Plex player adding launch item to startup

Plex Players Desktop Players
1

Server Version#:Version 1.26.0.5715
Player Version#:Version 4.29.2

Why is Plex player adding this tv.plex.player-helper.plist to my LaunchAgents? I do not like software adding itself to my startup items. Why does this plex agent need to load 24/7? I have been using plex for years and the player doesn’t need to load on startup.
It’s adding this to my local user account.
Macintosh HD/ Users/ Jason/ Library/ LaunchAgents

Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 5.12.15 PM
Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 5.12.15 PM1152×132 14.9 KB

This is the file contents.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
 <dict>
  <key>KeepAlive</key>
  <dict>
   <key>SuccessfulExit</key>
   <false/>
  </dict>
  <key>Label</key>
  <string>tv.plex.player</string>
  <key>ProcessType</key>
  <string>Background</string>
  <key>Program</key>
  <string>/Applications/Plex Media Player.app/Contents/MacOS/../Resources/PMP Helper</string>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key>
  <true/>
 </dict>
</plist>

Please stop this. I don’t need unnecessary software slowing down my iMac.
So now I have to delete it every time I open plex to watch a show or leave it.
Why is this needed?

3

I’ve been running Plex Media Player for some years on my Mac and while I can find the PMP Helper executable in the application, it’s not running on my system. So I guess this is triggered by some configuration in your PMP app.

That being said… if you’re still using PMP you might want to start looking into the newer Plex HTPC app. Plex HTPC is the “to-be” PMP successor and PMP itself hasn’t been updated for nearly 2 years.

4

Tom, I tried the new HTPC and it’s needs a LOT of work. I won’t fit my 27" 5K iMac properly, I can’t use the mouse to scroll, I can’t even navigate using it. With the new plex player you can switch to it via the TV icon.
Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 5.44.02 PM

I will turn off updates if they make me use that and stick with the current player.

Also the PMP is updated every few months, where do you see it hasn’t been updated in 2 years. I routinely get updates for the PMP or so it seems.

5

Here are the official downloads

Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 5.56.30 PM
Screen Shot 2022-05-03 at 5.56.30 PM742×674 29.6 KB

None of the version number line up, so I am unsure which one I am actually using. I will download them both and test.

6

So I am going to trash the PMP and stick with Plex for Mac, as it looks and works better.

So after trashing PMP, I also deleted tv.plex.player-helper.plist to my LaunchAgents.

I launched Plex for macOS several times and it did not add the files to LaunchAgents.

7

That sounds promising.

As for your questions:

  1. It says right in your screenshot that the Plex Media Player (for macOS Home Theater PCs) version 2.58.0 was released in May 2020.
  2. As for the app not supporting mouse input – the Plex HTPC app is targeted for a use case where you operate it with a TV remote (or maybe a keyboard) on a PC that’s directly connected to a big-screen TV (that’s what the “Home Theater PC” reference means).
    Plex for Mac on the other hand is a regular desktop app, using the user interface of Plex Web but with better playback capabilities)
8

Tom, the version in the app I thought was 4.29.2, so that didn’t match either one on the website, as the website shows 1.44 & 2.58, hence my confusion. It seems the Plex HTPC app is not for my desktop use and why it looks off on a 27". Will see what they do with the Apple TV app and maybe it will be more like the Plex HTPC app.

9

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