Server Version#: 1.14.1.5488
Player Version#: all players, iOS, Samsung, Chrome for Windows…
In the Settings > Languages I have
Automatically Select Audio & Subtitle Tracks: CHECKED
Prefer Audio Tracks In: ENGLISH
Subtitle Mode: SHOWN WITH FOREIGN AUDIO
Prefer Subtitles: ENGLISH
Based on these settings I would assume that when a movie is playing that has foreign audio like Lion (2016) or U-571 the English Subtitles would appear when Indian or German is being spoken in the respective movies. This does not work.
I’ve edited both MKV files using mkvToolNix so that the English Audio is the Default Track Flag: Yes and Forced Track Flag: No.
The Subtitles for the Forced are selected as Default Track Flag: Yes and Forced Track Flag: Yes.
I have also tried setting the Audio Default Track Flag: YES and Forced Track Flag: YES and the same in the forced Subtitles but it still does not work.
In the Subtitles menu in Plex the Subtitles show up in the list as “Forced” but they do not play by default the way the Settings>Languages menu leads me to believe it should.
Is this the intention of these settings and if so, how do I get this to work?
No, that is not what those settings do. Those settings tell Plex to pick a subtitle track if the audio track is labeled as a language other than the preferred one. What you are referring to are forced subtitles. Plex can’t tell if an audio track will have individual foreign parts so it does not know to pick the subtitle ahead of time. You will have to select the “forced” subtitle manually when you start playing the video.
Actually, the way I was envisioning it working is the way it is supposed to work. I don’t know if I did a poor job communicating what I’m trying to achieve here but I started another thread with a feature request and one of the moderators stepped in and confirmed that what I’m trying to do is in fact what these settings in Settings>Language are for. The forced subtitles will be chosen automatically if they are flagged as forced in the individual MKV file. I’ve made some adjustments and it’s working now–all forced subtitles are automatically chosen and play when a movie with forced subtitles is played.
