The popular cross-platform media player Plex now works with Apple's TV app, bringing support for on-demand free content to the Siri digital assistant and your Up Next list.
Personal Content Is Unsupported
Now, free Plex videos appear alongside content from other providers such as Hulu, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, and others. This also lets you start watching something in Plex on one device and pick up right where you left off on any other device.
A Plex employee confirmed on Reddit that the feature only works with Plex's free on-demand movies and TV shows with unskippable ads. Personal content, live TV, and other Plex features do not support this integration. The same person added that Plex at this stage cannot enable user-hosted content in the TV app due to technical hurdles.
We’d love to integrate personal media as well but that’s not technically possible for a couple of reasons. To make this work we provide Apple with a list of content we have available for streaming. As detailed in our privacy policy, we don’t know what content our users have in their personal media libraries.
In other words, your own media content that you can access from anywhere using Plex Media Server won't show up in Up Next nor can you request it through Siri.
Plex has not said whether it might implement that functionality down the road. The Plex app is a free download for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV from the Apple App Store.
How to Enable Plex/Apple TV Integration
To start watching Plex's ad-supported content in the TV app, you must give permission to the Plex app to integrate with Apple's TV app. To do so, simply update your copy of the Plex app to the latest version and then start watching a free movie or TV show. You should see a prompt pop up, asking you to permit Plex to share what you've watched with the TV app.
"Your playback, searches, purchases, and device trust score are used to personalize your experience, improve that of others, send you notifications, and prevent fraud," Apple notes.
Free to Watch on Plex
Plex launched its ad-supported service in December 2019, providing free access to movies, TV shows, and documentaries from major studios and smaller producers. The "Free to Watch" section is accessible across all devices that support Plex via the sidebar.
Free on-demand content streams at up to 1080p quality. According to Plex, the ad-driven service serves about one-third the number of ads you’d expect on cable television.
For more information, check out the VOD FAQ on the Plex website.
0 Comments