Plex away from home

General Discussions
1

Hello,

The Plex app on my iPhone doesn’t connect to my content when I am away from home.

There is no error messages or options presented to enter a code.

When I go home the content loads as soon as I open the app.

What am I doing wrong? Is the app not free to use outside the home network?

Also, I put the Plex app on my sister’s iPad and signed into my account but I have to subscribe in order to access my movies and shows. Why can I use the app for free on my iPhone but not on other iOS devices?

2

you need to setup remote access on your server (Settings > Server > Remote Access – might need some configuration of your router too but try it first without changing that).

There’s several articles on how to do remote access and how to troubleshoot it in the support section:

from what I can see, remote access should not be restricted to plex pass members… so give it a try.

3

Did you setup remote access?

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200484543-enabling-remote-access-for-a-server/

4

@tom80H said:
you need to setup remote access on your server (Settings > Server > Remote Access – might need some configuration of your router too but try it first without changing that).

There’s several articles on how to do remote access and how to troubleshoot it in the support section:

from what I can see, remote access should not be restricted to plex pass members… so give it a try.

@Thunder7ga said:
Did you setup remote access?

https://support.plex.tv/articles/200484543-enabling-remote-access-for-a-server/

I set up Remote Access but apparently the app on my sister’s iPad is still not connecting.

I don’t have the noggin to understand servers or routers and I’m very hesitant to to mess with settings.

5

The Plex for iOS app is not free. It requires being activated either by purchasing the one-time activation fee or by signing in with an account that has a Plex Pass subscription. I do not see that you have a Plex Pass so you need to purchase the activation. The activation is then tied to your iTunes account, not your Plex account. So as long as you install the app from iTunes using the same account that made the original purchase, the app will get activated. You can then login to the app with any Plex account.

If you installed the app using the proper account and the activation is not recognized, get to the screen where it asks you to activate, then at the bottom there is an option if your had previous purchased the app before. Click on that and follow the instructions. If that still doesn’t work, please provide me the Plex log from the iOS device.

6

Thank you.

So just to clarify the Plex iOS app will work at home but in order to use it away from home I need to purchase?

The other user will be my sister - can I activate the app on her iPad and then let her sign back into her own iTunes ID?

Will the one time fee allow me to view all the videos I have set up in Plex anywhere and for the rest of my days?

7

@SilentWatcher said:
Thank you.

So just to clarify the Plex iOS app will work at home but in order to use it away from home I need to purchase?
No, you need to activate the app regardless where it is used. Without the activation, the app will work but there are playback limitations.

The other user will be my sister - can I activate the app on her iPad and then let her sign back into her own iTunes ID?
I am not sure. The app will check for the purchase through the store each time it is launched. I do not know what will happen if you change the iTunes account after installing the app.

Will the one time fee allow me to view all the videos I have set up in Plex anywhere and for the rest of my days?
The activation has no affect on what you can access, it just removes the playback limitations. I would recommend using the app before the activation to browse around and make sure your media shows up as you expect. Even try playing a few to see how it works. The playback limitations will kick in but at least you get the idea of what should work once you activate the app.

8

@“MovieFan.Plex”

Thanks for responding again.

I mainly use Plex on my AppleTV bUt I have used it on my iPhone 4 a few times and I haven’t experienced any playback limitations in the app except that I could not use it away from home.

I haven’t paid any fee to Plex for using the TVos or iOS apps.

I can’t play around with the app on my sisters iPad either because it simply does not get much further than letting me log in - it only offers options to subscribe.

9

The app on the Apple TV is free. I’m not sure how the iOS app is working. Maybe you got the app at a time we were running a promo and the app was free. If it’s working, then I guess it doesn’t matter.

If the app works locally, but not remotely, there is some other issue going on that has nothing to do with the activation. Can you confirm what versions of PMS you are running (and what OS) and the version of the iOS app on your and your sister’s devices?

10

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:
The app on the Apple TV is free. I’m not sure how the iOS app is working. Maybe you got the app at a time we were running a promo and the app was free. If it’s working, then I guess it doesn’t matter.

If the app works locally, but not remotely, there is some other issue going on that has nothing to do with the activation. Can you confirm what versions of PMS you are running (and what OS) and the version of the iOS app on your and your sister’s devices?

Thanks for responding and sorry for my own delay.

Plex Server is Version 0.9.16.6.1993-5089475 on an iMac with OSX 10.7.5

Plex app version 3.5.3 on an iPhone with iOS 7

I’ll get the details on my sister’s iPad tomorrow

11

@SilentWatcher said:
Plex app version 3.5.3 on an iPhone with iOS 7

You are running a really, really old version of the iOS app. We can’t provide support for this anymore. You can try running a newer version and see if that helps. You should be able to run up to 4.4. We stopped supporting iOS 7 at version 4.5.

12

@“MovieFan.Plex” said:

@SilentWatcher said:
Plex app version 3.5.3 on an iPhone with iOS 7

You are running a really, really old version of the iOS app. We can’t provide support for this anymore. You can try running a newer version and see if that helps. You should be able to run up to 4.4. We stopped supporting iOS 7 at version 4.5.

I’ve never has Plex in the update list for the app on my iPhone so I figured what I had was as far as it went on iOS 7.

My iPhone isn’t really the priority though. I know it is difficult to help when there is a delay is my responses along with the lack of information regarding my sister’s iPad, so I appreciate you sticking with it.

13

I’m not aware of any reason the app store would stop showing you updates. Unless the store stops showing updates after a certain time. Plex 3.5.3 was released in January of 2015.