Go to use Plex on my TV and everything is screwed up. The home page doesn’t have anything on it but two things of mine and recommendations from their streaming service (which I already got rid of once and can’t figure out how to get rid of again) and the library menu is now horizontal and slow as hell to navigate through?
Did someone think this was better navigation?
I don’t understand why companies feel the need to force everyone into a new design when the old worked great. Why? This is in no way better. It’s worse. It’s slower.
I used to run a message board back in 2001-2005. Learned my lesson the hard way back then when I changed the design and the member’s hated it. Also worked at a web design company back in the 00’s and early 10s and I can’t tell you how many new designers came in wanting to change the company logo and the designs of everything just to try and make a name for themselves and put something on their resume. We didn’t let it happen. But it was seriously like clockwork. They would come in, get used to the new job and then “hey we should change the logo, the old one is outdated and also change…” Nope!
There s a difference between updating a design in order to improve efficiently and doing it just to do something different. This feels like the latter.
Please bring the old one back or let us revert back to the old interface on our tvs.
I agree. The new layout is awful! It is really difficult to navigate and it is not customizable. I have not been able to find out a way to align my libraries. I prefer to use the “Browse” instead of the “Recommended” as the default for seeing my videos.
I also agree that they do these changes and then shove it down our throats without any input from users/customers.
It is now time for me to find some other software to manage and share my media files. I should have changed when they did away with the “Unsupported App Store”. Perhaps, Plex wants the Lifetime Pass Holders to go away. It sure seems like it.
That much at least you can do with the new UI - there’s a setting under one of the gear icons that lets you set the default view for libraries to either “recommended” or “browse”. Unfortunately it applies to all libraries, so you can’t have different ones displayed differently by default, but at least you can ditch the stupid “recommended” setting if you want to.
The old Plex logo was better too I remember it in all caps looking very sharp. Then some ‘Genius’ at the company decided to dumb it down to the lame look it has now. Another fail by Plex, they really are racking them up over the years. If I owned the company I’d clean house and fire everyone.
The new logo, is playful and young. I suppose this is what they were going for…. but it doesn’t exude confidence. Given some recent missteps and security breaks, it doesn’t really beckon trust in a climate of uncertainty.
New interface is terrible! The emphasis seems to be on getting users to stream Plex content instead of controlling their own content.
I purchased my lifetime Plex Pass way back in 2017. Did Plex channels and movies even exist back then? I used to brag about the capabilities of Plex. Now, I wouldn’t even recommend it to someone. I had even considered gifting a Plex Pass to a friend of mine that is a Plex user based on my recommendation (old version) so he could enjoy my experience. Sure glad I didn’t make that mistake.
I use Plex to watch, pause, and record cable TV via a HDHomeRun box. I also store Movies, TV series, and personal videos. Very recently, I downgraded my cable to a minimum number of channels. I may cancel cable entirely before the end of the year but I also have a HDHomeRun for OTA TV and planned on using Plex for that. Now when I select Live TV, I have to select whether to watch my TV tuner or Plex “Live TV”. Another push for me to watch Plex content.
My home screen used to have a line for Continue Watching and the next line was the most recently watched cable TV channels; easy access. Plex content recommendations were after that. Now I have to navigate to find the same things I used to see as soon as I opened the app.
Putting the sections horizontally across the top when you can’t scroll the screen left to right doesn’t even make sense because the limited landscape whereas the old vertical menu allowed you to move up and down the list as well as include or exclude as many items as you want. I excluded Plex channels, Movies & Shows, Discover, and Tidal because I don’t wish to be forced to watch commercials. Now those items, except Tidal (eyeroll), are what make up my Home screen. The old UI also allowed you to put things in the order of your own personal priority.
PLEASE return to the old interface or somehow make it an option!!!
Funny thing is, since I’m considering cancelling cable, I thought maybe I’d browse thru Plex content. No longer considering it.
There’s a reason why New Coke no longer exists. Nobody liked it. Had Coke insisted on keeping it around, customers would have gone elsewhere.
Yeah, I have to join with those who state that the September 2025 layout for the Plex app is horrible. Why change it Plex? Who asked for this change in layout? What NEW and IMPROVED function does it create? Why not offer a “switch to original layout”? Hell, you can change the layout of Firefox, and many other interfaces….why “force” an entire change from left panel control to the top where you have to PRESS AN ADDITIONAL BUTTON TO GET TO YOUR DESTINATION? Then, after your explanations of these, I still don’t like they layout.
Ah yes, the old logo… You realize that was their first step toward being less friendly to the self-hosted user base. The old logo’s EX looked intentionally like a house. The new logo intentionally lost that.
Plex would now prefer to be a purveyor of second-rate steaming services they can take a slice of the income out of, rather than a technology company that makes software for the more tech-savvy crowd,
Thank you for sharing the info about setting the default to BROWSE. Although, I have already started migrating all my libraries to Jellyfin. I should have switched a long time ago.
I appreciate the list. I’ve been migrating to Emby in the face of the resounding silence from the Plex team. I tried Jellyfin as well but there are a few deal-breaking issues I encountered. I’ll try a few others you’ve mentioned.
I purchased the lifetime plex pass a few years ago, and I have been very happy with it. I went from an ancient looking NAS setup to Plex, so it is like my own personal Netflix… however, with that being said, my family is not happy with the new Plex UI update. It would cause me great pain to begin an investment into another service if our voices are not heard!
I was never included in any email communication or was asked in a survey of any kind about making this drastic change to the UI. It is not intuitive, its complicated, annoying, slow, and counterproductive. I loved being able to just continue where I left off watching a movie, now I have to navigate using this new silly horizontal menu and remember exactly what the heck I was watching, and go back to that Genre/folder, then find the movie to continue.
This is not a good business model (IMO) to just change the UI without a user vote… if Plex is truly a customer focused software. Plex, please do not make me regret my decision of purchasing a lifetime pass for this incredible media software.
Can you elaborate on what “deal breakers” caused you to not consider Jellyfin? This Plex UI/UX update has caused my kids and I to dislike using plex now, and I feel it may be time for a change…
What the hell is Plex thinking when they designed this new interface? Seriously, this is absolute garbage. The last few years i’ve debated about switching to Jellyfin simply because when the Internet goes down, using Plex is a challenge. The ONLY reason i’ve not done so, is I loved the Plex interface. It was so clean and easy to navigate. It took me all of ten minutes to teach my 80 year old parents how to use it. Honestly, not sure how i’m going to do so once their Apple TV updates to the new interface. Jellyfin is looking a lot better now.
I agree! This is a complete abomination of the plex I had used and loved for years. It does not flow easily, it does not look good, it is just a totally horrible experience.
I have both Jellyfin and Emby spun up - the server side is really similar in functionality (especially since JF is a fork from Emby when they went closed source). But I do find the clients to be lacking in a lot of areas. Basic functionality works well but Emby just seems a bit more polished (and support seems to be a bit easier than JF). However, if you’re using Infuse on IOS/tvOS, then Jellyfin would probably work fine for you.
