I don’t personally think there’s any deeper meaning which can be gleaned from how Plex, Inc. has managed this other than they are, for whatever reason, unable to implement a consistent interface across their many clients for more than a year since rolling out the first iteration of this new paradigm.
Honestly, while I much prefer the “black-box-with-green-check-mark as watched/provide a count of unwatched paradigm” (sorry, not sorry), I’d settle for them settling on either. (This has been mentioned above, recently.)
On my primary media consumption device (OG Apple TV 4K), I see orange corners denoting unwatched on my home screen. And in my movie/video libraries. And orange boxes with unwatched counts on shows at the show-level and on seasons at the season-level in my TV show libraries. But as soon as I descend into a season in a TV show library, it’s switched to black boxes with green check marks for watched episodes. Ugh.
But then, on my second-most-used consumption device (Plex Desktop on Mac), it’s turtles… I mean black boxes and green check marks all the way down. Yay.
I very much appreciate that Plex has many clients to maintain, but it’s been awhile. I’d just like to see everything coalesce into a consistent whole at this point, whichever is chosen.
I think the addition of the upcoming Plex VOD service lines up with what’s been discussed here about possible reasons for this change (see my previous comments) and since it’s likely part of Plex’s broader new business model that’s why there’s no engagement from Plex about it: Plex will launch its TV & movies store next month VOD you want?
Those articles also mention a new UX\UI coming.
I’m pretty resigned to this “checkmark situation” not changing but it would have been nice to have gotten some response related to at least putting the idea of having the options discussed here put on a roadmap. Personally I’d find value in being able to customize this function because of how much “how it looks” impacts my use and I’d really like to turn watched\unwatched check marks off entirely in my movie library.
Those of us that have been here from the early days, there has been a very clear change in how Plex operates from a customer communication/interaction standpoint.
We (old timers) were spoilt rotten with the incredibly responsive and customer focussed attitude from Plex, from top level down to bottom level. It was so refreshing in an IT world.
It was always going to change however but the changes were balanced by incredibly helpful and knowledgeable old timers, Ninjas and various Plex employees. Those people are getting fewer, having moved on to other providers/employers.
The Plex forums have become noticeably quiet these last few months so I’m not sure what lies ahead.
The UI is something I just deal with now. Rarely are requests or suggestions by forum members acknowledged.
Plex still does what I need for the most part but the commercial association with media providers sets off alarm bells TBH. Watching closely.
Plenty of engagement in the transcoding megathread. That’s over almost ten years and they still haven’t fixed it, but a few responses per year at least.
One aspect that might be less difficult to implement as input for this change is if the overlay box could be made more transparent. As it is now, it blocks titles regularly - even for posters now selected specifically by Plex’s new metadata provider for poster artwork.
The check mark change overall being good or bad could be marked up to preferences (which is why most of us would like some options for controlling it), but the fact it obscures more of the poster than the triangle did is a functional issue; it covers up titles more often now. I think it’d help making the black box background more transparent even just a little bit. It’d still work to keep the checkbox and episode counts visible without obscuring as much of the artwork\titles behind it.
Edit: maybe just a bit smaller too? Just the background box itself. It’s just kinda … not very subtle for a simple informative graphic.
Not sure if anyone else noticed the ugly “Snot Green” watched check mark has slightly reduced in size on the android beta 10.9.x builds (both TV and Mobile).
Had to voice my complaint as well–the green checkmarks are hideous and unnecessary. I’ve handpicked every single poster and now there’s a big ugly green mark on every single one of them. I’ve been using plex since the beginning and this is the first time I’ve hated a change enough to actually complain. Please go back to the orange triangle.
