Plex Revamp Includes Podcast Support

Plex has released a major update to its apps, adding new customization features and podcast support.

Plex has released a major update to its apps, adding new customization features and podcast support.

“Plex has always given you the ability to customize your library, but today we’re rolling out an update for iOS and Android that gives you even more control over your overall experience,” an announcement to the Plex blog reads. “The philosophy behind this redesign focuses on a reimagining of the way the Plex apps are structured. It elevates some important decisions and deemphasizes some less important ones.”

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New features include:

Customizable home screen. The Plex home screen is now fully customizable: You can reorder or remove any of the sections (Recently Added, On Deck, and so on). And you can add new sections, even across different servers.

Simpler navigation. There are now tabs at the bottom of the app so you can more easily navigate between media types (Movies, TV, Music, and so on). And, yes, they are fully customizable too.

Podcast support. Plex now natively supports podcasts in beta on iOS, Android, Roku, and the web. This includes rich search and discovery functionality, a My Podcasts interface, and more. And Plex has updated the player experience in its web and mobile apps to include variable speed playback, which is useful for podcasts in particular.

 

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Conversation 8 comments

  • Chris_Kez

    Premium Member
    30 May, 2018 - 12:25 pm

    <p>Plex is what Microsoft should have evolved Windows Media Center into.</p>

  • Yaggs

    30 May, 2018 - 3:02 pm

    <p>I have been using Emby for a while now… I am pretty sure it used to be MediaBrowser… it is pretty great. They have an app for everything (Roku, AppleTV, iOS, Android, Windows, XBOX, PS, etc) and you can rig in your Media Center TV tuners… so you can basically make any device a media center extender. It is pretty fantastic.</p>

    • CrownSeven

      Premium Member
      30 May, 2018 - 3:17 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#279518"><em>In reply to Yaggs:</em></a></blockquote><p>I used Emby for many years until I finally got sick of the crashing, and reboots need to get things working again. While Plex isn't perfect, its a more polished, and more reliable system than Emby will ever be.</p>

  • bassoprofundo

    Premium Member
    30 May, 2018 - 6:30 pm

    <p>Anyone using this yet and know if it keeps your last viewed place in a podcast across devices? I'm assuming this is what they mean by "<span style="color: rgb(63, 66, 69); background-color: transparent;">synced view state" but wasn't sure, and it's the most critical feature to me since my typical day spans way too many different devices and platforms. I moved over to PocketCasts about a year ago when the app I was using self-destructed in a version update, and I'm in love with the consistent sync and cross platform capability. I have a </span><em style="color: rgb(63, 66, 69); background-color: transparent;">huge</em><span style="color: rgb(63, 66, 69); background-color: transparent;"> Plex library and am in and out of the app multiple times a day already. This might just make me switch again if good enough.</span></p>

    • mattbg

      Premium Member
      01 June, 2018 - 5:27 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#279556"><em>In reply to bassoprofundo:</em></a></blockquote><p>It does appear to sync podcast position.</p><p><br></p><p>I just tested it by adding a podcast on my iPhone, playing about 10 mins in, and then pausing. I went to my Plex web UI and it showed the podcast on deck and offered to resume from the place I left off on iOS. Pretty impressive, as there were literally 10 seconds between moving from my iPhone to web to resume the episode.</p><p><br></p><p>Not sure I would be ready to give up Pocket Casts yet, but will be interested to see how this evolves. With this very first beta release, it's already in #2 in my ranking of podcast apps just for integrating all of the above functionality with an account I already have within apps that are fully cross-platform for the devices I use.</p>

      • bassoprofundo

        Premium Member
        13 June, 2018 - 11:43 am

        <blockquote><a href="#280442"><em>In reply to mattbg:</em></a></blockquote><p>Thanks! Good to hear!</p>

  • X911ty12

    31 May, 2018 - 12:48 pm

    <p>Plex has changed and back pedaled and changed their privacy policy so often this year it made my choice to stop using it. As they invite 3rd party services into the fold they opened up user info to these parties with no way to limit. Paid users have to agree to have their data abused whenever Plex sees fit. </p>

  • Rycott

    Premium Member
    01 June, 2018 - 10:47 pm

    <p>It doesn't do offline play yet but I'll definitely be giving it a go when it does.</p>

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