this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
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Plex will do anything other than make their player easy to use.
My only real complaint is their app is laggy.
Do you have other complaints with it?
Biggest issue I and my friends have with my Plex server is the constant buffer-play-for-a-minute-buffer issue with certain anime subtitle formats. Although the little bit of searching I’ve done with that indicates that may be more of an issue with the device being streamed on than with Plex itself. I dunno.
Certain subtitle formats cannot be directly streamed, so your server is probably re-encoding video on the fly to burn in the subtitles. PGS format is actually a series of images and will always require re-encoding video. Picking SRT should work with device direct streaming.
That must be it, then. Thankfully I’ve got Bazarr set up to snag SRTs for imported media, so those should generally be available.
I added whisper and have never looked back. Sometimes it's not exactly right but it's usually obvious and funny 🤣
As someone else said, this almost always comes down to the device they’re using. Especially if it’s a Playstation console or a Smart TV (in my experience) as they don’t support x265 codec or have .ass support, or both
I’ve noticed Roku TVs are a common device to have issues.
Come to think of it the AppleTV app does say a piece of media doesn’t have subs when it does. And if I turn them on the playback hangs for ~10 seconds.
I don’t get the play/buffer/play/buffer issue but I only really use it on my LAN so not really a surprise there.
My main complaint is when it decides to just stop casting to Chromecast in the middle of episodes randomly - then I have to open the app, reconnect, and resume.
Also I find the Chromecast controls stop responding frequently making it so I can't pause what I'm watching - it'll like disconnect from the Chromecast but keep playing.
My partner also complains about lots of bugs on the iOS app.
I've been having trouble with this too.
So far my best assessment is that the problem stems from the Chromecast not playing well with my router. Resetting the Wi-Fi on my router tends to fix the problem, but it's seriously annoying.
Separately, I also have issues with the play/pause not working when casting and some other weird interface behaviors sometimes. But all in all, it's worth complaining, but it still works better than everything else.
It’s terrible with direct streaming lossless Dolby Atmos (TrueHD) streams, not only where it’s not possible but there are workarounds (AppleTV / Infuse), but also on each and every platform it’s being done by other apps (Android, Xbox, PC / Kodi).
I only use it because I paid peanuts for lifetime premium and alternatives have egregious UX that I can withstand but my extended family cannot.
My biggest complaint is that it defaults to "recommended" instead of "library" which means for new users (family members you are trying to help remotely) don't see the videos in your collection but instead a random unordered list to scroll sideways.
After you select library to see everything, it doesn't save that view as default unless you go into settings and change it to remember changes.
A new annoying feature they added is when setting up a new account, the default is to send every video you watch to all friends/family unless you select disable. So you can't even setup quickly by putting in a user/password and being ready to go. You have to talk family members through setup or everyone with access to your Plex will get email spammed with everything that person watched.
I have home videos on my server and this means lengthy phone calls to family so they can actually see the videos.
That's a pretty minor gripe considering there is a setting for it. Also, given that it's a you-get-it-one-way-or-the-other kind of setting, they're always going to be upsetting someone.
Have you helped an older relative with computer problems over the phone?
If you could set the default, it wouldn't be a problem.
Where do you imagine setting the default?
I imagine he means being able to set the default view for everyone accessing your server from the settings on your server. So that everyone who accesses your server gets those defaults that they can then change for their user if they desire.
Which would be a nice feature.
I would not want my settings affected by the servers I connect to. That would piss me off.
Changing the default settings wouldn't mean changing any individual user's settings. It would mean changing the default settings you get the first time you login. Which the user could then change to their preference.
If you have a bunch of elderly/non-savvy people who are using your server, being able to change the default settings to something sensible for that set of users would be a good feature to have.
Do you actually use their "recommended" view?
Do you primarily watch Plex live TV or their other ad supported movies?
Yes, it lists shows I'm currently watching and takes me directly to the next episode.
No, never.
Yes I'm absolutely hating the Android app. The core player experience is so much better on iOS. No need to worry about direct play/transcode, it just works. It's rubbish on android