I don’t know why this was removed. It wasn’t intrusive. But now it takes a half dozen button presses to accomplish the same thing. Please put the repeat button back.
which of our many player apps are you talking about
The Roku app.
I edited to clear that up.
for music playback or video playback?
Video playback. I used to be able to scroll down to a repeat button and click once to have a movie (or episode) repeat. Now I have to click down, right, click, click, click, down, click, back, back, back. Why? What was the purpose of removing the button?
It just was not used often so there was no need for a dedicated button. It was removed years ago so if you used it recently you must have been using a pretty old version of app.
No, I haven’t used it recently. I’ve been missing it since you got rid of it. You could’ve at least made it an option. I mean, it’s still on the Windows app.
It’s still available. It’s just hidden under the more-options menu (the “dot dot dot” menu)
That being said, I now need to use this feature request to provide some brutal honesty:
I have to admit, I feel personally attacked by Plex’s devs that sometimes I click that more-options menu, and find that there is just “Shuffle” and literally nothing else on the page that appears. “We know you love to click Shuffle, so here’s an extra click to get there”
I know it’s probably just easier to code it that way, but “shuffle” is probably my most used button, and it’s like the Plex app is thumbing its nose at me when it makes me click an extra menu for literally just that button and nothing else.
And don’t get me started on all the blank space next to that more-options menu.
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No we don’t know YOU in particular love it or anything else. A few people may love it like a few folks love any particular thing but most folks don’t. We know that due to metrics which show us actual use
I do understand Plex’s stated reasons for the change. And hopefully you’re aware that I absolutely respect the work you do.
But when a product is being used for personal media, and that product undergoes changes that makes it less usable for any given person, that person is going to understandably be frustrated.
The Wife Acceptance Factor of Plex dropped probably 30-40% after the moving of the shuffle button. While she stares at tons of empty space on the Roku interface.
I know the decision won’t change. TBH I know that Plex just won’t care about a minority opinion. This is just a rare moment to express my frustration about it. I think Plex didn’t really gain anything (hello empty space) while frustrating some dedicated customers. It’s a classic case of “such a dumb little thing, but it made a big difference in satisfaction levels to those it mattered to”.
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One of the reason Plex exists in the first place is because we want a clean app interface without tons of options cluttering things up most never use. One of the main reasons I used this instead of other apps before I ever worked here years ago.
One person may want one button that does whatever so we add it. Another says “why not my other button that i use a lot” a third says “what about my favorite button”. Pretty soon the app looks like a one of those huge desks music recording studios use. A comment we got from a user recently was “Thank you for making an app not designed for nerds” who was also a “dedicated customer”
To be clear I don’t personally have feelings if we add this particular thing it or not, it won’t bother me. There are some features I outright hate, but I get that lots of folks use them and I fight for them. I just wanted to tell the OP why, since they asked, and give them some other options of what they can do now.
I totally get what you’re saying, and Plex’s simplicity is why I appreciate it so much, and am happy to pay for PlexPass. But at the same time, if I watch on my computer, the shuffle and repeat buttons are there. If I watch on my Roku TV, they’re not. Leaving them there on Roku wouldn’t have hurt anyone. But they were removed. People who didn’t use them were totally unaffected, while those who did were inconvenienced for… no reason. And again, I say no reason because they weren’t affecting those who didn’t use them, and they still exist on Windows. So, no reason.
I must say that the Wife Acceptance Factor in my household has dropped considerably as well for the same reason. We would usually put on something for background noise to fall asleep and use the repeat button so it doesn’t flip to something else with loud volume-spikes etc. When we’re ready to fall asleep, the last thing we want to do is find the glasses so I can see well enough to navigate to the repeat button to turn it on.
It seems that many people have a need for one or two options that may or may not be common. Perhaps a customizable and optional button? I’m unsure if that’s even feasible on Roku app.
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It’s feasible. The repeat button used to exist in the Roku app, and currently exists in the main UI of the desktop browser app, and only requires tapping the up arrow on the iOS app to access easily. Same goes for shuffle. It seems they were removed from the Roku app for… I have no idea. The answer above was that nobody uses them. Yet they still exist on other devices. So, basically no good reason at all. Would be nice if the developers just put them back.
