Server Version#: 1.32.0.6973
Player Version#: 8.18 on an Apple TV 4K (3rd gen - 2022)
Since the 8.18 update of the Apple TV app that was released a few days ago, I’ve been experiencing regular video stuttering on a lot of my content. It’s like if every few seconds a frame goes missing. It’s very annoying and particularly noticeable when there is a lot of movement on screen.
Using TestFlight, I downgraded to the 8.17 version of the app and I can’t reproduce the stuttering at all. So I think I’ll stay on 8.17 for now because something is clearly going on with version 8.18.
Also, I’m very sorry for the rant, but I have to get it out of my chest:
What is going on with the Apple TV app lately? First, not long ago I experienced this severe issue that suddenly appeared after an update (I ended up buying a newer version of the Apple TV to circumvent it), and now this? I love Plex, but all I really want is to be able to relax and watch some of the content on my server on a Friday afternoon I have off without worrying about a new update suddenly breaking the ability to play videos…
I have this issue with 8.18 on the 2022 Apple TV as well, though it seems to come and go oddly enough. I sent them a sample file that showed the issue on my end but they were unable to reproduce. I also reverted back to 8.17 and the problem went away.
I know at least one other person in another thread that also said to be experiencing something similar with 8.18 (@ShaGe).
A change made in version 8.18 is obviously causing problem. Since we’re a few people reporting this problem now, maybe people at Plex will be able to properly investigate, identify, and resolve the issue.
I tried to troubleshoot it a bit, but it was a little hard to a consistent pattern. It seems it happens a lot more frequently for me with Blu-ray rips (both UHD and HD) that contain DTS-HD tracks, but not exclusively. All files I ripped myself. But, it’s happened a bit if I select a .ac3 track from a rip instead, though maybe less frequently. But, it happens every 10-40 seconds or so, with almost every file I tried, wired or wireless, HD or 4K, SDR or HDR. One film played back perfectly of the 10 or so I tested, which was a Blu-ray rip with a mono PCM track. I have found consistently though that if I make the Plex app transcode it doesn’t happen, even if I transcode the audio (ie. TrueHD tracks transcoded to FLAC don’t have this issue for me, even with video not transcoding at all).
The debug screen didn’t show any dropped frames, and it doesn’t stutter like a bandwidth issue (plus one of my ATVs is wired with gigabit on a fast network, the other is on wifi but is fairly close with a very strong signal on a wifi 6 network). I usually use Infuse, so I’ll switch back to that for now and hopefully try the official app out again when there is another update.
I’m still resisting using Infuse. There are some features the Plex player has that are important to me and that Infuse doesn’t have. Namely, extras (I have a lot of those from all my discs) and some kind of managed user accounts (for family members).
But being worried that some vital and basic functionalities suddenly get broken each time a new version of the Plex app for Apple TV is pushed isn’t exactly a great experience right now… I think I might need to take a serious look at Infuse and maybe try to find some workarounds for the features it doesn’t have.
But I really don’t want to. I like the Plex Apple TV app (when it works)
You can still use both. Use Infuse for the playback functionality Plex lacks and then go into Plex for extras. They work side by side as players.
I was using Infuse just for content with Atmos audio but then once I discovered it also handled audio sync better I switched over to it as my main player with Plex as a backup.
Pity Plex don’t get much chance to push their free streaming content at me now. That’s the price they pay for abandoning the ATV app for three years.
Unfortunately I am here to report that this is happening for me too on Plex version 8.18.1 (5813) on a 3rd gen Apple TV 4K, seemingly with all kinds of content (I have confirmed both 1080p and 4k, haven’t checked 480p yet). As noted above it seems worse when there is a high level of movement on the screen, such as with panning.
What’s most frustrating is that it is happening on content that played perfectly fine before and I haven’t changed anything in my setup, the app just updated one day and a new problem was introduced.
Trying to watch a movie tonight on my Apple TV and I am seeing this problem as well. I am trying any combination of old player vs new player. Direct stream vs auto encode. Cant seem to find a combination that works with any consistency. Is there any update from PLEX official on the problem? Has PLEX even acknowledged its a problem?
Yes, it’s known, but we haven’t been able to reproduce internally as yet, I’m afraid, which is making it a little tricky to track down. We are continuing to track it, and have a bug filed for it
Knowing in what version the bug originated (8.18 – it was fine in 8.17) doesn’t help in identifying and fixing the bug at all?
That’s a serious showstopper preventing me from updating to anything past 8.17. And when the TestFlight 8.17 build expires (in 24 days as of today), I just won’t be able to use the Apple TV app at all to watch TV shows / movies.
