I’ve been a PLEX LIFETIME PASS holder from the beginning and I’ve posted on the original announcement asking for a reason why they are no longer willing to support an HTPC environment. That post has been pending for 3 days whilst others have been moderated so I can only assume the post wouldn’t look good for PLEX.
So seeing as PLEX TV mode (Plex Media Player/HTPC) will no longer be supported post Jan 2020, will EMBY Premiere work as a direct replacement?
Emby theatre actually works fine.
I actually preferred the Emby UI to anything Plex offered prior to UNO (which I love).
I have heard comments from other users who have tried Emby and said everything from its less polished to it has far less support for apps.
Generally the first is probably just personal taste and the second is only slightly true. The bottom line is it does support HTPC.
UNO pulled me back from fully switching over to Emby but had I still used an HTPC that may not have been the case.
Just as a side note there are some users who wrote a lot of guides for a better experience in Plex who long since switched to Emby. One was actually a Plex ninja. They seem to have no issues with Emby at all.
But as @flow said the only way to find out is to try it.
You won’t need Emby premiere for that.
Heard a number of things about Emby, but not looked at it yet.
It seems very obvious to me that it will be a relatively good replacement, but how about it’s sharing features? Is it still accessible externally to my LAN in a similar way to Plex?
I use the Android Mobile app in the car with synced content, and a few other bits outside my LAN.
Me either. I’ve been with PLEX from the start, but I need HTPC support - period. It’s how i watch it on the TV, although the missus watches everything from the Samsung TV app.
If you rely on the Samsung app then please check in with Emby.
Smart TV’s are one of the clients that are far less supported in Emby. LG’s definitely are but I’m really not sure about Samsung, so again please check if you also rely on the Smart TV app.
EDIT… You’re fine with your Samsung. I just checked.
Thanks for the reply. I use the HTPC environment for the full theatre experience, logging into PMP. The missus uses the samsung app for ease of use. We’ve never watched a movie via the samsung app as I don’t get to use the expensive AVR in all it’s glory.
Downloaded the ENBY server and movie theatre app. Works like a charm for the HTPC experience and took minutes to set up.
Thing is, I’d have to make a lifetime purchase again in order to view all my content.
Yeah some apps but not all do require EmbyPremiere I believe.
There is “possibly” another free option and that’s Jellyfin. It’s an open source port of Emby.
It is I believe still developing at pace and as far as I know actually still uses the native Emby apps until they get around to replacing them with their own. They may already have their own apps for some clients. It’s just something I never looked into as I long since bought EmbyPremiere.
Failing that you could do a monthly Emby sub. Try it out and then balance out if the cost of the lifetime outweighs the need for an HTPC app.
Sadly there is no perfect answer.
Also your original post did mention EmbyPremiere. It’s gone now but @flow did quote it while it was there. Sorry if you feel I misled you. I just assumed that your original mention of it as a replacement meant it wasn’t a deal breaker.
@Xhaka - Not at all. I appreciate all replies. All vyer helpful. The HTPC requires a subscription but the TV app doesn’t appear to. Sadly it’s the HTPC function i require, so may well have to subscribe. But not for at least 6 months I’d imagine.
I’ve now got 2 other apps/programs to look into. EMBY and Jellyfin.
Sticks in the throat a little as I was an early adopter with PLEX when it was a fraction of the price it is now. The thought of setting this all up again with all my users would be a pain. But. If needs must.
I have been testing Emby for the past couple days. Going to take a bit to get everything moved over, but if Plex goes through with their plan to kill HTPC then I will be switching. Seems to be a good replacement. I have been a subscriber for years but they keep telling me that they have no resources to support the features I am paying for yet keep adding useless features. Plex used to be all about taking back control of your media, now they’ve killed HTPC and added TIDAL which is a streaming service. What?!? How is that a part of your core business? And they still can’t allow something so simple as sharing a playlist with another user!!! Disappointing…
I gave Emby Theater app a try last night and I was impressed with how well the UI is from when I first tried Emby a long while back. As much as I enjoy the new Plex uno ui, I felt like Emby UI was clean, to the point, and didn’t bombard me with useless categories on the dashboard like “recently aired episodes”. Also how the Movies and Tv tabs are at the top I like better than Plex’s slide out side bar. I even prefer the blue background over the orange and brownish plex.
Now I’m not going to just stop using Plex, It serves me well still, but nice to know there is good a backup and ui to enjoy.
same here. I have been one of the earlier Plex users. HTPC is my primary use and will be for several years. Open PHT ws my main plays as PMP was missing some key features that i needed.
Hopefully PLEX re-vists their idea of abandoning HTPC, if not then i hope the open source community kicks into high gear. If not, then ill be forced to find Plex’s alternatives and so will many of my colleagues at work, who i introduced to plex, and several of them a plex pas subscribers.
