This is my view as well… I don’t need an icon on 90% of my library. I want to see clean posters in my library not a swatch of checkmarks.
It’s also unhelpful for me to try to look for a missing icon when browsing my library for one of those 10% I haven’t watched yet.
I think the checkmark for TV episodes makes sense but I’d like Series poster to not have a checkmark on it when it’s complete. It’s also misleading when it shows a checkmark for an ongoing series to indicate that it’s “complete” just because I’m caught up but the season isn’t over yet … multiple people in my household have been thrown off by that.
Edit:
I’d really like to see a solution similar to what was requested when the new Modern interface was being trialed and this Watched flag instead of Unwatched flag came up then (and went with “unwatched”).
An option for users to pick what works best for them. The objects are already being flagged for watched\unwatched so adjusting to add some logic options for the flag seemed like a nice idea.
On, watched flag
On, unwatched flag
Off
If it could be set at the library level that’d be perfect; I’d still find it useful for TV episodes or even Season posters - I just personally don’t like the “watched” on the Series poster. I like the number of unwatched there though… that’s really useful.
I’d even pick “off” entirely rather than have a “watched” marker for movie libraries.
2nd Edit:
Just noticed that because of this change Collections look like an “unwatched movie” in the Library since there’s no checkmark - that’s a good case for leaving ‘unwatched’ unmarked I think. That also doesn’t mean put a checkmark on them.
Plex recently updated marking “Un-Watched” content with a yellow triangle icon. To only marking “Watched” content with a green check icon.
Please help me understand the use-case for this update decision.
In what scenario would a user want to be indicated that they have “watched” content?
What actions can a user take on already watched content?
Tell themselves “good I already saw that piece of content”
In what scenario would a user want to be indicated that they have “un-watched” content?
What actions can a user take on un-watched content?
They can watch the un-watched piece of content.
They can see in their “Recently released” and “Recently added” feeds that there is new content to watch.
This change to the watched/un-watched icons actually takes value away from the user. Now everything looks the same, except for piece of content I have watched has a green check mark. Horrible UX.
Please consider reverting this change, just a horrible UX…horrible.
Completely agree. An option would be much better since majority of users will have the mass content already “Watched”, where a check or notification for UNWATCHED content would be much more beneficial, vs having a silly check mark on 2,500 movies that have already been watched… I sincerely hope this change is reverted in the future.
I never comment in forums, but I came here on an inquiry because I noticed the same thing today.
I was adjusting my settings/library and noticed there were no yellow triangle icons on my unwatched items.
I am currently on version 1.32.7.7484 (latest as of this posting)
I agree with the masses, this UI change is terrible on the eyes that are used to that icon for so many years.
Please provide an option to toggle this legacy component in future releases.
Many many of us have voiced our dissatisfaction with this change in UX design across various threads for months now and yet plex have matched on regardless.
The lack of a green check means unwatched. It seems easy enough to me to see which items are unwatched.
Conser also that the orange unwatched triangle could be invisible for content posters with a lot of orange. The checkmark is more effective, even on posters that are black.
When you need to call out a line in a book to reference later - do you highlight everything else on the page and leave that line unhighlighted or do you highlight the line itself?
Most people highlight the thing that needs notice and having unwatched be highlighted seems to be more common. At least based on responses here and when it was surveyed during the Modern UI beta and the fact there don’t seem to be feature requests to make this change.
Plus highlighting everything else is kinda messy looking. To me anyways.
Not saying either is right or wrong - I can see folks with a completionist mindset preferring the watched marker and it’s useful for TV episodes for both sides I think.
That’s why it seems like a good solution is to offer some form of choice at a library level for users or admin; user choice would be the most customizable way to do it and watched\unwatched is already done per user so seems feasible but I don’t know enough to make a value call on it.
Plus it’s just kinda galling to have your entire interface change suddenly… my library view looks kinda ugly to me now and I have to completely switch my habits.
Edit:
Honestly at this point I’d almost just like the option to turn any watched\unwatched marker off for my Movie libraries - it’s my collection I curated myself in the first place… I know what I have or haven’t seen and “watched” doesn’t really work for older movies I’ve seen but only recently added to my collection anyways.
That is actually just what I wanted to come in to suggest. I know what I have watched or haven’t. But if I had to pick between an “unwatched” icon or a “watched” icon, I’d rather have the latter. Going into my library and seeing a large collection of orange triangles on every corner is a bit off-putting at first. It seems to me that a brand new library having to mark every single video before anything has been watched is the opposite behavior than it should be.
An option for either a “watched mark” or an “unwatched mark” is my preference. And with the option to choose neither would be my choice.
In fact, I think that only TV show episodes should have “watched” icons, while movies should have either no icon or a “unwatched” icon. So I guess my preference is a MIX of the two, which I know is contradictory and inconsistent. Which is why the mark being customizable as an option is best.
I get that change can feel disruptive, but IMO this is a pretty minor change in the grand scheme of things. And it isn’t the first (or last) time technology solutions have asked us to change habits. I happen to like the green checkmarks for the reasons I stated. But if Plex wants to give users the option to choose having overlay icons on either watched or unwatched content, great. IMO it’s a waste of developer resources.
I also don’t believe it’s practical for Plex (or most other solution providers) to ask users ahead of time whether they think such a UI/UX change is desirable. Technology evolution slows down or stops completely when every decision has to be voted on, and it’s not easy to find a sample audience that represents the entire user community.
Edit: I will echo a sentiment from an earlier thread on this topic: the biggest problem with changes like this, IMO, is inconsistent implementation across clients. It may be a question of timing, but that can be controlled. It’s not, and it creates confusion.
On the surface, yes… the change is minor. But it really is a major change if you’re conditioned and also prefer to see the things you need to do highlighted. Having to look at it the other way is like trying to part your hair on the other side… Sure, you can do it, but it changes the way you look and feel about yourself.
100% agree with this statement. I have 3,903 movies on my plex server of which just 952 are unwatched. Having this snotty green check-mark on a square black/dark background polluting almost 75% of my carefully curated movie posters is bad. The smaller orange corner indicator was much nicer. I also strongly dislike that plex switched the indicator from unwatched to watched. How anyone would think highlighting what you have already watched would be a good design decision is beyond me.
BTW… I gave this feedback months ago when it initially rolled out on android betas. I’ll add that time has not changed my opinion on this change. I hated it then and I hate it now. I’ll just learnt to live with it like so many “improvements” with plex.
Being able to select watched, unwatched, or off at a library level would be great! On the home page where it shows Recently Added in [Library Name], etc. it would be nice to also respect the setting that was set in the library.
My vote is for “watched checkmark versus unwatched orange corner” to be a user preference. As someone who uses Plex as a collection of my DVDs, most of my titles are watched. The “checkmark watched” badge is actively a nuisance and I do not like this change.
As a temporary measure, I discovered that I can “fix” the user interface on Firefox on my desktop. Steps:
(Your mileage may vary. Sorry, this also removes the “watched” badge from TV Show episodes. It’s a compromise I am willing to make for my specific use case.)
This is, honestly, the only reasonable course of action. It’s baffling how many times Plex insists on making the same damn mistake of either a) foisting an arbitrary unilateral decision on the user for something totally inconsequential (i.e. not actually impacting functionality),
or b) simply giving us an option.
It’s always, "Well we had do one or the other, it was a tough call." NO YOU DON’T AND NO IT ISN’T. Something like this doesn’t need to be Plex’s call at all!
Sorry, I just feel like every few months I’m banging my head against a desk in response to something like this that should so @&$%ing easy to avoid in the first place. Why is my hobby so stressful??
I feel you. In this instance they could see this one coming a mile away, the negative sentiment started immediately when it was implemented. Oh well… I tend not to hit the forums as much nowadays, just whole lot of negative avoidable stuff going on. I am afraid this is the culture and it is set in.
