What exactly has Plex transformed into that is so different? I’ve been a lifetime Plex Pass user since 2012 and was using XBMC before that. Plex has changed UI’s many times over the years but at no point has Plex ever stopped being a media server or transformed into anything that would make my media server unusable to me and my family.
I’ve been a user since 2014. I don’t see what that has to do with any of the points any of us are making. Plex has not had any drastic changes in UI since then (until now) except the 2019 debacle that they were roasted for and reversed direction on. At the time, I highly respected the humility it took for Plex to accept that they messed up, though I feel they really wanted to do then what they’re doing now.
So I get not liking a UI or not getting along with the design of the new app. Indeed it can be frustrating until the app is more fully featured. But the biggest + about Plex is you can use other clients if the Roku UI is not the experience you want.
Or Plex can pull their fingers out of their ears and listen to the user base. Like I told robin58, we’re peers here, and I have no reason to change course just because you don’t like what I’m saying. Unless you are part of Plex and are not a peer - they were caught on Reddit posing as users to subvert user expectations already. Don’t think people aren’t paying attention to that, either.
Aside from that, what other clients are you talking about? Plex doesn’t officially allow third party clients, and Plex’s stated goal is to create a new unified interface across all platforms. There is no refuge in the Plex ecosystem, and even if there were, I’m supposed to switch to a new platform for a single app? That’s a deluded expectation.
Using third party solutions is asking for a more broken experience periodically as they lag behind changes in Plex’s API. That’s not a realistic long term solution either.
You didn’t pay for the UI of the Roku to never change. And instead of moving on from Plex wouldn’t it be easier to find a client that works and looks the way you want? Android TV, Kodi, Infuse on Apple TV. Many different clients with many different UI’s can be used with Plex especially if you know what you’re doing with Kodi which is still by far a better player than any native Plex apps.
Once again, the alternative UIs out there are in the process of being replaced, and I’m not switching to an Apple device and trading in more software restrictions on top of the software restrictions encroaching in on Plex. Your proposed solution is not a solution and reeks of the same authoritarian behavior we can expect from Plex themselves.
I paid for a UI I had control over - something Plex has advertised and subverted. Since I’ve invested in Plex:
- Plex has introduced additional content not from my server, made it appear as if it’s from my collection, and wrapped it in ads. I just had to answer a message today from my sister regarding why I was advertising to her and when I was going to add the rest of a series I don’t even have and can’t legally obtain.
- Plex has deprecated their plugin API.
- Plex has created a more clumsy UI that I absolutely hate, and despite your assertion, I am going to continue to complain about that - I’ll even complain about it more because you’re trying to silence me and people who share my view.
- Even if I were willing to use the new UI, it locks up on three out of four tablets I own right on the setup screen. Who built that? What is it doing on the setup screen that I can’t even tap the continue/right arrow button? So, now the media server experience that I paid for with a mobile client that I paid separately for doesn’t even work. Don’t tell me I got what I paid for - I’m still waiting for it to just work again.
- I used to have subtitles working. Guess what’s broken for the third time on my phone since this update?
- And again - I paid for a media server to run as a server on a server. I can’t even do that because Plex decided to block several IP ranges of datacenters preventing me from trying to save on electric costs, heat, and fan noise in my home. Not to mention trying to work around an Internet connection at the time that was barely better than dial-up. Don’t even get me started on Plex hiding that communication for several days while people here in the forums fought server registration issues and had to be privately messaged by Plex devs to explain what was going on. Plex didn’t even have the decency to communicate this change publicly and wasted the productivity of who knows how many people.
Don’t tell me I still have the same experience today I used to have. If you’re satisfied, that’s fine, but you have no right to try and override my dissatisfaction.
Sucks that Plex on Roku still has those same old annoyances that make watching all kinds of movie with various audio/video codecs sort of inconvenient. Do wish they focused on better playback instead of a new UI. Would make all the difference!