FEATURE REQUEST - Restore lost features: alternative use of PMP without a mouse

General Discussions
1

Departed Plex Home Theater was great for use without a mouse. I do not understand why Plex Media Player could not preserve some of that features. It is OK to use a mouse but the user knows when is best to use the mouse and when is best to use the keyboard. Not the programmers, I believe.

Why can not I use “+” and “-” keys to change volume in PMP as I could do in PHT? Could it really be an improvement?

In PHT I could type 11:36 and enter and take the video to this exact position: 11 minutes and 36 seconds from start. Now in PMP I have to lock the cursor over a giant progress bar and take forever to find this exact position. Another improvement?

In PHT it was fast to navigate the library using just the arrow keys and enter. Now it takes ages of rolling and clicking. Another improvement? Maybe Plex developers believe that the On_Deck and _Continue_Watching covers all needs one user could possibly have.

2

Put PMP into its ‘tv full screen’ mode. Then you have a “10-foot UI” which is optimised for remote control operation and for operating at a distance from the screen.
The volume keys + and - will work then as well.

3

Thanks for point that, but what I miss is not the 10-foot-ui interface. For that the plex application on the cell phone is great — using some sort of streamer, of course, like a ChromeCast or Roku. And use “finger navigation”

What is missing in PMP or PMS interface is the 3-ft-UI interface present in PHT: As I told before, the keyboard navigation in PHT using arrow keys, number keys and ENTER

As I wrote, In PHT one could key in 1100 and press enter during playback and jump to that position in the video, in less than two seconds. Under PMP or PMS this can take forever and it is not precise: you need to focus on a progress bar, click and drag. Takes forever and in practice requires a mouse

Imagine I have a list with a few points in a few videos, absolute positions in mm:ss form, and I want to play these to an audience, using my computer. A sure thing in PHT, with seconds of interruption. Now with the “modern” one, people need to watch and wait and follow a progress bar as I try to reach these positions. A bit childish, and really slow…

Navigation on the “10f-UI TV Full Screen” is also decided for us, poor users: one size, two lines. I can use PgUp/PgDn and the arrow keys, but I can not change the size of the images, so in a 1900x1200 screen I can have 14-16 titles. If I want more, ok: just change to the “not TV-Full-Screen” and now I can change the size of the images and have around 50. But then I can not use the PgUp PgDn keys or the arrow keys in the same way as in TV Full Screen mode.

Oh, and to go back to that mode I need to navigate back to the home screen because the button dissapears. Funny.

Maybe you like the Windows 10 way of use letters to navigate the apps or contacts library, since it works great on the phone or computer. Then you look at your plex library folder of a few dozen series and think: "sure I can press “n” and navigate to the first title that starts with, let’s say, “n”. No, you can not. Save that 105+ keys keyboard for another use.

Maybe you are navigating at series on you computer and open one that have ten seasons and similar images, and you think: “sure, I can press 9 and go to Season 9”. No you can not. Save your number keys for use in Calc, maybe.

It seems like stuff microsoft or apple does with OS or office programs sometimes, removing features for no apparent reason. Why a start button in windows anyway?

Many times user interfaces work like this. Features come and go, simple things just not happen, and life goes on with great new features. See, PMS has a screen saver!

Thanks for the patience

4

In PMP “TV Full Screen Mode” alerts about new versions of the programs does not show up on screen. Only on the “other” view, so if you only use PMS in this view mode you will never see these.