Server Version#: 1.41.6.9685
Player Version#: 2025.13.0 (1025)
I’ve found multiple issues with the newer iOS Plex client. I realize the devs will try to claim some are “features,” but a feature is not something that makes things a pain in the rear -which some of these do.
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When I pick “Playlists,” and pick a playlist, the “…” button, that basically has only one option (Shuffle play) often does not work. I can touch it and touch it and it won’t do anything. I just went through trying to shuffle a playlist and I couldn’t, so I force quit Plex and tried again. No joy. On the 4th attempt (force quitting between each one), I could finally shuffle play the playlist.
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Airplay - the button for Airplay/Aircast does NOT work. Touch it and should bring up a list of devices, but it says it can’t find any - even when I can find all my devices when I pick Screen Sharing from the iOS control panel. Instead, it’s necessary to use Screen Sharing. The Plex Airplay control, in the past, provided functionality that Screen Sharing does not. It would be nice to have Airplay back, but if it won’t work, don’t give us a button for it. (With Airplay, I find my image fills the TV screen full size if the video is 16:9 or fills it full height if it’s 4:3. Screen Sharing leaves black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Also, I don’t know how this impacts CPU time, but in Airplay, the video is cast to the TV or Apple TV box, and not shown on the phone, which could have advantages in CPU usage. Also, with Screen Sharing, the PiP doesn’t work.
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As mentioned above - and not just with Screen Sharing - the Picture in a Picture function is gone. Totally gone. (Why did I upgrade if I was going to lose features?)
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When a video starts, it FORCES the screen to landscape. Even when a user (like me) prefers landscape, there are reasons to use portrait mode sometimes. For instance, it’s a LOT easier to see the controls and metadata in portrait mode. It’s also confusing and NOT an “Ease of use,” but a “Pain of use” feature to force that change in screen orientation on a user. Why not let US orient it the way we want to instead of adding a nanny feature saying, “We know what you want better than you?” Also, when I first started using Plex and upgraded my iPhone, I found out about the mode (I think it’s called “alarm mode” or "bedside mode?) where I can put my phone sideways on a Magsafe charger and it’ll act in a specific way. I disabled that mode immediately because it competed with the videos I’d have playing on my phone for me to fall asleep to. I don’t know if this is still an issue, but why force an orientation change instead of letting the user make a choice?
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Previous settings don’t transfer. (For instance, another nanny “we know what’s best for you better than we do” feature, stopping playback after 2 hours, was turned off in my old version. I upgraded to the new version and left my phone playing when I fell asleep (I have sleep issues - I need background noise to sleep, like some people need white noise). I woke up about 2:15 later because my phone had stopped playing and it was silent.
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Playlists: Okay, I get it. Some devs thought, “Oh, this makes more sense. Let’s hide the playlists so users can’t find them as easily now and put them under the library - oh, and isn’t it neat that it adds an extra step for users, so they go to the library THEN to playlists instead of straight to them.” I get that the GUI uses the 4 icons at the bottom of the screen and that adding one for playlists might have made it too crowded. So maybe, on the dropdown that lists libraries, include an entry for “Playlists.” For long time users, Plex taught us there was a hierarchy to various functions and “Playlists” was up with picking a library. Now that hierarchy has been shifted around. From a user’s point of view, it’s a bug question mark as to why. It’s not a transparent change, it’s a pain-in-the-rear change for users and doesn’t make things easier.
All in all, I wish I had not upgraded. I don’t like the new iOS version. I use Plex sometimes and Emby sometimes. Neither is perfect, neither is terrible, but I’m sure I’m not the only person that uses both and adding “features” that make things harder for me is the kind of thing that makes me re-evaluate things and ask, “Do I need to start using Emby for some, or even all, of the things I’ve been doing on Plex?”
