It would be GREAT to have a feature while forwarding so we can view the video clipping as I can see in Youtube and Netflix? It is hard to forward and stop without knowing how much I have forwarded.
You mean preview thumbnails? Plex has that already:
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ā¦ the usefulness is totally dependent on which client is used:
Plexweb/New Player/PMP - fine
Roku/Apple - fine
FireTV - useless - not worth the trouble of generating them. <āwhat could be a lengthy process, made light-years better recently, but can still be lengthy.
Note: VPTs take up space in your database, not a lot, but if you switch 'em on, make sure you have ample free space.
Iām sure I can be critical of darn near everything, but in this case I donāt have a Shield, so Iāll take ur word for it. "Chips-Yoko-Ono-Ahoyā ( @Xhaka ) over there also says theyāre find on the Shield (finally), soā¦ I trust yaāll know whazzup.
All I know is the implementation on FireTV is a joke. Not a funny one.
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Dunno if it is client depended, but on Shield the VPT are working fine now, at least for me.
But maybe you are more picky than I am 
Well I donāt know if it is the same for all Android TV clients, that is why I was asking.
What is the problem with the FireTV?
Iāll spare ya the vertical cell phone image, but when scrubbing, if we get a thumb in 30 minutes itās a miracle and a milestone in development.
Literally, they are unfit for purpose.
Really? Shield, instantly, with remote server. Even kicks embys ass in this regard. Or do you mean there are not enough thumbs generated?
Iām spoiled by my Roku - Roku has and still is flawless in the implementation. FireTV is a disaster - half done (if that much) dropped out of the hopper way before itās time. A true disgrace.
FireTV is using the same thumbs Roku is. Roku displays one every 10 seconds. FireTV displays one an hour - or some such nonsense. A pitiful display. Pretty much like everything else thatās ever landed on FireTV.
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Maybe it is too slow, I mean the device itself probably sucks (I donāt have one).
When I got mine (Gen1) it curb-stomped my Roku2HD, then curb-stomped my Roku3, but has now fallen from favor 'cause itās not more capable than my Roku Ultra and Plex has YET to develop an app for it deserving of the name.
Now, it appears theyāre just porting over whatever lands on some other Android and donāt even care any more. About a month ago they reduced the TV-DVR Guide to 12 hours, for some reason, and havenāt done anything else since. That illustrates how things go on FireTV - perfectly.
I think itās more to do with how much work has been done on any particular client.
There is no real issue with speed VPT thumbs on my LG Plex app. Itās just the way they are implemented.
Not quite as bad as they used to be on the Shield.
But nowhere near as good as they currently are on the Shield.
But just to qualify that, even now on the Shield they still arenāt quite as well implemented as they are on the ATV 4Kā¦but close enough (for me at least.)
Letās face it. No one has been more critical of the Shield than me lol.
Keep up the good, honest work.
Plex absolutely needs to hear these things - over and over and over and overā¦
For me, Roku UNO is the flagship Plex App. Itās almost perfect.
The Plex App on FireTV should be used as an example of an epic fail - and for that purpose it would take the gold.
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Well to be clear apart from the PrePlay screen I have nothing to complain about now.
Partly the work Plex have done with UNO in general.
Partly the work they have done with player controls (VPT and adding a scroll bar for navigation.)
But in no small part that the 2019 model has the best remote I have used.(I guess I was wrong in thinking that awful remotes were an Nvidia speciality.)
The irony of it all is that going back to PrePlay and player controlsā¦The dev told me a while back that PrePlay was being looked at (hasnāt changed in the slightest).
Player controls werenāt on their current plans (now vastly improved.)
Just another year in PlexVille. 
Finally though all I have ever wanted was an experience like PMP embedded. I donāt wanna click through apps to get to Plex. Almost all my viewing is done in Plex.
One button press, all devices are on. Plex is loaded and at the point I left it.
My Plex life is more or less complete and Iām spending far less time here and more time enjoying my media.
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@JuiceWSA and all,
After many nights messing with my Fire TVs, Iāve decided to replace them. I have an Nvidia Shield Pro in our main view area that is my PLEX Server, as well as my Streaming device but its $200 cost for just Streaming is too much.
Between AppleTV and Roku, which would you recommend for the most fluid PLEX User experience and User Interface?
I have a Roku Ultra and love it. The UNO App is fine on it.
From what I hear ATV4 is also good.
Between those two you probably canāt go wrong, but I can really only speak to the Roku - if I needed another streamer I would buy a Roku Ultra above anything else.
As for āOther Stuffā - other than Plex - I have 2 channel apps I use regularly - NHK World and Sky News - the rest being total crap in an ad supported, hellish nightmare - useless for all intents and purposes. Even the Prime App on Roku Blows Goats. (donāt sell those FireTVs - they are built for Prime and excel at it)
The ATV4 may excel in āother stuffā - I just donāt know. @Xhaka could chime in with user experience report for that unit.
Seeing as my friend @JuiceWSA tagged me, I imagine the Roku is your best option.
Thatās purely based on
- His knowledge of how well they work on the Roku. I donāt own one.
- More importantly you mention the justifying the price of a second Shield and an AppleTV isnāt gonna be much cheaper.
I still slightly preffered VP thumbs on the ATV4K but only very slightly. (Uptil a few months ago they were abysmal on the Shield.)
So that leaves the Roku purely on pricepoint. Unless of course you take a chance on a cheaper Android device (Not Amazon Fire devices). Purchase from Amazon and you should be able to return it if it doesnāt suit. But it does appear that the Roku is a good option.
Unfortunately, Android suffers from the same thing FireTV does. Plex.
My Roku Ultra is a solid performer with what is most likely the best Plex App.
I got a referbed job from Amazon for well under $100 <āsomebody didnāt like the color I guess.
Iāve gotten 3 referbished Rokus over the years and havenāt been surprised or disappointed. <āknowing Amazonās return policy is bulletproof. <āthe reason they sell so many discount referbs.
But to be clear are you referring to VP thumbnails on the various devices mentioned?
Thatās the OPās major concern.
Now with all that saidā¦
The Shield is obviously Android too. I guess I assumed (maybe wrongly) that the UX of the player controls including the timeline bar and VP thumbs would have changed on cheaper Android boxes when they changed on the Shield?
The Shield is the CTOās Pet Device, so of course thatās gonna get extra special attention.
Iāve seen the Shield Interface.
Iāve seen Roku UNO.
Uhhhā¦ āNot Yetā would be my āReviewā.
FireTV, Shield, MamaMio, Whatever, suffer from the same ailment - Plex.
They all need to walk down the hall to the Roku Wing and learn how it works. Then do that. Currently everybody seems to be working for themselves and any dreams Plex had of a UNIFIED interface vanished long ago.
If that be Elan heās also invested in the ATV 4K.
UNO is UNO and brought great improvements to the Shield in many aspects but not all.
Browing is wellā¦ UNO.
The Pre-Play screen still truly sucks. (Never changed)
Once media is launched Iām happy enough with player controls and VPT usage.
On the subject of Player controls and pre-play on the Shield hereās a true story and I wish I could still find the direct response from one of the Shield devs. I was told nothing was planned for player controls. Pre-play was actively being worked on.
I have no idea if he got those roadmaps in reverse or Plex just switched priorities. That said as abhorrent as pre-play on the Shield is, it would always be secondary to playback controls. Nothing on the Shield is as clean as the ATV 4K, but itās all about compromises and Iām getting too old to care about analyzing it too deeply nowadays. I just wanna watch my stuff.
As for the Roku. I found one of my old Roku 3ās and remote earlier today. (The other I passed to a friend years ago.) If I find the correct charger I may investigate on my next days off.
But Damn you. When you pinged me I was browsing your posts in the latest TVDB debacle. I have to find the thread again now. 
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