Warning - Plex For Android 8.15.0 dramatically reduces the number of On Deck items that will appear on your home screen

[MovieWiz]

Server Version#: 1.22.1.4228
Player Version#: 8.15.0.23855

After giving up on Plex for several weeks because of all the instabilities (using Jellyfin instead), I decided to install 8.15.0 and see where Plex is at.

This new version now appears to be using a new method for designing the home screen. In the default automatic home screen mode, the content is controlled from new settings on the server. While manual home screen still exists, its been quite hobbled as the server settings appear to be overriding the manual settings, making it impossible to delete hubs that you don’t want.

But the most frustrating thing is that the Continue Watching and On Deck Hubs have now been merged in a new Continue Watching hub.

The problem is that the number of items is severely restricted (seems to be 10 to 12 or so).

I record a lot of television (at least 10 items per day) and sometimes I get behind. So I normally have over 25 On Deck items and often 30 or 40 (sometimes 50). This is because I also tend to have 10 to 15 old comedy series on the go that my wife and I watch during meals that we constantly rotate for variety.

Now my home screen only shows 10 of those items. Three months ago, those items appeared at the top of my home screen and I could easily find what I wanted to watch next. Now, the content is not even on my home screen and there appears to be no way to get it there. I’ve been told that my situation is uncommon. I don’t see how that is possible. If you record lots of weekly tv shows and get a little behind, having 20 to 30 on deck items is the inevitable result. I just don’t see how this would be uncommon.

My home screen is now useless to me. You might as well remove the whole concept of the home as far as I’m concerned. Now, instead of having all my desired content at the top of the screen when I start the app, I have to navigate to my various libraries to find what I might want to watch next. This is better for me??? How???

If this is the new home screen, just get rid of it and let me choose a library as the default to display when the app opens. That would be better than what I have now.

[MovieWiz]

Oh, I just want to point out that Plex was made aware of this issue yesterday and, as of right now, the version has not made it onto the stores yet. So if you end up negatively impacted by this by an auto update from the stores later today or tomorrow, know that it was a conscious decision by Plex to do this.

The version should be pulled until the app is modified to respect the existing “Maximum number of On Deck items which will appear” server setting.

[JuiceWSA]

So, What?
10 isn’t enough?
Plex thinks 10 is plenty.

I too wonder how Plex watches TV.
They sure don’t watch it the way we do - nor are they interested in finding out.

[Dizzy810]

Yeah, this change is ridiculously bad. I usually have around 30-40 in my on deck. Now I only have 1 week worth of stuff. Horrible horrible horrible. Worst change I have seen Plex make in the 5+ years I have been using it. Whole family is unhappy.

[JaysPlex]

Agree 100%. Plex has replied to this topic on other forums saying that they are making Plex better and giving the user more control. Making Plex “more customizable” for their users. I even saw a Plex employee criticizing users for the way they have their libraries separated, say with one for new releases and one for documentaries. That they should make collections and use filters to separate them instead.

1. A few months ago they split the “Recently added” from one unified row for tv and one for movies into individual rows for every library with giving you no option to modify it back to the way it was even with a manually managed home screen. (more customizable) With 10 or 15 libraries you can imagine the cluttered mess this causes.

2. Now with the most recent update it has merged the on deck and continue watching into one row that contains a maximum of 10 shows? With 10 or 15 libraries and 700 different tv series this is completely useless. There are some shows i haven’t watched in months that I want to keep in my on deck so i can find it easily. Now if it’s more than 10 deep I have to scroll through the libraries find, the show, figure out what episode I left off on and then play it.

3. If you now try to manually manage your home screen guess what happens? The entire Continue Watching (on deck) option totally disappears. How can they say they’re doing this to make things more customizable when if you try to customize it the main features you want disappear with no way to fix it?

I don’t know who these changes are good for. I suppose if you have one library for tv and one for movies and only binge watch a few tv shows until you finish them it might work. But for every user I know this is not the case.

They need to test these changes with more users before they force them out in a mandated update. For people who aren’t tech savvy i can see this being a complete nightmare.

FIX FOR FIRE TV TO GET HOMESCREEN BACK TO INCLUDE ON DECK WITH ALL YOUR CONTENET PRIOR TO UPDATE ON 4/1/2021

The only solution I’ve found is to download an older version of the Plex app and sideload it onto your fire device. This is only for the app on your fire tv, not your server version.

Go to https://plex-for-android.en.uptodown.com/android

Click “Older Versions” to expand the list

Personally I used version 8.10.0.21911 Dated from Dec. 16th 2020 but you may find other versions on that page that work better for your specific device.

My libraries are still separated into multiple recently added rows but the continue watching and on deck are back to the way I want it

Making things more customizable means just that. Make sure every person can set things up the way they want it in the fastest and easiest way possible. Adding and eliminating features by force is not making your service more customizable it is making it unusable for some. I am a lifetime Plex Pass user. Do not make me regret that decision

If anyone needs help sideloading apps onto your Fire device post your questions here and I will do my best to help.

Again…older versions of the Plex App for Fire Devices can be downloaded from Plex for Android old versions - Android

[bubbamike]

Thanks for the info on how to install an older version of the client for Fire TV. This resolved the issue for now…

[Dalmus]

I reverted to 8.5.2.20133 on my Fire Stick a long time ago because of the dumbing down of the UI.

I haven’t updated my server for a while because of various bug reports on the forums that I don’t really want to deal with. I don’t need any of the new features they’ve added, and my firewall / port forwarding is properly configured to protect myself from the DDoS via UDP “vulnerability.”

It will be interesting to see what happens on April 22nd with my 1.19.xx server…