Hi,
I’m having issues with the Plex app not focusing properly.
This is mainly causing issues when a window is displayed on top, such as File Explorer, for example.
It seems like windows are fighting for attention.
Server Version#: 1.26.1.5772
Player Version#: 1.44.0.2981-e2d72ac2
I have this issue also, since version ~1.43 or so. Was hoping that 1.44 would fix it, but it didn’t.
Same here. I didn’t have this problem with 1.39.1.2763, for example. Using that now until this gets fixed.
Doesn’t look like version 1.45 has fixed this issue.
This is due to the fundamental design of Windows. A child window is the lowest level UI element that corresponds to a GPU context. And so, a child window for the UI and one for the video is necessary. But, the UI needs to retain focus (particularly keyboard focus) to get all the needed events. So the “fighting” is necessary on Windows and not going to be “fixed” unless the OS makes radical changes to its design (which I would bet strongly against happening).
But why couldn’t it be fixed when all (or most) of previous versions of the Plex player worked fine, and the issue is introduced in newer versions of the Plex player. Not newer versions of Windows.
Prior versions worked differently without the child windows. However it was a severe architectural limitation (see Plex HTPC feedback - #775 by gbooker02 and later posts for details). Taking the video rendering out of Qt is what enables HDR, D3D11, Vulkan (eventually) and a whole host of significantly better video capabilities. So the choice comes down to this minor quirk vs vastly better video playback.
Alright. I get it. Thanks for explaining.
It’s unfortunate that you’d have to sacrifice this in order to improve video quality, though.
Maybe you could host the explorer in a different way instead of relying on Windows?
Pause the underlying window when the explorer is called?
Just a couple of thoughts. I’m not going to hold my breath.
My point is; don’t let Windows defeat you like this. I’m sure there’s a workaround. 
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