I am always up for free video content just as much as any one. And I am a HUGE fan of PLEX and as such have been a paying member for YEARS..
However I do have one struggle.
I was trying to get my 12 year old sun hooked up to my server and was going threw the process of creating an account for him. Then I had him install the app on his phone.
And low and behold all the free movie content is there with out even signing him in. Now like I said I am a big fan of free but….. I do have to wonder… how can you rate your mobile app “E” for everyone when there is a TON of Rated R Videos for FREE for any one to watch. With No way of filtering that out.
I would love to get my son on my server where I can filter out what he can and can’t watch but what the Heck is the point when your Free content has just the right amount of Sex, Drugs, and killing all available to him just bypassing my server.
I don’t mind most of the free stuff like Podcasts, some of the web shows and for that matter even the free live TV. But lets be honest when the all the Plex Picks are all Rated “R”………. I CAN NOT JUSTIFY PUTTING THIS APP ON MY SON’S PHONE.
When all I want to do is share our media (family vids, Pictures, Filtered Family Movies, and Music).
Ok ok so I guess I could just direct connect the server… oh wait.. nope!!! Can’t do that… even if i could Its built right into your app For FREE with no way of blocking any “inappropriate for his age” Content. I am really baffled on how no one has said a thing about this.
Again I love your server and sharing content but lets be honest. This app just scream’s SCREW THE KIDS!!!
I agree. I use Plex to help restrict content shown to minors, but this availability of free streaming movies and TV is not helping.
Yes, I can add users to my “Home” and stop them from seeing the Plex Movies & TV options, but what about outside users who I don’t wish to share my login with? I can’t tell my outside users to create a “Home” because their kids would lose access to my remote server.
I would beg to differ. the option is not filtering my content on my server as much as it the FREE stuff that availble on the APP.
Lets say that once the user is logged in you can filter ALL that out on the app… All the user has to do is sign out on the plex app and they have all the R content they want.
seems to me there should be a feature in there to be able to filter that. or block the user from signing off on the admin page.
the problem is not with the server… but the problem lies with the mobile app and the free content that the APP provides.
A Plex Home doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be physically in the same house. Though you usually only invite people in such a Plex Home whom you can trust (so usually family or household members).
If you give your son a managed user, he cannot simply sign out on his own.
That’s why managed users cannot sign-in on their own… instead they need you to sign in with your own (regular) account, then switch to your son (or another member of that Plex Home).
Your son can get to the user selection but he cannot sign out.
i like that set up and i can make that work… how ever the question still remains… if the app is rated 12+ and yet still offer Rated R movies for free without having to confirm your age. isn’t that a problem?
i know you helped me with my problem but my main issue with the app still remains.
I’m not exactly sure how those app store ratings apply.
I know you need to be 18 or older to have your own Plex account… at least if you stick by their terms.
You as a parent can then allow your kid to install the app where you control what parts of it they can access/see.
Trivial to defeat, and kids can figure this out with ease. Go to app manager and delete settings or uninstall and reinstall app. So what if you lose your signed in credentials. Now they can view all the content available for free outside of their restricted home permissions.
Look I am glad you showed me the way to have the managed user. That fixed my problem so thank you…
Here is what happened. My son is not here with me. He is with his mom. I have been telling him that if he installed plex I could share all my media with him where ever he is. I love that… however i tested on my phone by singing off to test what his experience would be. Suddenly relized I couldn’t (remotely) enable all of this and now I just opened a gateway to my son’s phone with an amazing assortment of appropriate movies “for free” to him he didn’t have before.
Is it my fault? of course it is. I should have known but I didn’t. However… Plex has changed some since I started using it and it used to be that I never had to worry about what my kids saw when I had them install Plex on there phone. Not any more. With the free videos all is available to them. I just don’t know how it could be accepted that it is for ages as low as 12. When the first free vids on the app once installed are ALLLLL rated R.
Again I don’t care if it was just me. But it’s not just me there are a lot of kids out there with phones. Is that right??? No. I didn’t have a choice to give him this phone. That was the other side. However I don’t want to be the one giving my son free access to that crap.
Hope that helps.
P.S. sorry this was typed on my phone and my quality of typing goes way down on my phone… That’s what happens when you are an old person.
I understand what you are saying and agree you can’t control what your son has available outside of your home. But the App rating is a parental issue, isn’t it? You are giving your child a device that connects to the internet when he isn’t under your direct supervision. The YouTube app is rated Teen, but your son can watch a lot more disturbing things on there and actually “rent” any video he wishes. I don’t think this is a Plex issue.
Could I suggest maybe a JellyFin Server running along side your Plex server? No additional “third party content” only what you have on your server would be available.
Just a suggestion.
I guess I don’t disagree with your statement Forkboy. As i said in the previous mention if it were me I wouldn’t have gotten him a phone yet, or at-least not one I couldn’t control. And as well as ultimately it was my fault.
I guess my real frustration is that i am an old guy and i don’t like change??? lol
and the way things are these days are Crazy.
no I also don’t disagree with the you tube. once I get a hold of his phone all this will be moot anyway.
