Lastly, Kodi is a completely free and open-source solution. PCMag supports Group Black and its mission to increase greater diversity in media voices and media ownerships. Best shows on Netflix It's worth pointing out that you don't need to use a VPN exclusively for Plex traffic. Both will scan and organize your media for you, download covers and descriptions, and present it in an eye-catching manner. Though it too includes the ability to stream your library locally, it is best used on a dedicated HTPC or similar. Your media is stored on and streamed to devices you control, and traffic is encrypted along the way. Plex has more features in terms of streaming from a single, networked library but many of these (like streaming to mobile apps) arent necessarily free to use. But since they come from third parties, you can end up with spoilers in your descriptions. 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. These short descriptions can give you an idea of what a movie or episode is about. Click this and a small window will pop up with boxes you can edit. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Step 3: You can store your movies, music, and other files anywhere you like, in as many different folders or hard drives (both locally or on network shares) and Plex will keep everything organized. Select the icon associated with the type of content you want to add. Here's how to get remote access working across your Plex-powered hardware. IPS vs VA vs TN: What Type of Computer Monitor Should You Get. If you have a Tidal subscription, you can add it to Plex. This feature allows you to create "optimized" versions of your media in a lower quality or a different format that can quickly be streamed over limited connections. Every client device possesses different capabilities, which means each Plex client also possesses different capabilities. Selecting the file you want to play brings up an info screen with descriptions and more links, plus the Play Now button. Edit them out. Plex works well if you want to set up a server that isnt plugged into your main TV. There are a few ways you can influence what appears on your Home screen and where it appears. Heres Plexs support page that discusses the minimum requirements; its a good place to start. Plex, the company that helps people organize and access all of their movies, TV shows, and music using media server software, has announced its first subscription streaming service, Plex Arcade. You may be able to get away with a less powerful PC with this option enabled. Step 3: Select Libraries under the Manage section. Weve been able to play 4K HDR files with Dolby Atmos on a Shield TV from a Plex server running on a WD My Cloud Mirror Gen 2 a NAS with less computing power than even the cheapest PC. This allows you to use its beautiful interface and ability to function as a game launcher and emulator box. Kodis interface is beautiful and functional out of the box, but its also highly customizable with downloadable skins. (Most users will prefer to not have this enabled.) PCMag, PCMag.com and PC Magazine are among the federally registered trademarks of Ziff Davis and may not be used by third parties without explicit permission. Name the library and choose the language to use for information gathered from the internet. The display of third-party trademarks and trade names on this site does not necessarily indicate any affiliation or the endorsement of PCMag. Kodi is a media center application that runs on a computer or other device plugged into your main TV. Do you have a lot of movies, photos, and audio files on your computer? Plex pulls multiple versions of each that you can choose from, or you can upload your own if you don't like any of them. 2015 Shield TV, 2015 Shield TV Pro, and 2019 Shield TV Pro but not the 2019 Shield TV. To mitigate the damage, the Plex server lets you set limits on how much of your bandwidth streams can use. The unofficial add-ons can also leave you vulnerable to undesirable third parties, including malware, hackers, and snoopers. Let's dive in. There's also a fun Watch Together feature, which we'll get more into below, that allows you to watch your favorite movies and shows with friends. When enabled, trailers and extras will automatically be retrieved for your movies when available. If youd rather stream from a single local server to numerous local or remote devices, Plex is the better choice. However, it doesn't always get it right. The media server will scan your library and scrape relevant cover images, descriptions, ratings, and more. If you only want to see titles that are available, you can filter your list using the Available to stream filter. Its really just meant as a way to check that the file will indeed play. Enjoy Deep Control of Rows from Personal Libraries For folks who run their own Plex Media Server, you can have even more control over which rows will appear on an app home screen for a particular pinned personal media library. For TV shows, things get a little more complicated. Then choose your subscriptions and select Done or Save Changes if it appears at the end. There are several useful tricks and tools buried in the Plex server application's settings that can help you keep things organized and the content flowing. Thank you for helping us improve our articles! elemId: 'video-container-63nwkYZAn5', We've all experienced the problem of content overload, when you have an idea of what you want to watch but you just can't quite narrow it down with so many options available. As far as the Plex Client Player goes, you can run the client app on just about any device thats out there, so the odds are good that you already own a compatible one from web browsers to Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, or various smart TVs. As long as you have the right client apps available, youll get the fully-featured Plex experience on any device. If you have a Plex Pass subscription, you can also let these users download and sync your content to their devices and upload their photos to your server. 1. Our mobile apps allow you to easily modify what appears on your Home screen, which sources of media are available, and how to arrange the available sources. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product or service, we may be paid a fee by that merchant. If a librarys language is set to French, for example, the French plot summary, etc., will be downloaded when available. However, it can get in the way of your Plex server working correctly. Follow him on Twitter or Instagram. When you try to stream from a remote device, if you can't make a direct connection to your computer (because you're routing traffic through a VPN), Relay will do as it says on the tin and relay the stream to your device. If the file youre trying to play doesnt correspond to one of those file types, the Plex server will need to transcode it into one of the formats that the Apple TV 4K understands. Searching is simple and can be done using titles, actors, and directors. Editing a film or series title will change the name of the movie as it's displayed in your library. When available, those popular tracks are displayed on the artists page. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read billions of times. Since Kodi must be installed on a device thats plugged directly into your TV, youll be able to use this device for different things. Thank you for helping us improve our articles! By default, items in your sidebar will be arranged with sources from your preferred server listed first, followed by other sources located in the More section. Best of all, your Plex library can also be shared with other Plex users, making it an ideal way to give friends and family members access to your media without having to upload all of it to a third-party cloud service like Google Drive or iCloud. Metadata refers to any data relevant to a movie or TV show besides the video itself. PCMag.com is a leading authority on technology, delivering lab-based, independent reviews of the latest products and services. In minutes, your media collection goes from being a series of files and folders to a Netflix-like experience that you control. If you want to set up a personal media server to house all your files, there are a few more steps. You can adjust the order of pinned content while editing the sidebar. Camera upload: Wirelessly sync the photos you take on your mobile device to Plex so that theyre a snap to view on all of your Plex clients. The Plex Media Server is an awesome package enjoyed by millions. Tip! How do I play Plex files on my TV or other devices? Edit them out. {{navSearchSanitizedItem( item, 'title' )}}. Youll first need to set some general information for the library. Thank you for helping us improve our articles. Premium music and photo libraries: Get extra info added to your music (like lyrics that you can use for karaoke) or photos (location data) for a richer experience. Step 5: Put your movie files in a folder and back to Plex. To vote if this article was helpful, please sign in with your plex account. The universal watchlist is a helpful tool as well, eliminating the need for you to keep separate lists on each of your services you can keep them in one place. Access that using the Edit option in the sidebar. to the Plex. In cases where you choose not to pin a particular source, you can still access it whenever you want. Plex pulls multiple versions of each that you can choose from, or you can upload your own if you don't like any of them. In fact, you can even add unreleased movies to your Watchlist. When this option is enabled, genre information from Last.fm will be used instead of embedded metadata. If you cant access the new Plex features, check out our list of the best streaming devices for any budget. One limitation here is that there are only a few types of compatible devices. You will see the new Discover section in the menu on the left side of the Plex home . How to show my library directly on the Home (front) screen. If you have a huge library of TV shows and movies. Plus, without a central server managing your media collection, each instance of Kodi is its own world. they can access. window.videoEmbeds = window.videoEmbeds || []; But if youre a Plex Media Server user, you can access it through the same interface as your private library of content theres no separate app to download or install. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Plex is designed to make it simple to manage and browse your library. Note, this will create a separate video file that will exist on your server. For Apple TV, for instance, its in the App Store. You can accomplish that by pinning the sources you care about in each app. For folks who run their own Plex Media Server, you can have even more control over which rows will appear on an app home screen for a particular pinned personal media library. If you have a huge library of TV shows and movies, Plex is one of the best ways to manage and stream it to all your devices. Want quick access to your playlists? For the most part, when you import your movies to Plex, the server will automatically detect the correct title and pull metadataincluding titles, release dates, plot summaries, and most importantly poster imagesfrom a few standard places on the internet. However, this can take up a lot of processing power. 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Since Kodi is a self-contained solution, youll need to put in a bit of extra work to sync your library across different instances. }); The media sources you have pinned in the sidebar are the main thing that determines what appears on your Home screen. Though Kodi doesnt use a separate server and client structure, you can still stream your library around the house by enabling DLNA/UPnP streaming within your Kodi settings. A custom app for remote server monitoring. This is an invisible title you can tweak to change how files are sorted. Read on to discover how to unlock your favorite local streams. Theres no harm in trying both to see which suits your usage best. It will also prioritize streaming services that you are subscribed to, with free options listed before any paid or rental options. Follow him on Twitter or Instagram. Albert Bush 414 subscribers Subscribe 251 views 5 months ago Learn how to feature any. This can include the title, release year, cast list, description, trailers, and movie poster for the movie. ), theres a Plex-preferred naming style. A custom app for remote server monitoring. You could, for example, use Steams Big Picture Mode to play games in your living room (run them natively or connect your gaming PC using Steam Link) or use an app like Playnite to bring launchers like the Epic Game Store and GOG together under one TV-friendly interface. If you pin the Playlists to the home page, they do get arranged like the Continue Watching row, where the last one you used is first. Bear in mind that these solutions are not guaranteed to work. To choose which source you wish to view/access, you simply choose from the navigation sidebar if the item has been pinned to your sidebar (if the source has not been pinned, it can be found by selecting More from the sidebar). Select Libraries under the Manage section of the settings menu. Kodi is a powerful media center software interface that does many of the same things as Plex. Scan this QR code to download the app now. You can even upload your own if you prefer an alternate poster. If not, click the option and then . Read more Jordan Gloor is Technical Editor at How-To Geek. Update Your Plex Media Server: It's easy to fall behind on Plex updates and bug fixes. Use the Browse for Media Folders button to open a dialog where you can browse to the location or enter the path. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Step 3: No media software would be complete without a search function, and Plexs universal search does a really good job. Heres everything you need to know about the new Plex Discover, Universal Search, and Expanded Watchlist features, and how you can add your favorite streaming services to Plex now. 3. I cannot seem to get my library on the Home screen. Movies that consist of only a single file can all be in the same folder, but TV shows, or any movie that comes with extra datalike posters or subtitlesshould be given their own subfolders. The library type in Plex is listed as 'Other Videos' since Plex won't recognize it as a TV Shows folder. The server will remember where you left off in a track. For example. Jellyfin is one such free and open-source streaming solution thats worth a look. Both Plex and Kodi are available to download and try out for free. Plex Pass can be bought on a monthly ($5), annual ($40), or lifetime ($120) basis, and it entitles you to the following features: Live TV plus DVR: If you have an HD antenna and a compatible OTA receiver, you can watch and record live TV from within Plex. To sum it up, pick Kodi if youre looking for a single media center application to run on a computer or device thats connected directly to your TV. He watches way too many movies and definitely has one to recommend that you haven't seen. The first option on this page . You should now be familiar with how to use Plex. Plex has relatively low system requirementsfor servers, though performance will be impacted by the speed of your network and your decision to use wireless networking or not. 22K views 3 years ago Video showing how to set up Plex so that you have all of your movies and TV shows in place with all of your other media. In the Remote Access section of Plex's settingsthe same place where you found the upload speed limitsclick Show Advanced and you can find your public facing IP address, which you can use to configure outside access. There are two images that will show up in your librarythe poster for the movie/episode, and a background image that will appear in some apps. Unlike iTunes, Plex can read just about every media file format you can think of. recommend using a folder system like this: The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (2003).mkv. For questions and comments about the Plex Media Server. You can also just select the Start button to start immediately. Your options are: Movies, TV Shows, Music, Photos, or Other Videos. Plex Media Server runs on all computers running the major operating systems as well as NAS devices: Whichever one you choose, a wired network connection for both your server machine and your client device is recommended. With the right add-ons, you can do more than simply play local and stream remote media with Kodi. Best. You can also record live TV using Kodis PVR abilities. Most of the time it works as intended, but every once in a while you may find a movie that's missing its poster art, has been misidentified, or references the wrong video file. The Plex server uses a process called transcoding to make all of your media playable on any device. To solve this, Plex recently announced a new feature to help you find any content on all your streaming services in one place. This means you only need to run a single server somewhere on your network, even on a computer you already use that lives in your study or is completely hidden from view like a NAS device. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. If youre a frequent downloader of new media, you can set it so that Plex automatically updates its library any time it detects a new file has been added. Click "Add Content." The Add Library window appears. Click "BROWSE FOR MEDIA FOLDER". Basic Plex has no cost. If so, a Plex Media Server might be just what you need. If you have a device that lacks a dedicated client app Plex includes DLNA/UPnP streaming which expands streaming capabilities to a huge number of devices that support the standard (particularly older smart TVs). While it once seemed like a gimmick, co-watching content online is now a much-in-demand activity. Would you prefer to view everything all at once in a beautiful scrolling experience similar to Netflix? If you have a data cap, as an increasing number of home internet users do(Opens in a new window), you could hit that limit quickly. You can always skip this step Plex will still let you access and play your files even if they arent named using Plexs conventions, but it may have a hard time identifying what the file is, so you may not get all of the rich data from the web that makes using Plex so enjoyable. Step 1: First, you'll need to configure your modem to send remote access requests to your router if they are not the same device. For example: Importantly, you don't need the episode title in every file name, so long as you have the show name and the format of the episode. For the Plex Media Server, you will need to pick a device on which to install and run it. Many of these web shows and podcasts can be found on other services, like YouTube, but having them accessible within Plex is a little more convenient. If you have more than one streaming service, you know how frustrating it can be to find something good to watch. As the name suggests, it's a gaming service, but unlike similar products from Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia, Plex Arcade is focused (for now) on giving subscribers access to classic Atari console titles from the 1980s. As a standalone experience, you can stream Plex Free Movies and TV from the web using just your browser and a free Plex account. Head to the official Plex website and download the version you want. There are plenty of other pieces of data you can change, but these are likely to be the main ones you'll mess with. Click the check box next to Manually specify public port, keep the default value of 32400 and select RETRY and APPLY. Our expert industry analysis and practical solutions help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology. You may or may not want to pin libraries to which a friend has granted you access. With the free app, you can build your own personal media server and stream any videos from your computer to your TV or smartphone, no matter where you are. How to watch local channels on your Roku device, How to use Netflixs secret category codes to find what you want to watch, Plex Arcade brings classic Atari console titles to your TV for $5 per month. Alternatively, you can run some combination of the two since there's an official Plex add-on available for Kodi.

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