation of the servers, that was a real pain as I have multiple servers with the same content (having a backup, and a my passport for travel). Categories made no sense at all as I have ordered my libraries in the structure I want to see (as others have noted). Its hard to be more constructive, there really wasn’t anything laudable I found in the new app so I simply had to opt out. The interface was poor and the functionality (i.e. bugs) just as bad.
I’ve reverted to the last good version and haven’t seen the new one for months and won’t until the comments here and on the play store improve. If the Roku version follows suit I’ll have to consider moving - and I don’t say that lightly, I’ve used Plex daily for so long now I can’t recall life without it.
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No joke. If the public Roku app updates to have this consolidated server, consolidated library nonsense, I’m switching my Roku to use Emby instead. I really do not like the this new design theory or its implementation, and it’s not at all because I’m new to it. I’m not new to it. It has been available for months.
Giving us control to implement our own server and library structure how we see fit is superior over a universal mandate to consolidate everything that has terrible scaling issues. It doesn’t matter why we originally organized things a certain way. It matters that we can.
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I loaded PMP today just because, and it updated itself to v3.71.1. I don’t know how long it’s been there, but there’s a “Layout” icon at the top now that switches PMP back to looking like Plex Web instead of having the Categories whatsit. Fantastic.
Umm… why can’t we have a similar layout switch on Android (or any other app, tbh)?
Yes that’s the web view and it’s been there. Works fine on a computer that has web components but can’t be reproduced the same way on Shield, Roku, Apples etc.
And to the iOS app, please. Working on the premise that the client has internet access all the time just does not work. I don’t have internet access where I work or on the subway. I have to fiddle with the options every time to enable offline mode. Of course, I forget to turn it back on when I am home and just find that my shows have not synced the next day. Please, at least refresh the screen with the local content first, so we don’t have to stare at the screen waiting for a network timeout before we can get into our shows.
Don’t forget the newly updated Samsung TV app. It’s even worse than on Android due to having to use a remote to click around.
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I love that it’s been a little over a month and this request is only a vote away from another request that’s over 4 years old.
Not that reassuring actually, especially considering the 2nd most requested item is coming up to it’s 6th year anniversary in January.
We should throw a party for it.
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Someone at Plex aside from MoveFan.Plex has had to have noticed this by now.
Do they not use the app themselves? What user with more than one library type per category would want this UI?
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"We have limited resources that we use entirely on half-baked UI rewrites. What, do you think we can find out what people want and how they use the software AND make a UI based on needs and fixing bugs? "
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I just did something that I have not done before since the ill-conceived decision to limit our votes was implemented - I changed my vote. I just removed a vote from a request that I think is important, in order to add the vote to this request. That’s how serious I am about the new Roku UI.
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I’d probably due the same if it was a blanket “bring back the old UX” instead of just for Android mobile. 
I don’t like the new UX on anything they have deployed it on.
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I just realized I put it on the wrong post. I meant it for the Roku UI request.
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I kinda suggested earlier that I thought this feature request should be changed to all of the apps that have switched to this UI. That didn’t get too far.
That’s a real problem here. I’m pretty sure I’ve posted in almost every forum for each app, stating the reasons I don’t like the new app, why it doesn’t work for me, and even included (what I thought) were some constructive suggestions on how to make it work if we absolutely have to stay with this design.
Plex can’t see the forest for the trees, obviously. When the same complaints and problems with the UI are almost identical, regardless of the operating system or client, then maybe it’s time to rethink the direction the UI is headed in.
I’m 100% in favour of the apps looking as similar as possible across all devices. But we need apps that actually work the way we expect them to. Even more important than that, the apps have to be easy to use and don’t require us to read a manual on how to get the basic functions we had with the previous version. I don’t remember which app I first tried, but I clicked around the page forever, sure I would get the basics figured out without jumping to the help manual. I finally had to surrender, only to find there was no real way for me to have just my server, or just my friends server displayed. I had to have all or nothing. Yes, I know I can customize – we’ve been told many times there’s no need to select a server if we customize – that doesn’t do what I want.
My choice of apps is getting pretty thin. I stopped trying with PMP, because I didn’t like the UI. Next, the PS4 app was ignored. Then the Android mobile app was delegated to music only. And finally the Roku app was depreciated to a dust collector below the TV. That one hurt, because it was my main device. I think all I’m left with now is the Android TV app, and an older Plex app on a Samsung smart TV.
I’m not convinced anyone is really paying attention and is ignoring the big picture. Negative comments on the UI are considered little more than venting. (I admit, I’m venting right now) Having said that, I hope Plex can see a way to incorporate this UI if the have to with some compromises that keep all of the simple, easy features we have enjoyed for the last few years.
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So it’s been over 2 months now. The Plex staff haven’t indicated at what point the voting on this turns into actual action. What’s the threshold where the developers see there’s enough demand to act on it?
