If this new version is released, will the old version still be usable?

Plex Experience Preview
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I tested the Plex Experience Preview app, and I must say, I really dislike it. It introduces a bunch of features I don’t need, such as Live TV, On Demand, and Discover. In the previous Plex app, users could choose whether to display or hide these features. For those of us who don’t need them, having them permanently fixed in the bottom menu bar is completely pointless and makes for a terrible experience.

This app has also removed music and photo functionalities, which I find extremely frustrating. I prefer having one app that does everything rather than being forced to install three separate apps for different purposes.

Additionally, I discovered that the Plex Experience Preview app is completely inaccessible in mainland China without using a proxy or VPN. This issue is far more severe than any previous problems. If this approach is adopted in the new version, a large number of users in mainland China will be unable to use Plex properly.

As for the UI update, there’s nothing particularly innovative. Instead, it incorporates many design elements similar to other apps, completely losing Plex’s unique identity. Plex’s defining feature as a media server is gradually being abandoned.

The Plex Experience Preview app places a heavy emphasis on the streaming and social features provided by Plex. However, Plex was initially created as a personal media server, and the main functionality used by the majority of its users is managing and watching their own media—not consuming Plex’s provided content or engaging in social features.

While I think social features are a nice addition, they shouldn’t become the focus of this app. In developing these extra features, Plex should not weaken its core attribute as a personal media server.

Overall, I strongly dislike the Plex Experience Preview app and have no intention of upgrading to it in the future. I want to confirm: will this design become the new Plex app across all platforms?

Furthermore, if the Plex Experience Preview app is released and all Plex apps are updated to this design, will the current version of the Plex app still work as it does now? If I choose not to upgrade my mobile, TV, or desktop apps, will I still be able to use all the existing features as they are? I am certain I will not upgrade to this new app—it’s just too terrible.

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This is exactly what I feared when I saw there would be a drastic rewrite to the app. I use the app almost exclusively for my own media. Please don’t make that experience worse.

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If the ability to disable live TV, Plex tv/movies, and rentals goes away then this really kills Plex for me. I’ve always had those disabled but being forced to browse my personal library with all of that mixed in will surely push me to use jellyfin instead.

I have nothing against the Plex provided content and I know plenty of people who enjoy it, but user choice should be paramount, and the end user should have a say if they want to turn it off.

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Am I the only one who dislike the new way to change library? Also the app feels laggy for me (using iOS plex experience).

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In the web app (or Plex Desktop app) head to Settings → Online Media Sources. Disable these two settings and restart the new Plex experience app. There will be no live TV, on demand, or rentals shown any longer.

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You can also disable the “Discover Source” on the same page if you want that gone as well.

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That’s great, I hope that unpinning / hiding those sections becomes doable in the new app as well because I know a bunch of friends are going to be asking me to walk them through this.

I haven’t been able to get the play store beta link to work so I can’t really test it yet.

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This might be considered a solution, but in the previous version of Plex, there were features that I didn’t want prominently displayed, yet I didn’t want to disable them either. This way, I could still easily find and browse them when needed. For example, Live TV, On Demand, and Discover. Previously, I could enable these features but choose not to display them on the home page or other prominent locations. They would only appear when I accessed specific pages where I needed them, which was exactly what I wanted.

I could choose to enable or disable these features and also decide whether to place them in a visible spot or a less important location.

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I understand and agree. My expectations are that there will be new functionality added to customize the UI in the future, as the app matures.

I’m going to give them the benefit of the doubt here and cut them some slack on what amounts to a pre-alpha preview of a product they’re actively working on and for which they’re actively soliciting feedback (such as what you provided).

I see no reason to go full Chicken Little just yet (not saying that anyone here is doing that, just to be clear; on the contrary, the feedback provided has been well-reasoned and articulated very well).

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Unpinning is not disabling . They are account settings not app settings. https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/online-media-sources

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By “that” I meant hiding those sections, not specifically disabling over unpinning. I’m aware they are different things, but the distinction to me doesn’t matter as long as it achieves the same thing. I just want a way to hide those sections (and prevent the content within from showing up in mixed view like the home section) without needing to leave the app. So if you add unpinning to the new app then great. If you allow disabling them from the app, also great. Whatever gets us there.

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Whoever’s account is it needs to the settings page I posted above which will affect all apps… I am not aware of plans to move those settings to individual apps but will pass your feedback along…

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Like I said, I’m not suggesting that disabling needs to be added to the new app. Allowing unpinning just like the old app makes the most sense, but of course disabling those sections achieves the same goal of hiding those sections, so to me the distinction does not matter. All I’m looking for is feature parity with the current app WRT hiding plex free and paid content.

Are there any plans to add unpinning to the new app or is the idea that going forward, disabling via the account settings will be the only way to hide those sections in the new app? Personally I don’t care about whether disabling the sections is available in the new app if unpinning is added - like I said whatever achieves the goal of hiding that content without needing to leave the app works for me, so if you are going to pass along feedback, my primary ask is that unpinning be added for the sake of feature parity.

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it won’t be afaik. but I will pass along feedback

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Maybe we can tweak the feedback and suggest incorporating elements similar to Netflix where one can be quickly directed to the relevant account settings that enable and disable stuff. Netflix has a lot of the controls at the account level, which I think actually makes more sense than the app level IMO which is what I think most streaming apps do. What’s missing is an easy way to get to them. Currently you have to jump through a number of hoops to get there.

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Great thanks! That does provide more clarity on what we can expect for the full release.

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I understand this is a preview version, but God the ui on this new app is ugly. It’s almost jellyfin levels of ugly. You guys really need to rethink this.

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I actually like it. UX is a thing of opinions though. Jellyfin is tough on the eyes, this isn’t.

That said, I am already finding “easter eggs” that make it more enjoyable. For example, I did not like that after going into “My Libraries” you needed to click the top left to change through your libraries (cumbersome on a large device). But once you are in “My Libraries” you can actually click “My Libraries” and the same menu pops up.

So kudos to hidden secrets haha.

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Seems a bit silly to force people to have it etiher enabled everywhere or disabled everywhere. I’m massively more permissive about what I’ll have on my phone than what I want showing up on my TV.

Also if this is how things are handled I expect I’m going to be going through a lot of family’s accounts and disabling stuff account-wide that never needed to be disabled before.

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