Server Version#: 1.25.3.5409-f11334058
Player Version#: 8.29.0.30433
With the sync feature that used to exist in Plex it did exactly what is was called… “sync”. I would set it up to Sync 3 unwatched shows, the moment I watched something and it connected to WiFi it did everything I wanted it to do, which was sync by deleting the watched show and grabbing the next unwatched one that wasn’t on my device.
Now, when we moved to Downloads, I guess it does what it says it called which is “download” and nothing else, which seems like we’ve stepped backwards and not forwards.
Question:
Why did we kill Sync and how can we make Downloads more like Sync?
Sync was…
Smart
Required no interaction from me
Worked in the background
Downloads…
Seems dumb
Requires me to open Plex to get it to delete and download
Does nothing in the background
If there is no way for “Downloads” to be smart, does anyone know if there is an Android Intent that calls the download function in Plex so I can make it smart with Tasker?
Downloads also has the option to grab the next 3 unwatched episodes of a show. It does not work behind the scenes like Sync. Sync was controlled by the server so everything was pushed to the device. Downloads is controlled by the client so it does need to be running to initiate an update. It does run in the background so as long as you didn’t close the app or the OS didn’t close it, it will update in the background.
Think that’s the issue is the app generally gets killed by the Battery Management process or something else as it does not seem to run in the background for me.
So if that’s the case, I guess I have 2 questions, if the first one is a no go the second one would be my go to so I can automate this process.
Can we have a way to schedule Download to check like a CRON job, or when connected to WiFi / Charging / etc?
If 1 is out of the question, is there an Intent call that I can plugin to Tasker so I can program the logic in myself?
1 - No, since it runs on the client, there is no way to schedule a task there
2 - If the app isn’t running, there isn’t a way to know if there is anything that needs updating. All you need to do is launch the app and it will automatically check for downloads on it’s own. However, if there is a download in progress and it doesn’t finish before the power management kills it again, it may start over from the beginning and you’d end up in a loop.
Keeping the Plex app on the Downloads page will prevent the device from sleeping so it can finish downloading, but I don’t know of a way to get to that page using Tasker.
I mean, I would keep it on the Downloads page if the Home items didn’t ignores the “Prefer downloaded content” checked flag and would mark things as watched when completed in the Downloads section which is a whole other bag of issues in itself.
Other issue you brought me to
Playing content from Home ignores “Prefer downloaded content” checked flag, it will either fail or play from my Server instead, this is confirmed during playback by checking Playback info and it showing “Direct Play” to my Server and not the phone. The only way around this issue is to go to the Downloads section and play from there, which is another step and wouldn’t be to terrible, except when completing an item in Downloads section, Plex refuses to mark it as complete in Home (it always leaves a minute or so of unwatched), and because of this the item is not marked as “Played” and will not be downloaded until I leave the Downloads section, go back to Home, select the item, and manually mark it as watched.
Thoughts
I’m not sure why Plex scrapped something that was functional with something as buggy and painful as Downloads. There is no automation, requires TONS of manual work from me, and there is no way for me to schedule my own automation. I can’t be the only one having these issues as I had them on my Pixel 4 XL and now my Pixel 6 Pro, so it’s not an isolated event. It’s honestly a little madding, I could write a PowerShell script to SSH these files to my phone easier than the Downloads is at this point that would require no manual effort from my end except writing the script.
