Ultimate Analysis of the New Beta Mobile Preview: Features, Bugs, and Wishes

Plex Experience Preview
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Before diving into the details, I want to highlight that I really liked the new interface. This list comes from both my appreciation for the platform and my desire to contribute to its constant improvement. I also want to take this opportunity to express the features that I have wished to see implemented over the years.

MISSING FEATURES:

  1. Player:

    • Nerd Statistics: Advanced statistics for technical users.
    • Aspect Ratio Adjustment: Option to adjust the aspect ratio and support for unusual aspect ratios, such as those in Ben-Hur (1959) or La sociedad de la nieve (2023).
    • Sleep Timer: Timer to turn off the playback automatically.
    • Loop Button: Button to play the video on a loop and enable looping for playlists.
    • Shuffle Button: Button for random playback.
    • Scene Markers: Scene markers for easier navigation.

  2. Movies:

    • No option to select a specific version to play when multiple versions of the same movie or show exist in the library. (kesawi)

BUGS:

  1. Player:

    • Thumbnail Display: Thumbnails do not appear in the progress bar when sliding through it.
    • Player Size: The player is too large, especially when the progress bar is hidden, obscuring a large part of the paused frame. Displaying the movie’s release date is a good addition.

  2. Movies:

    • Volume Level: I’ve noticed that the sound volume is always significantly lower compared to other streaming platforms or even when playing the same movie in apps like VLC.
    • Version Selection: The option to choose a specific version of a movie or show isn’t available when there are multiple versions in the library. (hazardsharex)
    • Codec Playback: Some movies with codecs like HEVC won’t play.
    • Incomplete Information: Sometimes, the credits (actors) of a movie don’t appear when viewing it from my library.
    • Incorrect Logos: Media logos sometimes appear in a different language or Latin American Spanish, even when the library is set to Spain Spanish.
    • Missing Technical Information: On the media title page, codec and track information isn’t displayed, such as whether the content is 4K, 1080p, Dolby Atmos, EAC3 5.1, stereo, etc. (dklein)

  3. App:

    • Fluidity: The app lacks general fluidity in its operation.
    • Last Selected Tab: The app doesn’t remember the last tab selected within my libraries, such as “Browse.”

  4. Collections:

    • Collections fail to load properly when attempting to open them.

  5. TV Show:

    • Missing Theme Music: No theme music plays when on a show’s page. (by Saasbs)

  6. Libraries:

    • Descriptions of collections and cover images do not display.

WISHES:

  1. Playlists:

    • I understand playlists are still in development, but I’d like to suggest the following improvements:
      • Ability to customize the cover image, which should be visible across all compatible apps and platforms.
      • Playlist description accessible from all platforms.
      • More detailed information about items in the playlists, such as the release year for each movie, available on all platforms.
      • Option to share playlists and allow selected users to add or remove items from them.
      • Shared playlists should be added to the selected users’ personal libraries, not just as a shared item.
      • Display the author of each playlist (e.g., between my friends and me).
      • From a movie’s menu, in addition to credits and extras, there should be an option to view which playlists the movie is included in.

  2. Movies:

    • Movies and episodes should be able to be marked as completed with a percentage of 100%.
    • Ability to select a movie’s director, view their photo, and explore their filmography, similar to the experience with actors.
    • Add an option to check the movie’s rating on Filmaffinity.
    • Implement the ability to read Filmaffinity reviews directly from the app.

  3. Player:

    • For server admins, include an option to upload custom subtitle font sources.
    • Display the actors currently on-screen when using the progress bar, like Amazon Prime does.

  4. Homepage:

    • Currently, sections like Continue Watching, Recently Released Movies, Recent Playlist, etc., appear on the homepage.

    Suggestions for improving homepage customization:

    • Enable the option to edit existing categories to suit the user’s or admin’s preferences.
    • Allow server admins to create custom categories on the homepage. Examples:
      • Most Important Christmas Movies.
      • Halloween Movies.
      • Best Robin Williams Movies.
    • For those days when you’re tired and just want to watch something relevant without complication, it would be great to have a design inspired by Apple Music’s homepage. It could feature larger movie covers and a prominent carousel to quickly pick attractive content.
    • Rewind/Recap: A “Spotify Wrapped” style recap, but with movies I’ve watched during the year.
    • Smart Downloads: Add an option for smart downloads, which automatically downloads unseen movies randomly—perfect for trips and unforeseen situations.

  5. Player
    (I’m aware some functions are still to be implemented)

    • Speed Control: Option to adjust playback speed to values like x0.25, x0.5, x0.75, Normal, x1.25, x1.5, x1.75, x2.
    • Double Tap for Skip/Back: Allow double-tapping to skip or rewind, with an option to customize how many seconds to skip or rewind, available across all platforms.
    • Security: Require a password or biometric authentication to access specific content.
    • As a graphic designer, I would appreciate it if the circle in the progress bar were also orange, making it more aesthetically pleasing.

  6. Extra Content:

    • It would be useful to implement a way to organize longer-than-usual extra content. For example, in The Lord of the Rings, the appendices are practically a film course split into episodes.

  7. Collections:

    • Option to hide items added to a collection from the recommended sections and from the library. For example, if I have 100 Disney shorts in a collection, I wouldn’t want them to interfere with my animation recommendations.

  8. Libraries:

    • It would be ideal if the order of my libraries could be linked to my account and synced across all devices.

I know there are many suggestions, some of which will be harder to implement than others (I’m not an expert in programming), but please take your time to carefully read through everything.

Thanks: kesawi, dokuro, riesgosharex.

Link to the original thread

2 Likes
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Audio volume for shows & movies on iOS is also unusably low.
The old Plex iOS app plays with usable audio volume

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you guys are dousing my excitement lol. But this is good feedback.