MacOS Plex Media Player – How to Use Remote and Keyboard, Not Mouse, for Control?

[artdept]

Server Version#: 1.18.5.2309
Player Version#: 3.104.2

Both are running on an iMac with macOS Catalina.

Hi!

Can someone help me to enable remote and keyboard (and disable mouse) for macOS Plex Media Player?

Background: I have used Plex in 2010-2016 but not since so missed the last couple of years of changes. Looks very different now. Back in 2016, you could control Plex with a remote and keyboard, mouse support needed to be enabled extra. Now, on a fresh Plex Media Player install on macOS, I can neither use remote nor keyboard, only mouse?! That seems not to be right. Read the instructions on Plex help pages, but there is something wrong with those pages/they do not apply or are outdated.

1. Keyboard

According to the Plex help page: “Controlling the App” (https://support.plex.tv/articles/208052807-controlling-the-app/), “Plex Media Player can be fully controlled by using a keyboard”, and this seems to be out of the box.

However, pressing the standard buttons such as “arrow-down”, “arrow-right” … does not do anything? (i.e., I cannot move between movies, or menu items in the full-screen standalone MacOS Plex Media Player as I understand is the expected behaviour.)

I cannot find any option to enable/disable/configure keyboard control in Plex Media Player? What do I need to do?

2. Remote

The same help page: “Controlling the App” (https://support.plex.tv/articles/208052807-controlling-the-app/) also says: “Plex Media Player can be controlled by using an Apple Remote.”

This seems to be the same as in 2015. I had replaced the Apple Remote with a Keyspan Remote in 2013 because Apple removed the IR from iMacs. The Keyspan Remote worked fine using the app Remote Buddy. According to Remote Buddy, as of 2020, the Keyspan Remote should still work with EyeTV (and it does work fine) and Plex Media Player (does not work). As EyeTV works, I expect the issue is with the Plex, not Remote Buddy, setup.

I cannot find any option to enable/disable/configure remote control in Plex Media Player? What do I need to do?

3. Mouse

According to the Plex help page: "Settings: Plex Media Player (https://support.plex.tv/articles/115000473213-settings-plex-media-player/), “Settings for the Plex Media Player app can be accessed from the User Menu (accessed by selecting your avatar image) located at the top of the Navigation Side Bar” and then under the heading “Main” there should be an option “Disable Mouse: Select to disable mouse input in the app”.

However, I cannot find any of those things?

Clicking on my Avatar on the far left, there are no “Settings” (?) Presuming, they mean “Account”? If I click this, there is a menu section on the far left saying “PLEX MEDIA PLAYER”. There is a heading “General” in that section. Further down, under “[My Server Name]”, which I take to refer to the server, not player options, there is a section “SETTINGS” with a submenu “General”. None of those has any “Disable Mouse” option. (To be honest, I find this UI and this help somewhat confusing.)

Same as above, I am looking for a way to enable/disable/configure mouse control.

Any help configuring this correctly will be much appreciated. Particularly remote control would be great to have.

Cheers!

This is what I am looking at:

[pshanew]

For remote and keyboard control to work in PMP you’ll need to switch it to TV mode. There’s a small icon in the top-right of the UI for this:

After doing so, you should be able to navigate as described in the docs you referenced.

[artdept]

@pshanew : OMG! TV mode…! I was wasting hours on this. Both keyboard and remote work now! Thank you so much.

[pshanew]

No problem, glad it worked.

[fogpuppy_gmail_com]

Ok How the heck do you get TV mode. I don’t even see that icon. What am I doing wrong? Mac OS Cataline. Bringing up Plex in Chrome via 127.0.0.1:32400/web

[darcilicious]

You download the Plex Media Player, it is the only app that has “TV Mode” (the 10’ interface).

[fogpuppy_gmail_com]

Ok … what about Linux where there IS no player. What I want to do is set up a media server on Linux and directly connect it to a TV.

[darcilicious]

@fogpuppy_gmail_com

what about Linux where there IS no player.

Well you’re posting in a thread about macOS I did some searching (as I don’t do Linux) and found this thread. You’ll want to reach through the first post and post any questions issues in that thread.

Plex Media Player packages for Linux

Hello Plex users! Because there is no official packages of Plex Media Player for Linux desktop I have decided to create one. Instead of building multiple packages for all different packaging systems (DEB, RPM, Snap, Flatpack) and even different distribution releases (separate DEB for Ubuntu Trusty, separate DEB for Ubuntu Xenial,…) I wanted to make things as simple as possible for us Linux users. So I’ve used an AppImage format for this. AppImage is universal package format that runs on any m…

[fogpuppy_gmail_com]

Will do but it’s really quite ridiculous that the keyboards keys don’t work in the web browser app … it’s not that uncommon for media servers to be used to without a mouse and using remote control or keyboard (air mouse).

[darcilicious]

Plex has never provided keyboard mappings/shortcuts for the Web client player; other than Smart TVs (which at least have their own remote), web browsers are the least capable for video playback…

[fogpuppy_gmail_com]

And this is why people get annoyed with Plex. It works tantalizingly well right up to the point where it lets you down … badly.

The browser based UI pretty much works except for key bindings. With something as simple as some key bindings and lots of people would be happy. It’s not like keybinding are all that hard. Most modern web apps and web frameworks support them.

Linux doesn’t have a full media player app because Linux is a second class citizen even though lots of media servers are Linux based for OS reliability … sigh!

[fogpuppy_gmail_com]

BTW don’t you think it’s a bit disingenuous for you to tell me to solve my problem by using PMP when Plex has decided discontinue PMP. One of the reasons I was confused was because when you ask Plex to get you the Mac client it downloads the new (non-TV) UI. You have to root around a bit to find PMP now that it’s dead … … the new app doesn’t have TV mode so the concept of a PS running ANY os directly connected to a TV via HDMI and using a remote control is kaput for Plex long term …

Basically the “long term” solution Plex is pushing requires Plex Server and some sort of client device (Fire, Apple, Roku …). One more moving part that we don’t need in a system.

[darcilicious]

You asked where TV Mode was. I explained that precisely.

The only part of PMP that will be discontinued is the Desktop mode which presumably you don’t want since you’re connecting your device to a TV. So, TV Mode is what you want which is only available with Plex Media Player.

@fogpuppy_gmail_com

Basically the “long term” solution Plex is pushing requires Plex Server and some sort of client device (Fire, Apple, Roku …).

Yes.

@fogpuppy_gmail_com

One more moving part that we don’t need in a system.

Speak for yourself. I have 10+ clients in my house alone, all but two are not on a computer. Never mind whatever else my friends might have that have access to my content.