I’ve taken a good look at the plug-in framework back at the time and it seemed a pretty solid piece, yes not perfect, sometimes confusing due to code sandboxing, strange design decisions to separate channel code and URL services into different sandboxes to name a few, but overall I’d say fine. It was even possible to write automated tests for plug-ins and run them standalone.
The big problem I saw is that is that the plug-in framework provides metadata that look “kind of” similar to those from the local library, but they’re not compatible. As a result, the client apps must be unnecessarily complicated to support both. So I suppose they want to cut channels functionality out from the official clients, which I can imagine will help developers maintaining them a big deal.
As for the plug-in framework on server, I don’t see it to be intertwined with other Plex server functionality very much so it could very well stay there and function for ages without being pain for server developers. Concerned users will just need to use a client like OpenPHT to access plug-ins.
Unless the real reason for the Plugin removal is something else… Plugins might be providing functionality like trackt that they want to develop as a Plex Pass feature only.
Well now we get Plex Web Shows but instead of you being able to chose your online content you get to see what Plex wants you to watch.
Exactly, if they tried even a little bit not only they could have simplified it but enhanced it.
It’s quite easy to see why they killed plugins, given the news today about Plex Web Shows.
Monetization. Plain and simple. They’ve partnered with these ‘curated’ shows. Somewhere, money is exchanging hands. Many of the Plex Web Shows shown in the announcement, are already plugins.
No money trades hands through plugins. They do through Plex Web Shows.
Any plugin that isn’t in Plex Web Shows does not want to participate in this, thus you don’t see NBC, CBS. ABC, etc. They want to control the whole thing.
That, is simple economics. You don’t kill plugins for Fail Army because the audience is tiny, you kill it so you can bring it back and monetize the hell out of it.
But you have to admit, is has a potential of becoming the “plug-ins 2.0” if Plex ever allows users to choose their own sources for that content. More so, this would set the 3rd party developers free to use any technology they want, not confining them to use any framework Plex provides, as long as it implements required interfaces. Also provided, the ‘new’ interfaces have comparable support for UI needs, of course (the current ‘you watch wat we show you’ approach makes me doubt though). But if the new interfaces are capable enough, I don’t even see it impossible to run the current ‘old’ Plex plug-ins framework standalone and implement some kind of a proxy to translate plug-ins output to the new format.
This will never happen. You don’t monetize content, and then let people add any source they want. They’ve shut down the free no money involved format, and will only let in the content that financially makes sense. The only new 3rd party content will be if the owner of the online content decides to partner with Plex. Your visions of a developer adding any content like they did with plugins, is long, long dead.
Perhaps not, we’ll have to wait and see. For now we’ve been promised that Plex does not currently have a goal to root out the plug-ins support server side, so there’s still enough time to see how will that new platform fare. If it catches enough interest, somebody will surely find a way if you know what I mean
I fail to see how that will happen. You no longer have the control over this. This is Plex server side, not local server side. You don’t have any access to how these are delivered, let alone would you have ability to add to this. What you’re asking is akin to thinking you could get a developer to add a way to get Netflix to distribute a channel they don’t have. Umm… yeah, no…
I wish and hope but my optimism has been withering through the years now. Also, their implementation is on the client side so its not gonna be possible to run as centralized plugins in the true sense. But the biggest blockade will be their willingness. I’m actually quite surprised with the Web Shows since the reason they cited for axing stuff was cost and now they are hosting all these Shows. I would be rather amazed if the YouTube content they are duplicating they can deliver in 4K as good as YouTube - at least I’ll know where my Plex Pass $ are being spent.
And why would I like a source which shows content 2+ weeks later.
This seems to be on point although I’m not totally sure why you bookmarking would be an issue.
Who knows, but my first thought was the end goal might be a general, all around player without the server. You would definitely need to remove 3rd party access to accomplish this.
Ha so true. Funny thing is cox cable gave the same number 2% then in a year it was at over 5% and that was before mainstream cord cutting. I know a family with a few kids hits that 1TB very quickly during summer and winter breaks…
Why should Plex cut the server function? It is the one feature that distinguishes from the rest of software (emby left aside). All streams in one place I already have with Android TV running all the apps that are necessary.
So relax people, Plex server will go nowhere.
At that time, Plex had 130 apps, the most popular of which were Apple Movies Trailers, YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, MTV Music Videos, BBC iPlayer and Vimeo. In an interview for TechCrunch, Feingold declared Plex apps had been downloaded about 1 million times.[4][13]
…while Netflix and Hulu are no longer available in general their usage would have only grown with time. Funny how the numbers are being spun around. One day its a selling point, one day its a sunsetting point
They neglected API, ninjas came and went, they started kicking out unsupported plugins that were popular…and then say no one used them. Of course they use eminent domain to foreclose. They stripped the house of all fixtures and copper piping before trying to sell it overpriced.
I know two ninjas that repeatedly over at least 3 years asked features be fixed. They left. Stopped visiting.
Several plugin authors grew tired of limitations and stopped updating.
Several plugins that did work were removed from the forum.
Not necessary related. Lots of Ninja’s have stopped and new joined due to their interest, personal life and so on. There’s no way you can delude it’s connected, IMHO
Maybe, but most stopped updating due to above, as well as their things stopped working due to the source the where picking from closed their way,
Only the ones involved in illegal contents, and as such violated the forum rules.
If Plex had not done so, they would have been prosecuted.
