I host my Plex and Emby server on the same network, but on a different box, and it works fairly well. On Kodi (with Plex) and Emby, it treats the files almost as if it was on my own file system, except that I don’t need to worry about my own desktop running low on disk space as my dedicated home server has way more disk space, etc. Additionally, as you’ve mentioned, it’s nicer when there’s an agent to match my media to the appropriate library + keeps track of my progress.
User base shouldn’t be the end reason for why you should choose one product over the other. If there’s something one product supports that is a deal breaker, you should choose that product (regardless on if its Plex, Emby, Jellyfin, etc). Emby’s matcher, for example, is miles behind Plex’s. Which means you have to, generally, manually match a TV/Movie/etc, while Plex generally can correctly match it for you. If you cared about that feature more than all else, then obviously stick with what you like. For me, the deal breaking feature is External Media Players.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I am already aware of it. Here’s what I’ll list:
The in-browser solution requires you install an additional software to open your file on your OWN computer, and not from one on your own network. Which, if you wanted to do that, you have to download even more tools to get it working. Completely unnecessary, and adds bloats to your computer. Moreover if there’s a breaking change on the Plex UI, the script will break (as it has recently).
The Kodi solution works, but the problem is that you have to use Kodi. Kodi, frankly, is much less Desktop-friendly than PMP and Emby Theater. Moreover, I don’t get as much control over my Plex’s settings, and can’t match things, etc. Which is also unacceptable.
So the whole point of this thread is to try to make this feature something that the Plex team will work on, and while workarounds are accepted, it should be noted that workarounds tend to encourage people to not need to work on a feature.
