Plex Player for Android is Not Functioning Correctly; VLC Does

Plex Players Mobile Devices
1

I have also posted to /r/plex here Reddit - The heart of the internet

Hello,

I am really in need of some help debugging my issue and I am hoping someone can help me, help them, help me. I have an issue where a bunch of videos in my library cannot play correctly on the Plex player on Android (multiple devices) but play perfectly if I select the option to use an external player, and select VLC. Further, any attempt to correct the video by altering the stream with conversion results in a crash of the app and the end of the transcode on the server. Initially, when the video is having the issue, it is “Direct Play” The settings report “Convert Automatically” and changing this to “Play Original Quality” does not fix the stuttering. Selecting anything else that triggers a transcode crashes the app and ends the transcode after about 30 seconds of loading spinner. This is not an issue on the LG TV or Roku TV or any other Plex devices I use (computers, browsers, etc).

Meat and potatoes:

Plex Server Environment:
Plex Version: 1.25.9.5721
Windows 10: 21H1

Player Environment:
Huawei P30 Pro Android 10

  • Plex App Version: 9.1.0.31999 (6ef13b57)

Pixel 6 Android 12

  • Plex App Version: 9.0.6.31998 (fa17c77a)

Here is a video that shows what I have described above (apparently I can’t link the video or it tries to render it in the post and fails to play)

https://streamable.com/oacrga

Dashboard
When I first open the movie to play

1
1260×342 32.3 KB

When I select “Play Original Quality”
play_orig_quality
play_orig_quality235×310 28 KB

When I select the highest available “Convert” option
transcode
transcode249×310 29.8 KB

File Properties
Plex

plex_file_info
plex_file_info524×955 60.5 KB

Windows
file_props
file_props289×209 3.19 KB

The file itself is .mp4 x265 1080p

Network Performance
Running iPerf3 on the server and using Termux on my P30 Pro:

Screenshot_20220419_095447
Screenshot_20220419_0954471080×347 60.1 KB

Logs
I have a .zip for the logs right after I ran the test in the video I linked above but I was not sure what was a good idea to upload or not from that so I will reserve that until I get more advice.

I am really hoping someone can help me, this is having a negative effect on a lot of my library and I have no idea why.

UPDATE:

I was able to get ahold of an iPad and it plays perfectly fine on the iPad which really solidifies my belief that this is an issue with the Android Plex player. This could be a bug!

iPad (WORKING)

iPad (6th generation) software version 15.4

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It’s not a secret, plex android is mess, my last bug report on their beta forum and help request went in vain, because even they know. Plex android is a lost cause. The focus more on iOS.

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That is sad to hear :frowning:

I have a lot of issues and never much luck finding any help on either the forums or reddit but this is effecting a larger and larger portion of my library every week so I hope someone can help!

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Some more info. Here is the plex info for desolation of smaug and batman 1989. Desolation of Smaug plays FINE and Batman does not. Both HVEC.

batman
batman703×416 18 KB

desolation
desolation694×400 17.7 KB

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Classic. Another great post pointing out issues that will never even be seen by Plex. Keep up the great work.

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