Playback on iPhone Xs iOS 13.4.1

Plex Players Mobile Devices
1

Not sure if this development is in response to upgrade to iOS 13.4.1 but now movie playback from PMS is stop and go. Movie runs maybe a second or two, stops, second or two, stops, etc. This is a new glitch.

I also note that a movie no longer automatically displays in landscape format.

2

This kind of stuttering implies that there’s either some network issue or that the server isn’t powerful enough for some required transcoding.
Would you mind sharing some additional details on your setup and what you’re playing?
https://support.plex.tv/articles/200871837-status-and-dashboard/
https://support.plex.tv/articles/201998867-investigate-media-information-and-formats/

The recent update to Plex on iOS has changed the default player to one that was previously only available for testing. That being said… in general that should provide a more stable playback experience as the new player supports direct playback of more formats

3

Hi,

For starters, I do have v.6.11 on my iPhone. As far as the other info, I have no problem sharing additional details. What, specifically would help?

4
  • platform your PMS is running on
  • version of your PMS
  • server connected to your router through a wired or wireless connection?
  • is the media playing being transcoded (see link about Server Dashboard above)
  • some technical details about the files that fail to play (see link about investigating media information and formats above; you can post the content of the <Media>...</Media> part from View XML)
  • are you experiencing this only when playing through Plex Web or also through other Plex clients?
5

A little background; I have had PMS installed on my iMac for years. I have only recently purchased a Synology DS1019+ and I am in the process of converting PMS over to it to relieve the Mac. However, I am maintaining both servers until I am satisfied the Synology is set up properly.

With that, the iPhone issue is occurring no matter which server I select and it does not seem to matter what movie is selected either. This is why I wondered about the iOS version as movies ran perfectly from the Mac server for as far back as I can remember.

Dr. No - 2
Dr. No - 2837Ă—598 64.5 KB
Dr. No - 1
Dr. No - 1829Ă—603 62.8 KB

Hopefully, these screenshots will help.

6
  • platform your PMS is running on: Mac; Synology
  • version of your PMS: Version 1.19.2.2737
  • server connected to your router through a wired or wireless connection?; * Both wired
  • is the media playing being transcoded (see link about Server Dashboard above): Sorry, I am lost with this one. I do not know how to get what you are asking for.
  • some technical details about the files that fail to play (see link about investigating media information and formats above; you can post the content of the <Media>...</Media> part from View XML ): I think I provided that in the prior post.
  • are you experiencing this only when playing through Plex Web or also through other Plex clients? : Seems to be clients only.
7

Is this what you meant?

Now PLaying
Now PLaying767Ă—652 244 KB

8

So it doesn’t seem to be about your content being transcoded (the dashboard is showing direct play for both the video as well as audio). Also… communication is entirely local, so no side tracking because your client cannot locally access the server.

Therefore… 2 follow-up questions:

Question 1

As this is about playing to a mobile device… could there be an issue with your WIFI connection? It’s not like 9 Mbps is an excessive bandwidth for a modern WIFI (far from it to be frank). But when it comes to WIFI, there’s tons of potential obstructions that can impact your bandwidth, causing the video playback to get stuck.

Question 2

Do you have Use Old Video Player enabled or disabled under the Advanced settings of Plex on your iPhone?

9

I believe I have quite a robust WiFi connection. I installed a Ubiuiti system throughout the house which includes several of their Unifi access points. Since doing so, over a year ago, I have had no WiFi issues. This is a scan of the system from my Mac:

WiFi Scan
WiFi Scan1516Ă—330 40.2 KB

As to the Use Old Video Player…it is disabled.

10

Does your Airport(?) support WIFI over a 5 GHz band? The 2.4 GHz band is super crowded… I’ve run into this myself in my early Plex days – while my own equipment seemed ok, there’s been so many obstructions/interferences that I never got a sufficient bandwidth to stream even SD content.

Keep in mind… every Roomba or other IoT enabled device will be cluttering the 2.4 GHz band… as well as every neighbor who ever bought a WIFI and is not technically inclined enough to consider an update :wink:

11

I’m not sure. I’m confused as to what caused the change. Nothing has changed on my network. No new additions. I just assumed the iOS update incorporated some settings changes.

12

Well, I switched the iPhone to 5G; no difference. Turned WiFi off altogether and switched over to data and it worked fine.

Must be some setting I’m missing. As stated, this was not a problem in the past.

13

Just to clarify…

  • 5G = new/future mobile network technology (not yet available in iPhones)
    The currently wide-spread mobile network technology is LTE (4G)
  • 5 GHz refers to a separate WIFI radio band (vs. the 2.4 GHz band used by older WIFI equipment)

Your WIFI seems to be the older / more crowded radio band (according to the screenshot you had pasted above). Hence the suggestion to check if the router supports multiple radio bands and to enable/switch to the 5 GHz if possible

14

Sorry, that was my fault. I meant 5Ghz

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