When attempting to stream to Chromecast from Android phone I get message ‘Unable to play media’ I am also getting an unexpected error in the navigation bar.
Just seems like everything broke all at once. I did recently get a new modem/router but am sure it has worked since then.
I can sometimes get media to play within Chrome on Mac but when I try to cast to Chromecast is says ‘Playback error’ ‘There was an unexpected error during playback. Please visit our forums if you continue to experience problems.’
+1, I can cast from my laptop using Chrome but not from the Plex Android app. It stopped working a week ago, I didn’t update anything on the Plex side so I guess it was caused by an app update.
I have the same issue Unable to play media’ , casting with the latest android app is not working anymore. Plex on ios and web is still working with chromecast.
I have the same problem. A workaround if you only have your phone is to open Plex in a browser, select the movie and then the Cast icon. Your phone Plex app will then come up as a streaming option. When the app opens on the phone and starts playing, you can select Chromecast and it works. No idea why, since the same app gives the error mentioned above if you try to start the same movie directly in the app.
I seem to be experiencing the Android issue that everyone here is, in addition to several others.
The workaround did not work for me as trying to play through a browser on my phone gave the same playback error.
I also can’t cast from by browser on Mac or PC. I can get media to play within my browser (sometimes) but when I try to cast the TV gets all they way to the point of playing and then the screen goes grey and the browser gets kicked out of the media.
The Plex app on my TV also doesn’t launch.
All of my errors point me to the forums but there doesn’t seem to be any Plex support here?
For sure, the latest Android app seems buggy.
I too can’t cast to Chromecast - to be clear, the initial cast works, and it will show the Tv show / film synopses, but when you try to actually play the media it fails.
Also I don’t seem to be able to play an entire music album anymore; (even locally on the app), it only ever plays the first track and then stops.
Also I noticed that with the last Android App update, my Plex home screen configuration was all lost again and had to be re-setup.
Hopefully an update to the app will appear soon and fix all these issues!
Apparently there are others, and I received notice from a moderator that they’ve forwarded to a Dev, so maybe they’ll finally fix it. Here’s hoping. In the meantime, I’ve rolled back to an older beta version that does work. I recommend others do the same if they need casting ability and can’t wait.
+1
Same issue here. It’s things like that that are the reason I don’t run beta software on any of my daily devices. All my CCs are not on the preview branch, and I’m running the Play store version of the Android app on my phone (which I’m trying to cast from). Not sure who’s to blame here (as it could be a Google update that’s broken this) but either way stable branches should be stable.
Funny thing. The reason I switched to the beta channel is because not that long ago, I had a similar issue with casting being jacked. it would just crash the app when I clicked the cast icon. The beta offered a quicker way to get a resolution. So now I just leave it on “do not update automatically” and have a copy of the last version of the beta that does work. I test new versions and roll back if the new version doesn’t fix it.
Seems like we finally have the attention of Plex for this, so I’m hoping they can actually fix it. But it has been about a month since I starting having this issue, and many version have come and gone (including release versions) where the problem remains. We’ll see what happens.
How do you roll back your Android device?
I’m not on the BETA channel, only using the main store content, but since that is borked at the moment it would be good to be able to force a roll-back to an earlier version.
Look for older versions on apkmirror.com. They’re legit. Just uninstall your current version first before you sideload the older APK, because you can’t install an older version over a newer version. Then make sure to disable autoupdate for Plex in Play, lest it bump you back to the new version that doesn’t work.
You may need to allow sideloading of apps in Android settings, if you haven’t already.
Same here - i stupidly did a mass app update on my Pixel3 and now plex chromecasting is broken. There’s no easier way than tinkering with sideloading? I don’t have time for tinkering
It’s not hard, I promise. Somewhere in Android settings is an option to allow installation of apks that aren’t from the Play Store. Turn that on. Go to apkmirror.com and search for Plex. Find the last non-beta app version and download it, making sure to get the right copy for your phone (install Droid Info app from Play, look at “System” and check “Instruction Sets” to see what you have installed–e.g., armeabiv7a). Uninstall current version. Install the older version you just downloaded. Disable auto downloads for Plex from Play until a fix is released (find it in Play, click the three dots, and uncheck “enable auto update”). Log back in. Done.
Once a fix is release, you can download and test it from Play. If it works, recheck that auto update box and you’re right back where you were. If it doesn’t work, repeat steps above to reinstall the old version. I keep the last good version of the APK on my phone so I don’t need to download it again and again.
Thank you very much Quadriflax, your excellent instructions were great and I rolled back to an old version from apkmirror. Was up and running again in a few minutes. All seems to be working as it did before updating the android app.
Surely PLEX can rollback this update? It’s broken.
And sticky these instructions, they’re excellent even for a non-tech like myself.
Having these same issues. Could live with it on Android but the issues are now with the browser on my PC. The cast button inside Plex browser just disappears. The browser button still works though.
Same here. First I had to activate the app again, now I can only play my videos on my phone or tablet. Casting to TV gives “Sorry, something went wrong”
What is going Plex? Thanks for the breaking update, not!
So it seems that this issue has been ongoing now with no response from plex at all. Any suggestions on alternatives? Emby? Jellyfin? I’ll be asking for a full plex pass refund. Plex, learn a lesson so many companies have the hard way, adapt, over communicate, be ultra responsive, solve issues quickly or somebody else will walk in and eat your lunch!
