Plex Media Server 1.18.7.2438 (f342a5a43) on beta channel on Synology DS1813+ running DSM 6.2.2-24922 Update 4
Android Plex App 7.29.0.15665 (f43abce2) on Pixel 4 XL (Android 10 build QQ1B.200205.002) and Pixel Slate (Chrome OS 79.0.3945.123 and Android 9 build R79-12607.82.0)
For several Android app versions now, I noticed that after going to Downloads & Sync → Manage
I see two sections with partially duplicated content (the same item set to sync) under “Synced Items” and “Downloaded Items” headings. Here’s an example that shows both and some of the duplication (on Pixel Slate):
(I’ve scrolled down past the items that aren’t synced; in this case, they’re items like TV shows that have no unplayed episodes, so they’re empty sets/items, and therefore show as not synced.)
So my question is what the difference is between “Synced Items” and “Downloaded Items”.
So I’ve been using Plex for many years now, and the “Downloaded Items” is the new category, and that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Download Content for Offline Access, which itself has nothing to do with the Android app.
I’ve been syncing content to Android devices for just as long, and Quick Guide to Mobile Sync does not address these two categories; it provides just a general overview.
If you have a mobile device say an iPad Wifi only, Download is an option to store some titles on the device to play directly. No internet connection needed at time of viewing.
Sync is delegating a device to sync to rather than all devices on your Server. That how i understand the feature. Sync, watch 15 minutes of a show on tablet and continue on your Galaxy Phone for example. Sync requires an active internet connection be it by Wifi or 3G,4G,5G
If you have a mobile device say an iPad Wifi only, Download is an option to store some titles on the device to play directly. No internet connection needed at time of viewing.
Yeah, that’s what Plex has called “sync” for many years, and that’s what Quick Guide to Mobile Sync describes.
I don’t understand this statement:
Sync is delegating a device to sync to rather than all devices on your Server.
But what you describe later is something fundamental to Plex, the phenomenon of syncing watched status and position by storing information on the server (on a per-user basis), which then allows each client to pick off where another may have left off:
Sync, watch 15 minutes of a show on tablet and continue on your Galaxy Phone for example. Sync requires an active internet connection be it by Wifi or 3G,4G,5G
But this is not the Sync feature I’m talking about, which is what I provided a screenshot of.
The thing I’m asking about is why, in the Sync feature (the “sync status” page), what used to just be two categories of “Not Synced” and “Synced Items” has now turned into three, adding the “Downloaded Items”, which is at least partially duplicative of the “Synced Items”. I can’t see a pattern of why an item is in one versus the other versus both.
