I just got a Shield coming from a Roku Ultra. The Plex interface for the shield looks like its extremely outdated and VERY crowded. Love the shield except for this.
Anyone know if there is an update or overhaul coming to the shield? Wish there was consistency between all the ecosystems out there.
Thinking of taking it back. Thanks
I am disappointed with the Shield Plex interface as well. Hopefully it gets the new refreshed layout soon.
I also hope for interface upgrade. Compare to the Roku app its pretty poor and the app on my 5 year old samsung tv is better. Example, none of the artists are listed!
@Fiala06 said:
I just got a Shield coming from a Roku Ultra. The Plex interface for the shield looks like its extremely outdated and VERY crowded. Love the shield except for this.Anyone know if there is an update or overhaul coming to the shield? Wish there was consistency between all the ecosystems out there.
I completely agree with you that the Roku UI looks more “modern” and “slick” than all the other clients, especially the Android TV UI. But sadly it doesn’t seem consistency will go the way you and I hope: some times ago the UI of the Amazon Fire TV was changed from a “Roku like” version to the same as the Shiled, causing lots of complaints here. And the “Roku” UI is no more on PMP and XBOX too. Plex has been very clear in stating that on Android devices they want to adhere to Google style guides, so I don’t think it’s going to change too much
@zpaolo11x said:
@Fiala06 said:
I just got a Shield coming from a Roku Ultra. The Plex interface for the shield looks like its extremely outdated and VERY crowded. Love the shield except for this.Anyone know if there is an update or overhaul coming to the shield? Wish there was consistency between all the ecosystems out there.
I completely agree with you that the Roku UI looks more “modern” and “slick” than all the other clients, especially the Android TV UI. But sadly it doesn’t seem consistency will go the way you and I hope: some times ago the UI of the Amazon Fire TV was changed from a “Roku like” version to the same as the Shiled, causing lots of complaints here. And the “Roku” UI is no more on PMP and XBOX too. Plex has been very clear in stating that on Android devices they want to adhere to Google style guides, so I don’t think it’s going to change too much
Exactly, the AndroidTV app adheres to the platform’s standards… might get modified a bit, but probably not much.
You could use Kodi or SPMC with the official Plex for Kodi plugin, it gives you a different UI closer to PMP’s and Xbox One’s.
Or, again Kodi or SPMC, but with a plugin like Plexkodiconnect which allows for any skin to be used.
They should definitely work on usability… I’m sure they can do much much better than what we have at this moment while still adhering to those “Google style guides”. They very much look like an excuse not to improve things.
I, too, recently purchased a Shield, coming from the Roku world. I am amazed at the difference is usability between the Shield version and the Roku’s. Needless to say, I miss the Roku’s version. (But like the Shield)
I can’t believe adherence to the Google style guide means constraining UI/UX to a point that the current implementation is the best possible. If so, then Plex should ditch the style guide and move on to something better and friendlier to its audience.
Couldn’t agree more. I also went from a Roku to a Shield and was shocked at how much better the Roku interface was.
With that said, being able to Direct Play everything I’ve thrown at the Shield has more than made up for the much worse UI.
@cracru said:
I can’t believe adherence to the Google style guide means constraining UI/UX to a point that the current implementation is the best possible.
If you look at Emby for Android TV, it’s very similar to Plex UI so it seems that if you decide to follow Google guidelines you are pretty limited in choice. That said, no one forces you to adhere to those guidelines: Netflix doesn’t look like Plex or Emby, it looks like Netflix. And, Plex for Amazon Fire TV used to look and act like Plex for Roku, even if the OS behind it is basically Android. I say “used” because recently Fire TV UI was switched to the Shield one…
Watch now, We’ll end up with the crap the Xbox One interface has now… “If it aint broke, Dont fix it”…
Double-post.
Well glad to see I wasn’t alone. I ended up returning it 
I’m very frustrated by the Shield interface for Plex. I’d switch from Roku altogether, if I could view just an Unwatched category for TV Shows. Of course, even the Roku has issues, such as poor sorting. For what Plex Pass users have paid, we deserve better. I’m about to take a serious look at Emby and perhaps another look at Kodi.
@JimRPh said:
I’m very frustrated by the Shield interface for Plex. I’d switch from Roku altogether, if I could view just an Unwatched category for TV Shows. Of course, even the Roku has issues, such as poor sorting. For what Plex Pass users have paid, we deserve better. I’m about to take a serious look at Emby and perhaps another look at Kodi.
You can use Kodi with plugins for either Plex or Emby; all metadata management is done by the server, UI by Kodi.
