For the past five years I’ve had both Plex and Emby installed on a Windows server feeding an HTPC. Initially I bounced between the two, but gravitated towards Plex as my preferred environment for TV shows and Movies. I’ve been there for probably the last three years.
The recent announcement by Plex that they will drop support for the HTPC has switched me back to Emby. Time to get reacquainted.
I’ve read the initial post and now the thread up to here. I have to agree this is a short sighted decision. I understand it’s a business decision and you’ve gotta throw your resources at the majority user base but I think a key piece of data is being overlooked. It’s been mentioned several times so far that though us HTPC users make up a very small part of the total users, we’re also the ones who have converted many new users to the Plex family. So who do you think many of those new users watch their media from? I have but a very modest PMS on an old i5 laptop, which is also we’re my PMP resides. And I should add I’m still running pre-UNO, pre-2.X PMP because it just works better for my family and I with our Harmony hub remote and FLICR. Anyways, out of the over two dozen people I’ve brought to Plex, maybe only 3 have set up and shared with me their servers. That means roughly 20 people (out of about 10-12 use on a very regular basis), aren’t running PMS. Sure, all but those running PMS are using streaming boxes or gaming consoles. But they all depend on my HTPC. If I have to stop using PMP because it no longer supports HD audio, display switching, 10ft interface, etc and many other gripes being heard here, then it ceases to serve my needs and I’ll look elsewhere for a better media solution. I didn’t spend thousands of dollars building a 9.2 HT system to have my movies transcoded to DD or AAC 5.1 because I was forced to watch on my Xbox One or Roku that I already own. I surely won’t be running out to buy a $150-200 3-year-old device to bring back what I already have currently. Which leads me to my point. If I stop using Plex, then my PMS goes away which means 20+ users that DO fall in the catered to metrics go away as well. So by alienating us HTPC users and saying “Sorry but the numbers don’t lie and you guys are just not that many anymore. Please buy a new device or use a different client” and then thinking you won’t take a big hit if most of us bail ship will be potentially a bad idea when you see a small percent of users leave and then all of sudden a large percent of users just suddenly go offline, too, when our servers go dark. Will it be enough to hurt the company? Probably not. Will it be enough for shareholders, the media, etc to notice? Probably. But why go through that when simply maintaining a few features could prevent all that? I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Plex and sharing it with family and friends so I’d hate to have my hand forced to abandon it but that’s the feeling I get from this announcement. It won’t be today or even by January 2020. But I see the writing on the wall now. Please reconsider before it’s too late.
I’m completely baffled why the (new!) UNO UX, which works great, isn’t an option on the new app. It just makes no sense to me.
The new apps are all Uno. There’s no option for anything else. Don’t know what you’re looking at.
I was referring to the “10-foot” UI, or “useable on TVs” UI., I don’t care what name they slap on it now. the VC-backed brain trust has decided that people don’t want to watch their media on their TVs.
Here is your friendly reminder that AppleTV and other might do 4K and direct play and whatever vaguely OK, but it wasn’t the case at first. Every time a new video or audio codec is introduced or some new technology surfaces, it’s always gonna be the fancy HTPC builds that get it first. Plex is not only dropping the power users, they’re also dropping the early adopters.
I have a spare computer that can serve as the TV and playback device. If I can no longer use it, I have to buy a new TV and new streaming device. It also direct plays everything, while no streaming device does.
So it comes down to cost. I simple don’t want to and can’t afford that unnecessary outlay. I get that it’s the same for you, but all that’s needed to shut a lot of these people up is keyboard support for the new Plex app. Loss of the TV mode layout is bad, but loss of remote support is crippling.
Sadly doesn’t help me as you dropped support for 10.11 for some reason, but it would go a long way to quieting complaints and surely can’t be that much developer time?
adding to this:
I have an HTPC set up that’s used for plex about half the time, but I also use it for Steam Streaming which isn’t available on streaming devices. The desktop app also had the best codec support and supported complex subtitles and formats long before any of the apps did. I also have custom wallpaper/screensavers set that most streaming boxes don’t let you control.
Well … from my past experience … no amount of plea from users gonna change what Plex decided to do … still remember Plex ditching Kodi based player in favor of PMP (because it was hard to keep up … aka they choose easy path instead of path that loyal users prefer) … now this
Remember when Plex started as separate fork for Kodi … simply put, they have lost their vision and stray from the path they set themselves at the beginning
If I wanted to stream inferior version of music or movies … why bother with Plex, just subscribe to Spotify (its even free for even inferior quality) or Netflix … they too have apps on virtually anything
I wanted media server cause I have best available media from SACDs, DVDAs, CDs, DVDs, and BluRays … and I want to enjoy it at best quality.
It seems even Emby and Kodi are steering where Plex is going by ditching MadVR … I switch to JRiver the day Plex dump Kodi based player for PMP (and at the time I had Life Plex Pass) … never look back
Plex is still running side by side with JRiver on my HTPC (don’t have heart to put in on my freeNAS server in case I need to remove it), and I just kept my eye on where Plex is heading while sincerely hoping they find their way back so my Life Plex Pass is not waisted … albeit - seems this is less and less likely to happen
Yep - further beatings simply won’t make this dead horse get up and plow the field.
People may be in shock to learn just how little they mean to Plex, but the real shocker is finding out you’ve been sacked… by Plex.
Pack up your desk(top) and get out.
You’ve been downsized.
Stats have been brought up by plex a few times, I wonder how many of us HTPC users have the stats reporting turned off. Most of us?
Where even is that option? Perhaps if most of us have turned it off, then it would skew the real numbers!
First, thanks for your engagement in this thread, clearly this is a hot topic for many people. I’ve been a silent participant so far but thought this would be an appropriate time for me to add just a few thoughts to the discussion as an HTPC user, since you asked the “why HTPC” question.
I certainly appreciate the benefit of having your development resources focused on key products, and you have the stats to guide you in this decision. Might I suggest however that if a few key features were added to the new windows app it would alleviate many or even most of the expressed concerns. These are features that already exist in other streaming apps so clearly Plex has an interest in supporting them, so why not also support them in the windows app?
My reasons for having an HTPC are perhaps unique to my circumstances and interests. I like having access to the full power of a PC on my TV, and needed to build a media server anyways, so having them be one and the same made sense. Perhaps there are relatively few of us compared to your total user base. But adding the above 4 features would allow me to still realize the advantages of my HTPC setup, I’d be perfectly happy. Most of those listed features would benefit non-HTPC users in some way as well.
Is there any chance that these features could be considered, or is there some other technical or business reason for taking a hard stand against them? I get that the new app is brand new and will certainly improve with time, just looking for some understand and to manage my expectations.
Thanks again for the discussion and engagement.
It wouldn’t just be buying a streaming device for me, it would be buying a new receiver. So are you going to give me $2000 to upgrade my setup?
My HTPC wouldn’t be going away. Plex isn’t the only way to consume media. I won’t add another device to my setup just because you’re too arrogant to understand your userbase and who brought you here.
… even plea from Plex Pass users wont change a thing
note that almost all complaints here are from Plex Pass users
May not be a deal breaker to you but the app won’t all pass through of audio to the receiver so my TrueHD Atmos, DTS:X content will only play as PCM. I could live with the app if it would support this feature but it doesn’t which is a deal breaker to me. I just hope it’s added or I’m able to continue using the PMP for awhile.
Kind of curious: Why does this require a new receiver? I think I missed a detail in there somewhere.
This is incredibly disappointing news. I have been paying for Plex for years and exclusively use the PMP for HTPC on more than one system in the house.
This change is baffling and unless it is reversed it looks as if I will be seeking alternatives.
A little off-topic. Where can I download PMP now? I have it installed but if I have to reinstall Windows I don’t have the .exe file and it can’t be downloaded now.
If ti has support until January 2020, why to delete the download link?
so this is confirmed, the plex app won’t passthrough audio?
