While in TV mode, I unpinned “Downloads & Sync” because I don’t use it often enough for it to be pinned. Then I was surprised that the ability to access “Downloads & Sync” was completely gone. It is missing from the “more” section of the side menu. “Downloads and & Sync” as well as Camera Roll and Open A Video File appears in the Offline section of the More menu when in Mobile Mode. But the entire Offline section is missing from More in TV Mode. So if you unpin any of these items in TV mode, you lose access to them forever. This has to be a bug because it makes absolutely no sense.
Plex, could you please acknowledge and fix these serious UI problems in TV mode.
Now, Plex, I reported these problems more than 5 weeks ago and I was completely ignored. If I’ve paid for the premium features, I expect to have access to them.
I am at the point where I will be posting a review to advise people against getting a plex pass because it seems that you just don’t seem to take the plex pass features seriously. If I don’t hear something back soon, I will also begin posting the same messaging about the Plex Pass around the internet on the various related forums. This is just unacceptable.
Android TV does not support local media. So this is intentional that you don’t see them.
You must be running a generic Android box that doesn’t actually use Android TV. It is not intended that users would be switching between the 2 layouts. So if you start in mobile and sync stuff, then switch to TV, you won’t be able to access the previous synced content, since the app doesn’t expect any of those to be there when using TV mode.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a way to go back to mobile mode without reinstalling the app which will remove any synced content you already have.
Thank you for responding. Yes, I have an Android TV box. Ok, if “Downloads and Sync” is not supported in TV mode, then I’m not sure why it was pinned on the side menu in the first place. This was a a completely fresh install of the app where I switched to TV mode after logging in while in mobile. I realize that there is no interface for downloading/syncing new material in TV mode, but the presence of the “Download & Sync” option suggested that it would still be possible to view material that was downloaded in Mobile mode. If this is not the case, then you have a very confusing/misleading user interface and I feel cheated for having paid for the Plex Pass.
As for not being able to switch back to mobile, I just don’t understand the reasoning for that. This prevents me from using my TV box the way I want to. Sometimes I’m connected to a small TV/monitor on a desk and I use mouse and keyboard and therefore want Mobile mode. Sometimes it is connected to a large TV in a living room and TV mode is desired, where I just use the remote. It’s a small box. It’s mobile but yet can be connected to a TV. Why doesn’t the app let me switch back and forth? You force me to uninstall/install the app each time and then I have to spend time configuring the app from scratch again. It’s an unnecessarily frustrating time-wasting experience that you force on us on purpose. I just don’t understand. I just want to use the app to watch TV on my android device and Plex seems to be going out of its way to make it so hard. Plus I will lose all my downloads when I uninstall.
The free Android VLC Player has a mobile UI and a TV UI as well and they let you switch back and forth. Other apps do as well. I just don’t get why Plex locks us into TV mode once we’ve switched, forcing us to waste 10 to 15 minutes uninstalling/installing/configuring every time we want to switch back to Mobile. Small TV boxes are an extremely common thing and it’s just baffling why Plex makes it so hard to use them effectively.
This effectively means that I don’t have access to the Downloads feature. When the box is in a large room, I use it in TV mode. But when on a desk, I use it Mobile mode. I lose the downloads every time I switch. This makes the Download feature completely useless to me when I take my box on the road. Downloads feature is supposed let me watch stuff when I’m not at home and I can’t do that.
Thanks, but I don’t really want the choice removed. I have an android phone, android tablet and two android TV boxes. They all let me choose between mobile and TV layout, even my phone. I just want to be able to switch back and forth between TV and Mobile based on the situation for my TV boxes.
Also, just want to clarify that Downloads and Sync was not hidden in TV mode. It was pinned already after a fresh install and logging in. It only disappeared when I unpinned it, thinking unpinning would move it to the More section like it does for any other unpinned item. So there’s a UI problem no matter how you cut it.
And the presence of the pinned Downloads item was rather annoying because it generates a warning popup that you have to dismiss when Downloads becomes selected as you navigate up and down the side menu. This was actually why I unpinned Downloads in the first place. It was annoying being interrupted by a popup as I navigated down the side menu to get to Settings.
Look, I’m a recently retired systems/internet programmer and I honestly don’t even understand how the app could be released with the UI in that state.
@MovieWiz - We’ll need to discuss this as a team but I believe this is intentional. The switch was not designed so that users could switch back and forth between interfaces. It was meant for situations where the app could not detect is a device was running the Android TV OS to allow users to switch over.
Your use case is unique and not the expected or intended way the app was to be used. As mentioned, Android TV does not support local content (sync, camera roll, local files). This is clearly mentioned in our support articles for mobile sync. It was not expected users would carry an Android box around so it’s not considered a mobile device, hence the different interface.
CPribbonson, thank you for taking the time to digest the situation. It is appreciated. I also think that the availability of “Downloads & Sync” should not depend upon whether you have currently decided to use the 10 ft TV interface or the up close mobile interface. But I also understand that adding this to the TV mode is a lot bigger deal than resolving the two items that you mentioned.
MovieFan, you just don’t get it. If you buy an Android TV box/stick, lots of times it’s because you want to take it with you on the road when you travel – for example, to connect to a TV in a hotel room or maybe to connect to a monitor on a desk in an office. You usually can’t directly cast to these screens. My situation is absolutely not unique. Sticks and boxes are completely suited to both the 10 foot (ie. TV) interface and the desktop (or mobile) interface when you are up close to the screen. You force us to uninstall the app to change and this could be monstrously inconvenient if you don’t happen to have good WIFI at the time. And you force us to lose all of our “Download and Sync” files when we change and we have to reconfigure the app all over again.
I can think of a least two free apps that freely allow users to switch between the 10 ft and up close interface, VLC being the major one.
You don’t even say why you restrict us in this way.
Please understand that I’ve paid for the Plex Pass and the Downloads feature is effectively unavailable to me because I lose all my downloads when I have I have uninstall to change the interface.
I understand, but keep in mind that the feature is called Mobile Sync, which was intended for mobile devices (phone and tablets).
You can still use it, you just need to keep it in the mobile UI. This is unfortunately a bad side effect of your box running regular Android versus Android TV. The app was never designed for these devices, it was meant for touch devices. I’m unclear how you are able to navigate the mobile UI without a touch screen.
TV boxes have USB ports. Mine has 3. I just plug in a USB wireless mouse (sometimes a keyboard too). Honestly, it’s the best way to use the device when you’re using the box with a small TV/monitor on a desk. Plex works great in mobile mode with a mouse. It’s fast and the various screens show more information. These boxes are powerful these days, almost like a desktop computer, except much smaller. Obviously, I don’t use the box on a desk all the time – depends on what I am doing. Across a room on a TV, I use Plex in TV mode with a remote. It called a TV box, but it’s really a lot more than that.
