Plex definitely needs this please for the love of God PLEASE. I really don’t get it, my Android phone (s10) can CLEARLY support .ass subtitles like for example the mpv, mxplayer, vlc (needs a bit of work) and Kodi players, all these players clearly support .ass subtitles. why can’t Plex devs add .ass support? I really don’t get it
Please if any devs sees this post PLEASE PLEASE add this feature. You guys really gave everything for apple devices so it’s time you guys work on Android devices and by that it needs A. LOT. OF. WORK.
Also need a font directory on Android devices to add extra fonts for ASS subtitles.
I guess I’ll drop a vote in for this one as well, for all the good it’ll do. As others have said, users (including many actively paying Plex Pass subscribers like myself) have been requesting this for years now to be met mostly with total radio silence or, if we’re lucky, the occasional “Soon™” or “in due course, at the appropriate juncture, in the fullness of time…” which is to say, probably never and please stop asking.
That said, for the sake of keeping the fire burning, I’ll give my usual rant: This is not an advanced, unusual niche feature for a tiny number of users with a handful of files. SSA/ASS subs are one the most common subtitle formats around and in certain kinds of media, particularly Japanese and other Asian media translated for non-speakers, the format is ubiquitous. The ability for the subs to be styled, overlapped and positioned is integral to its function in this use case, so the “basic text only support” the current Android client is (semi-)capabale of doesn’t cut it. The format is well documented and widely used, including by amateurs so there’s really no excuse. This is not fancy wizard stuff, this is baseline functionality stuff. If playback engine (or version of such) that Plex is using under the hood is not capable of properly rendering one of the most common subtitle formats in use today then it is not really fit for purpose and changes or alternatives ought to be pursued internally. That process ideally having been begun years ago when this problem was first brought up by the customers, but at this point any sign of progress would be a positive.
6 Likes
I’ve been pretty vocal about how much I hate how Plex handles subtitles. Pgs direct plays, but it morphs if you watch it on a phone or tablet. Convert to srt? Then I lose the styling pgs had. Convert to .ass then? NO android client supports that. I mean c’mon it’s basically confirmed that it works on nvidia shield perfectly why not get it to work for just that at least? Since on my phone and tablet I could just use an external player to get around that. It’s so frustrating
It was a search to know it was not the files fault but the damned player itself. As an anime lover since a very young age I rely on the subs! It would be nice if this feature could be implemented. And as far is I can read it doesn’t seem like rocket science. It would be nice if plex admins or workers could push this a bit further and see these votes and voices as a group that is not being accommodated right now. I think all of us would praise plex even further to our friends if these features are provided.
Even though I have a lifetime plex pass, and feel like I shouldn’t have to pay again for what seems like a pretty core feature for a video player, I’d be willing to consider chipping in a few dollars to a gofundme type thing if the Plex devs would agree to use the money to pay someone to implement full ASS/SSA support at least on par with other players like Kodi, VLC Player, MXPlayer, and Infuse, across all supported platforms, but starting with Android TV.
I suppose this feature has been implemented
2022 clean-up: implemented
