I don’t share full media folders with friends, family, or internal managed accounts. I prefer to selectively share individual shows or movies with those I know. I have loved the ability to share a movie with my children as they become age appropriate for different media. I also prefer not to allow full access to my library but share individual media as requested from others. In the latest release they have said “Single Item Sharing: We’ll no longer offer the ability to grant access to single, individual items on a Plex Media Server (such as an individual playlist or single specific movie). Existing individual items will still remain accessible in the new apps. However, you will not be able to do so for new, individual items. You can continue to grant access to libraries on a Plex Media Server to family and close, personal friends”
This has been discussed a little but I’m surprised it hasn’t been discussed much more with more backlash. Am I the only one that manages my server sharing like this? I’ve been a PlexPass user for years but this would be something that would compel me to dive further into other media server options. I have tested Jellyfin and Emby in the past but haven’t made the move for one reason or another.
Are any of you aware of their ability to share individual items with remote users and managed users? Is this something that the rest of you care about? If so, I’d love to see some more chatter about it in hopes of getting it reversed or corrected. It looks like I can share individual items through my Mac App still but I’m sure it is only a matter of time before they change that if it has already changed with their new app.
Anyone else out there wondering why this is better, hoping they revert back, or looking for other options?
Thank you for the info on this. Can this easily be done through the app or is this something I would need to do on the web interface or on my desktop app? If on the web interface or desktop app, it seems like it would be a pain and I wouldn’t be able to do it remotely which is what I’ve easily been able to do in the past. Why not just leave the functionality in the first place?
@Enderland
This is exactly how I manage media for young viewers as well. It’s yet another important feature that the Plex leadership team got wrong in removing.
I rolled back to v8.45 on my own devices (mostly Apple), and I’m running version 1.41.6.9685 on all of my servers. I can still manage media like this.
Everything Plex’s management team is doing is so hypocritical based on the principles they have advertised guide them. Those claims that I’ve relied on to make many crucial decisions. My jaw just keeps dropping as I discover more and more that has been stripped away. It’s almost class-action worthy at this point.
Anyway, if you can revert your mobile apps to 8.45 and lock in your server to this version, this well-developed way of managing our personal media still appears to be working for me.
I’m also setting up alternative servers for testing. For instance, Jellyfin has some promise. Their core team is somewhat small, but they seem to be active and listening at the moment. I think Plex’s decisions will only accelerate that activity.
It will be a bit before they can compete across the board with the older “tried and true experience” we’ve come to love (such as features like you described), but in many ways they already exceed the “new experience”.
This tagging option works pretty much the same way in Jellyfin as well… except you CAN manage tags from their official iOS app. I guess Jellyfin is already ahead of Plex’s “new experience” in that respect.
This is all a BIG step back in user experience, but I guess regression is Plex’s M.O. now.
Good to hear I’m not †he only one. I had imagined eliminating this feature would have caused a much larger uproar. Maybe people just haven’t noticed it as much because of all of the other changes that have happened.
I have Jellyfin and Emby running as well but have never felt as compelled as I do now to make the switch and recommend others do the same potentially. Thank you for sharing that the tagging system works in the Jellyfin app. That isn’t ideal either but at least we can do it remotely. I’ll check it out.
Despite the many changes and media being pushed, Plex has still seemed to be the best option. This one however is a huge one for me personally with my family. I will try to revert to the older app, (thank you for the suggestion) however, this as we both know is just a bandaid and won’t work forever as it won’t be future proof and we’ll have to update at some point. I’d love to hear more people chime in.
Seems like an easy feature to leave in place and would still accomplish the goal of Plex which seems to be eliminating unauthorized usage of media or people charging for access to their server which is an issue I fully support.
