I’m wondering it is possible to have a Plex Pass but disable Fast User Switching.
For my setup, I have my plex server shared with my parents. I force auth on the local network to ensure they stay in their own accounts so that the On Deck parts stay individual. Right now I’d like to support Plex by buying a pass, I don’t need or want any of the features. I especially don’t want the Fast User switching. Is there any way I can disable user switching completely once PlexPass is on my server? I know I can add pins, but I’d rather now.
As long as you don’t do any of the above, Plex Home and thus Fast User Switching will not activate.
You can still share your server using the default method of Plex Friends, but even for this a Plex Pass gains you the ability to “tune” your shares finer through the use of labels and age ratings.
Do also note that only those users will be able to use Fast User Switching, who are member s of your Plex Home.
It is perfectly possible to have a few Plex Friends who cannot ‘fast switch’ and who won’t appear in the user selection screens, while at the same time having a small Plex Home for every member of your own household.
Only Fast User Switching makes it practical for every family member to have his/her personal watched/unwatched history stored and be still able to use a “shared” client (think: the TV in the living room).
I re-open an old topic because finally it is exactly the situation I’m in currently.
I have :
My user as administrator and with Plex Pass
My wife with her own plex account invited in my Plex home (full access, without admin tools)
A managed user “TV” (only movies and public photos&videos) supposed to be used on all “public” TV boxes (Nvidia shield, Xiaomi mi box)
I want to disable the popup screen to switch user for 2 reasons :
TV Boxes don’t have anything to do with accounts admin & my wife account. And in my opinion a 4 digits is not a good security - and the screen display the digits you are selecting.
My wife just connected to her own account, why she has then again to select an account and enter a pin code ? She should be directly using her managed account
My ideal solution would be :
To be able to disable user switching screen for some devices OR to be able, as admin, to assign 1 unique user to 1 device
To disable user switching screen for invited accounts. They should use their own account.
Is it something similar in pending changes ?
The workaround I see (to be tested) is to completly disable Plex home by removing all managed account and “leave home”
So I will have to create a Plex account “TV” (I’m pretty sure it is already in use) and will use this user to connect to the box TV.
Some weeks ago my plex server was installed on my Nvidia shield so this workaround would not be possible (same account to be used for the Plex client and the Plex server)
But now the Plex server is on my NAS so at least this solution can work for me.
I’m not fully happy with the workaround because it means disable some good functionalities as to be able to create local account without a real plex account
A managed user is not a ‘local’ account. It is a “sub”-account of the server admin account.
If your wife is not using the Plex “mobile” apps or is willing to buy them if needed, she can remain in her own plex.tv account, without joining your home.
Fast user switching is intended for ‘shared’ Plex clients (e.g. the big TV in the living room), so every member of the home can have his/her own playback status and watching progress. This is independently of which device a user is on. As long as he is signed in with his same account, he has his personal play history available.
So you can watch one episode of your daily soap on the phone and then you go to your living room TV and the next episode is already waiting for you On Deck.
Hello Otto, thanks, your comment made me realize I didn’t consider “Plex home” as it should be.
My main topic was to isolate the profiles, and I considered the TVs like a different kind of user. The exact reason I called the managed user “TV”.
My concern is more about personal picture. When you’re in familly and show a slideshow, you see sometimes picture you prefer to keep private.
But Plex home is finally not designed for security, but mainly to enable like you said everyone, childs included, to have his own account and retrieve his history, continue his movie somewhere else … like we do with Netflix.
But I don’t have personal pictures on Netflix, the only risk there to switch user is that my younger daughter will be able to see Harry Potter even if not recommended for her age.
So I will keep the Plex home, and will make some adjustments in my accounts :
Automatic login on the mobile phones Android to not have the useless popup screen
Maybe creating dedicated user to my daughters
Isolate public / private pictures differently on my NAS, Plex will no more have full read access (unless for the folder Camera upload which can’t upload picture without creating a visible library)
For the too simple password to switch users, I have to deal with that. A two-factor authentification would be nice
You could use the children’s user when you want to show family pictures on the big telly. Or you activate the Guest account for these occasions.
You can define suitable access permissions that way.
(This is still not practical if you want to use a device which is not your own, though.)
it must be somewhere because I use nvidia shield with android tv plex and also use home users and I never have to switch users or see the dialog unless I want to.
edit: in android tv plex > top right tap your user name > settings > scroll down > account > automatically log in
With this checkbox ticked, the last-used username is remembered.
If you want to be safe, you’ll have to explicitly switch to the least-privileged user after you have used the device yourself.
