Offtopic.
To be fair to Plex aims, it actually is a good start.
If you read all the recent announcements and blogs and then buried right at the bottom read about for those with their own media…it can do that too.
Plex are exactly where they wanna be to my mind.
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Same for me - i want the option to opt out fully right now. Or i don’t give a ■■■■ anymore about my lifetime subscription. Btw., in case you don’t know: according to german laws, the DSGVO can earn you a lawsuit, a fine of up to 20 Mio. Euro or 4% or your annual sales. Are you interested in receiving this?
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I had never really looked that hard at how Germany implemented GDPR but now that you and another member pointed it out I decided to take a peek.
All I gotta say is “WOW!”. When Germans do something they DO IT. The Bundesregierung didn’t mess around with this. Germany’s version of GDPR is on steroids and good on them for making it happen.
472 votes.
Perhaps a small subset of the Plex customer base but then again, most customers won’t be on the support forums I would hope (unless Plex is way worse than I thought).
Now it is just a case of if and when and how Plex implement a way to fully disable Discover and search results from streaming services.
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This was an abomination of a rollout.
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I’ll assume you were being facetious 
Based on your other comments, it would seem so.
Even for a beta release (and I’ve been involved in a few from various providers), this was horrific not just from the standpoint of functionality and users but also Plex staff themselves and the backlash happening across social media.
Why add “features” no one wants?
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I have no use for Discover etc but I can see the attraction for those that subscribe to various streamers and want content aggregation.
It is a pretty cool function if they get it right.
However, it should be opt out, it should not populate a search when you don’t want it to and it should not be released in beta stage (this is more alpha TBH).
I’d actually say - especially in it’s very broken ‘beta’ state - it should be opt-in. And the ability to disable should have been baked in from the start.
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It is Plex’s focus for the future and as long as an opt out is advertised up front, I prefer an opt-out. Otherwise, I’d be forever clicking on boxes, well and for legal reasons
Below are excerpts from Roku’s Distribution Agreement which allows 3rd parties like Plex to publish apps on the Roku platform. Link to full agreement below. I’m not a lawyer, but it appears to me that the new beta features Plex has rolled out are in violation of this agreement.
It is possible, I guess, that Plex has a different agreement with Roku then the one that is published online, or that they received special permission from Roku to add these features. It seems like Roku does not want developers to be building features into their apps that Roku already has. I’d be interested in hearing from a Plex employee about this. I am concerned that Roku may have grounds to pull the Plex app from their channel store, they have done this before.
I also wonder if Apple has similar limitations in their agreement, although it does appear that Apple TV allows developers to open other apps directly.
1. Overview. This Agreement between you and Roku states the terms that govern the distribution of your Applications and/or Content via the Platform.
…
10.3. You will not without Roku’s prior permission, (a) include any web browser(s) in your Application, or enable end users to enter web addresses into your Application, (b) permit your Application to interact with third party applications, third party logins (e.g., Facebook SSO), third party voice-controlled platforms, or third party advertising code, pixels, SDKs, APIs or other technology (e.g., header bidders), (c) include any guide or similar search and discovery feature within your Application that identifies third party services outside your Application where Content may be available, or (d) provide access to other Applications within your Application.
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It has been posted by yourself
No response from Plex as far as I can tell.
This made me laugh. I’ve seen variations of this statement so many times since I started following Plex’s development years ago and it honestly makes me giggle every time I see somebody say it now.
“This could be cool if they get it right” could be Plex’s epitaph at this point.
Every feature for the last 5 or more years that they’ve announced with a flashy PR blitz, worked on for 5 minutes, decided it’s too hard/not instantly popular enough/too tricky to monetize, quietly ignored and abandoned, left to rot for years and then subsequently announced its removal and “sorry for any inconvenience”. They all could’ve been cool if they got it right. It’s little wonder that long term Plex users are so cynical and suspicious about these things now.
I mean, fingers crossed that THIS time they get something right and don’t lose interest in 5 minutes like a toddler with a new toy from grandma, but time will tell. Maybe some VCs breathing down their necks will give them stuff motivation. Who knows.
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Happy I gave you a laugh.
However, I am currently using one app that came up in the last 5 years and it is working bloody great.
I have seen Plex do some great things but there are definitely users who have been burnt for sure. Myself included in some cases, and I am no shrinking violet when it comes to being critical of their current beta release of content aggregation.
You mentioned long term Plex users - I started back before 2009.
YMMV.
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Yes, I found the agreement online yesterday, and the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think it applies in this situation. But as I said, I’m not a lawyer, so… I’m really hoping someone from Plex comments this time.
I apologize for posting the link twice, but the other thread devolved into a pissing contest between a few people, and Plex seems to be monitoring this thread.
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No, don’t apologize. Findings like this should be posted up again and again if there is no official response until there is one.
I run a few Roku’s (rebranded units) and as yet have not checked them for Discover etc as they are with users.
Well, I did run Plex offline for a few weeks away camping
It’s not all been bad, for sure. Plexamp, while obviously a vanity project with some strange design choices and a couple of inexplicable holes in its basic functionality, is pretty sweet. My husband uses it almost daily while working. And Skip Intro is wonderful and one of the killer feature advantages Plex as a personal media solution has over it’s handful of competitors. That even, shockingly, made it into the Kodi add-on, which I was particularly pleasantly surprised by. When it was announced, I figured I’d never get to see it because I can’t use the slow motion car crash that continues to be the Android TV client on my Shields. These sorts of things are why I continue to pay.
But their hit to miss ratio is pretty skewed toward miss and it’s been growing moreso the more they try to play with online features while the fewer and further between hits have still tended to be on stuff that deals with personal media. The refusal to play to their obvious strengths in favour of a mission to be a Johnny-come-lately to the data collection and advertising sector is frustrating and, honestly, a little embarrassing to watch.
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I’m incredibly glad I didn’t buy a lifetime subscription. Already cancelled my subscription. I’m so incredibly disappointed in this company.
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