I’m confused. I’ve been using Plex in my household for some years, and I’m used to being able to control any player from any device. It is part of the attraction for me to be able to control my media player from my phone while sitting in the garden. Windows could see Android, could see web, etc…
These last few weeks, that seems to have disappeared. No Plex players on any platform see any other Plex players on the network.
I’ve reinstalled Plex everywhere and gone through all the settings. I have one Plex server, running on Windows 10. I mainly use one media player, running on Windows 10, connected to my TV. Both are connected to a wired network.
Omg, Fluid control of playback between various apps and platforms was a core feature I used heavily. I thought I was going crazy! one day remote control was working, the next is was just completely gone. Why?
I don’t have an HTPC connected to a TV so Plex HTPC is pointless as it it is too heavily geared towards mouseless interaction for my needs but I do have a huge monitor and a comfy recliner to sit in or can watch from my bed. I end up feeling too lazy to get up and use the mouse or I need to step away. I don’t have an HTPC remote and haven’t needed one because I could just use the Plex app on my phone, tablet or web on my laptop stop playback or switch content if I’m in another room. I’ll even be watching something, send it to my tablet and do something else in the house then toss it back to my PC if I’ve left Plex Desktop running.
Now I’m supposed to run Plex HTPC if I want to retain fluid remote control capabilities?
What was the actual reason to fracture and remove remote control from the desktop app? Cause this doesn’t make sense at all. Plex desktop just needs to be a player target. zero other consideration needed other than to have remote playback cause the player to maximize the video if it had previously been minimized.
Whoops, thanks for the clue. I misdiagnosed the situation on my end. my server hardware crapped out around the time of the change to remote control support. I’ve been relying on friends for streaming the past couple weeks. I didn’t realize my local server was essential to coordinating remote control options/targets with my in-home devices, that I was used to seeing with other people’s servers before my server went down.
Wow, OK. For some reason this mail trail ended up in my junk folder and I just found it. It will take me some time to work through all of this, but superficially it seems sad to lose some of these capabilities.
You can use an old version of Plex for Windows instead, the companion feature was removed, the CTO told me that it was removed because of lack of use and maintenance “costs”, but then jellyfin with their almighty budget have this feature for free, plex HTPC is the only app/program that plex offers at the moment with said feature.
I am sticking to this version Plex-1.41.0.2876-e960c9ca-x86_64 and disabled auto-updates, this version doesn’t have the maximize window problem that was recently fixed in a version that removed the companion app. To disable auto updates do:
Add to plex.ini located in C:\Users<username>\AppData\Local\Plex
disableUpdater=true under the [debug] section.
lol, I’m with you that the change to remote control is just plain dumb but berating the mods isn’t going to get us anywhere. go and berate the “C-suite” employees.
I usually ignore the mods and their reasonings, mostly a “You’re using it wrong” but lately they have been going full dictatorship and you can only comment what they think or goes along with them, meh anyway I am moving to jellyfin atm, have fun with plex, still a solid choice for your media files.
This thread is about the abilty to be controlled by other Plex clients. This was recently intentionally removed from 2 Plex client types: “Plex Web” and “Plex for Windows/Mac/Linux”.
These clients can still act as controllers themselves, though.
Both app types require a computer to run on. They are of no use to someone who has a TV with no computer connected to it.
This was the core of my remark to @MastarPete
All other Plex client types (Smart TV, Android TV, Apple TV etc.) have not changed in regard to controllability via Plex Companion.
So, to assume that Plex Companion has ceased to work in general (on all client types), and that this was an intentional change is simply wrong.
If @thedogsbody has a remote control issue with other client types than “Plex Web” and “Plex for Windows/Mac/Linux”, then this is caused by a technical malfunction and not by an arbitrary decision made by Plex, Inc.
Cool, now you are able to read but still follow your biased opinion, this problem is not caused by a technical malfunction as you said, is entirely caused by a decision made by Plex inc instead, this user wouldn’t be here is the companion feature would still exist in plex web or plex for Windows/Mac/Linux, but oh well good thing @FordGuy61 gave an actual answer, @OttoKerner keep trying to decide what a post is about.
Please keep removing features and telling everyone “You are using it wrong” your users are loving these changes.
Plex Companion was removed from Web and Plex for Windows/Mac/Linux because it incurred a high maintenance cost as well as having several issues already. Numerous times a change in one portion of the code would induce breakage in this portion requiring the high maintenance cost or let it remain broken. This, combined with the extremely low usage of the feature, contributed to the decision to just remove it.
Since this thread has turned into berating the mods, it is unproductive to let it continue.
