I’m not “detracting” from what he said- if you only use the parts of the app that work well, you’re likely to have a great experience. And that’s a perfectly valid way to use the program.
That said, it’s absurd to suggest that the users who are experiencing problems have “systems that are misbehaving” or to imply that it’s the end-user’s fault. He actually wrote lines like:
“If I knew why my Plex system was so flawless then, maybe, I could tell others what they need to do to increase the stability of their system.”
and
“Now, does anyone want to examine what the differences might be?”
Yeah, here’s one major difference: YOU AREN’T USING THE FEATURES THAT HAVE PROBLEMS. And your boastful, condescending tone is distasteful.
I suspect that if Elijah was trying to sync files, use libraries on the mobile app, play EAC3 or TrueHD files on the mobile clients, add or order widgets on the home page when they aren’t already populated, use playback controls without glitches, upload camera files, or transcode some very common video or audio formats, he’d quickly realize that the only relevant “difference” is… actually using those features.
If anything, pretending that your personal server is somehow special or more correctly set up is “detracting” from everyone who is having trouble with the app just because we’re trying to use a little bit more of it. There are forums full of people who can replicate the problems and we’ve been asking for dev support for months, longer in some cases.
In reading your reply I realize that you are quite bitter because Plex is not working correctly for you but you must also realize that there are many others that are using Plex, even the special parts that you list, that are not having problems.
My intent was to start a process were what is actually causing the problems some people are having can be identified.
Some interactions between the hardware and software and operating system and other software must be causing problems for some people. Identifying what that interaction is and what can be done to make it work is a main part of troubleshooting the problem and eventually fixing it. @johnny15 has made a good start by listing another system that is pretty different and uses different pieces of Plex than mine. But it will take a LOT more people both with and without problems listing their details to produce a data set that might allow Plex to find the problems.
It is impossible for Plex to have all, or even a representative sample, of the possible setups and software interactions that could exist in the world hence they are dependent on users to provide full details of problem systems.
My post was an attempt to get that process started.
I have started to really think that Plex is up against a nearly impossible situation because of the complexities of their ecosystem unless they get help from their user base.
It is as important for users to help Plex and for Plex to try to find the real cause of any problem that occurs. If Plex had really large capitalization then they could buy equipment and software and recreate most of the most common setups in the world but even then there would be large number of parts missing.
It is not required that users help Plex fix their problems but without that help there clearly will be continuing problems that Plex is unable to fix.
Perception is everything. While you read his comment as boastful and condescending, I simply read it as if he was trying to offer some help and be able to offer suggestions. Throwing out an offer to compare differences between setups is a legitimate option.
Yes, to your point, if you aren’t using problematic features, then sure you aren’t going to problems but if Plex was that “bad” then you could argue the entire ecosystem has problems but that’s not the case.
For some of the things you mention having issues with, I use libraries on the mobile app without issue. Sync for a long time was a mixed bag but as of a few server releases back, I can sync my entire music library now without issue. Admittedly, it’s only 11.6GB but I don’t put all my music on Plex as I know there’s plenty of old crap I won’t listen to anymore. I don’t have EAC3 but I do have DTS-HD that I passthrough on all my encodes. TrueHD only passes through on MKV files and I don’t use that container. Either way, DTS-HD (5.1 and 7.1) plays without issue on my mobile. I agree, widgets can be buggy but the new mobile client layout is young so it will take time to get rid of some of the bugs. Playback controls don’t glitch for me either. I have noticed one bug with playlists but I haven’t posted about it because I just haven’t had time but either way, I’m not going to imagine Plex is going to think of every conceivable use-case either. I don’t use camera upload so I can’t comment on that. As it relates to transcoding, my remote users transcode all the time without issue. I do some transcoding on my phone/tablet when traveling and I also have some clients that transcode at home too just due to resolutions not being supported on some lesser clients (Roku TVs). In any case, all work well and my server while really old (i5-2400) handles the transcoding really well too.
Either way, I’m not here to argue with you I’m just trying to level the playing field when I felt (again, perception is everything) there was some trashing of perfectly legitimate comments in this thread. I’m also not trying to say people can’t voice their complaints either but if users don’t have very constructive feedback with server and/or client logs ready to support their gripes, you can expect Plex devs to probably ignore them. You know how hard it can be to work with crabby people that really don’t want to help, they just want to b*tch about stuff just for the sake of doing so. Its not easy.
Ultimately, I hope Plex devs can help with the issues people do see. It honestly makes Plex better for everyone.
Server / web side of things is good, interface and all. However, the last couple of “updates” for the iOS app SUCKS! Lumping all the different servers into one huge list is dumb, cumbersome to find anything. Trying to use / find something in the app with is almost IMPOSSIBLE. ESPECIALLY with no service. The app was SO much better than having to dick around with iTunes. Plex app was so good that I replaced the video icon on iOS with it. I’m going back to iTunes and doing the PC/sync PITA mode. At least you know you have your music and videos.
Stop going backwards! If it isn’t better, leave it alone!
For me its the same.
I have a plex pass since years. Most of the things have been working fine.
The recent updates changed the things.
Plexamp is a great thing.
Yesterday I tried watching a movie with my son using plex kodi plugin. It showed subtitels and did not play smooth. We ended in my office watching the video on pc.
I will countinue using plex for a while, but in meantime try emby. Docker setup is very easy and can run together with plex.
PLex should try to fix old issues not rising a lot of new features.
The reason why I bought plex pass is to have my own music and video collections played on a various number of devices at home and on trips. So sync of content is very important.
To be honest, I am using Plex on a Windows based server for quite a while including some development on own plugins or deep interactions with Plex through PlexAPI. As far as I know I have not seen any major issue within Plex since I am using it and I am using most of the functions on board.
The only points I can complain is the lack of consistency of features between all clients (for example chapter support on iOS only) and the fact that no roadmap is communicated to the community. Currently I am missing some features and have no clue if they are coming or not.
“I came here for help but found someone else offering it in a way that made my panties feel tight for no apparent reason so now I shall vent because I’m actually seven.”
Some of us have no issues whatsoever with Plex. Some of us would love to help those who do.
I imagine none amongst those of us without issues wish to reward your childish rant by attempting to help.
Jumping in a conversation to attack someone is just as juvenile as you’re accusing me of being. Instead of trying to make yourself feel good by putting someone down and talking about how much you’d love to help, why don’t you actually… do something helpful?
If you really have no issues whatsoever, try doing some of the things that people are having problems with, and then compare system specs and setup. Why don’t you start by testing EAC3 or TrueHD LOCAL (on device, not transcoded from a server) playback on the Android mobile client? If that works for you, I know a lot of people will be super excited to hear what your setup is. And if you can get that to work, next you can work on getting the Android mobile client to transcode those formats when Casting them to a client that can’t direct play those formats.
I suspect you won’t be able to do either of those things, for one of two reasons: one, you’re actually just here to complain about people complaining, or two, the app actually isn’t capable of doing either of those things no matter what your configuration is. (Hint: it’s both). But hey, if you’re able to prove me wrong about that I will be the first to admit it.
This is the kind of thing that requires details to even know what is actually happening. If reported elsewhere a link would help a lot.
In order for the developer to have the slightest chance of diagnosing the problem they need to know at least:
What client is involved.
How is the client and the server connected to the network?
Are the TV shows that are misbehaving ripped, downloaded or recorded?
Does it happen on all or just some of the shows in the library.
Is the storage directly attached to the server or accessed from the network or the cloud?
What is the server version and what platform is it running on?
Along with those, and I am quite sure that I have overlooked some important questions, you need to reproduce the problem and then attach the logs from just after the failure to a post here.
It is pretty clear that most people, including me, are not having that particular problem so the Plexperts need to have enough info to be able to make a good guess at what is wrong and try to fix the problem.
The first step in trouble shooting is reproducing the problem and anyone trying to help must have enough info to make that reproduction possible.
Although it often seems that the info asked for is overkill and repetitive it really is not because the first 20 reports nay not contain the one little piece needed to reproduce the problem but the 21st might just contain the important info and allow Plex to find and fix the problem.
This forum software makes it easy to post links so I suggest that links to relevant threads be regularly included.
I think though this is part of the problem with Plex. Too many different systems that users control with many variations. You know how many streaming/buffering issues exist because of internet bandwidth? Because of people using wifi on servers? or wifi on most clients? This right there would make it a lot harder to support. If people put some common sense on to use a lan connection and not try to use plex remotely if your upload sucks I think Plex would have a lot less issues. Now I know some issues still exist even when you use lan on all devices, gig upload/download but they are rare (as in my case). I wont touch streaming brain because of the number of bugs I have seen since its introduction based on the release notes and for the fact that it is not needed if you have gig internet. I have less issues caused by Plex than with the streaming client boxes themselves (cough Roku firmware updates constantly introduce new bugs).
I think what Plex needs to do with new features is keep them in beta (label it beta like Gmail was for years) for a year or two until all the bugs get worked out. They are very slow at fixing bugs and never have a polished feature at release because they take it out of the preview way to quick even when known bugs exist (that is my biggest issue with Plex).
I have had no issues with plex for tv movies or videos. I tied it to my Roku black boxes and use samsung tablet to bluetooth cast to wireless speakers.
Also a lifetime member.
Can anyone tell me what their issues are, examples? If you did already, sorry tl;dr 37 comments.
Its a business, like every other business it is interested in increasing incoming revenue. A lifetime membership purchased by rip-their-own people like me can only get a company so far. Expect that future developments will also disappoint many because it seems to me that what they are working on is expanding the user base and not in satisfying us niche nerds.
There will be another server/client solution somewhere down the line and it will run a similar course. Its the nature of the beast.
