There's also a seven-day free trial period. : While these settings are exposed for the library, the selected values will take effect for all libraries using that agent. Plex is a media streaming service that can stream the local files on your computer or server directly to your Roku or any other supported device. There are no premium passes required to unlock functionality but, by the same token, this functionality is a bit more limited. How to Set Up Plex Cloud With OneDrive - HubPages 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. 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. Sometimes editing the title here is enough to get Plex to automatically find the correct info, but if not you can copy it from IMDb or manually add it yourself. Kodi is free forever, while Plex has a generous free plan. Thats accomplished by managing the recommendations for that particular library. If you want to share your Plex library with friends and family (who dont live with you), youll need to configure remote access first. 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. Both Plex and Kodi broadly support the same types of media, enjoying excellent compatibility with most major video and audio formats. First, while it's not strictly necessary, it's often best to create nested folders for every show, season, and possibly episode, if the episode is broken up into multiple files. You may be able to get away with a less powerful PC with this option enabled. Searching is simple and can be done using titles, actors, and directors. Name the library and choose the language to use for information gathered from the internet. Thanks for your feedback, add a comment here to help improve the article, Plex Now Lets You Add All Your Streaming Services In One Place, Start typing to see results or hit ESC to close, Save $99 on eero Pro 6 + Install. Step 2: Click the Settings icon to get more settings options. Previously known as Xbox Media Center and later XBMC, Kodi places great emphasis on making its UI fluid and presenting your media in a slick and functional way. Related Page: Video Preview Thumbnails. Scanners analyze the folder structure and filename of your content for information about that particular item. If you have a Tidal subscription, you can add it to Plex. When you set up the Plex server and app, you'll be prompted to select from a big list of streaming services, including the major ones you're likely subscribed to, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max, and more. 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. For Roku, its considered a downloadable channel. He's invested in the Apple ecosystem, with experience covering Macs, iPhones, and iPads for publications like Zapier and MakeUseOf. More information is available in the Your Mediasection. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. The unofficial add-ons can also leave you vulnerable to undesirable third parties, including malware, hackers, and snoopers. https://www.pcmag.com/news/the-experts-guide-to-managing-your-plex-server, How to Free Up Space on Your iPhone or iPad, How to Save Money on Your Cell Phone Bill, How to Convert YouTube Videos to MP3 Files, How to Record the Screen on Your Windows PC or Mac, an increasing number of home internet users do, how Plex prefers you name your files here, Plex Asks All Users to Change Their Passwords Due to a Data Breach, Netflix's Crackdown on Password Sharing Is Confusing Subscribers, Cast Away: How to Connect Your Android Phone to Your TV, How to Prepare Your Digital Life for Your Death, YouTube Music or Google Play Music? Picking one system over the other doesnt necessarily mean youre going to miss out on a huge number of features. If so, a Plex Media Server might be just what you need. This information comes from a variety of sources including IMDb, The Movie Database, The Internet Video Archive, and even Wikipedia. Many popular NAS devices, such as QNAP, Synology, Netgear, Drobo, and. So if youve gotten into the habit of running your media through a converter like HandBrake (Windows, Mac) to make it compatible with your software, you can do away with that step. That means you will have to set up each Kodi device as though it were the first time. You can also choose theMoreentry to view additional items or to pin them to the sidebar. To vote if this article was helpful, please sign in with your plex account. As long as your playback device and the Plex server are on the same home network, it should only take a moment for the client to display the same catalog of media files as you saw in the web app to show on your device. Plex adds a new artwork-centric option to its visual experience By Simon Cohen August 19, 2021 Plex, the company that gives folks a way to easily manage and access their personal library of. You will see the new Discover section in the menu on the left side of the Plex home . Cookie Notice Step 3: No media software would be complete without a search function, and Plexs universal search does a really good job. How to Use Plex Media Server | Tom's Guide Eric Ravenscraft is a freelance writer and tech nerd working out of the geek capital of the world, Atlanta, Georgia. Settings to control actual playback are available in the Plex apps themselves. 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. If youd rather stream from a single local server to numerous local or remote devices, Plex is the better choice. Plex has much more detailed step-by-step instructions on this process here(Opens in a new window). Choose whether or not video preview thumbnails will be generated for this particular library if the main setting is enabled for the Plex Media Server. The recently-added Discover section in Plex shows you the new and trending content from all your streaming services, like Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, and more. And if that isn't enough, Plex also operates its own ad-supported, free streaming video service known as Plex Free Movies and TV, which can be accessed alongside your personal media, as well as live TV and DVR features you can access with the Plex Pass subscription. Plex is a different kind of streaming service. How to Use Cron With Your Docker Containers, How to Use Docker to Containerize PHP and Apache, How to Pass Environment Variables to Docker Containers, How to Check If Your Server Is Vulnerable to the log4j Java Exploit (Log4Shell), How to Use State in Functional React Components, How to Restart Kubernetes Pods With Kubectl, How to Find Your Apache Configuration Folder, How to Assign a Static IP to a Docker Container, How to Get Started With Portainer, a Web UI for Docker, How to Configure Cache-Control Headers in NGINX, How to Set Variables In Your GitLab CI Pipelines, How to Use an NVIDIA GPU with Docker Containers, How Does Git Reset Actually Work? Plex is the ideal choice if remote streaming is important to you. Click this and a small window will pop up with boxes you can edit. Plex says the new Discover section and other features will be available on Roku, Apple TV+, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android mobile devices, smart TVs, game consoles, and at www.plex.tv. He writes on everything from Windows to Linux and from cord-cutting to generating art with AI. PLEX - Add a movie collection to the home screen for yourself and/or If you're the one running the server, it can start to eat up your computer's resources or become a chore to manage. Click Add Library. You can expand this selection with a broad selection of plugins. Installing the server software on a PC or NAS can turn your home or office into a connected hub that can stream all kinds of. Watch Together is supported on the following devices: Step 1: To start Watch Together, select a movie or show you want to watch in your Plex app, and then select the Three dots / more button, followed by Watch Together. To mitigate the damage, the Plex server lets you set limits on how much of your bandwidth streams can use. Plex Users Can Now Customize Their Visual Experience - Digital Trends In the main Plex screen (Home icon on the top left), click "+" next to "LIBRARIES". While it once seemed like a gimmick, co-watching content online is now a much-in-demand activity. 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. He has written for Ozy.com, Mobilesyrup, Driving.ca, and VentureBeat, and appeared as a guest tech expert on international TV and radio programs, including BBC Radio, CTV News Channel, and CBC Radio. To select new artwork, visit the web control panel of your Plex Media Server by logging into your account at Plex.tv or connecting to the local address of the server on your home network. 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. But since they come from third parties, you can end up with spoilers in your descriptions. Step 1: Run the Plex Media Server on your computer, or compatible NAS device, or others. The Plex Media Server is an awesome package enjoyed by millions. The default Agent is automatically selected when you create the library but you can change it by clicking the dropdown and selecting the one you want. All Rights Reserved. Additionally, there isnt a customer support option, so if you run into any issues, theres nobody to help with troubleshooting, so you have to figure it out on your own. You can customize which databases Plex pulls from, but the default settings should work for most people. And sharing your library with other people can also slow down your home internet speeds. Mobile sync: A must-have for commuters, this feature lets you wirelessly keep copies of your favorite media on your phone for offline playback. By changing the sort title, you can put them in the proper order without changing their names to something like Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2, and so on. Upcoming concert information can be gathered from Last.fm. {{navSearchSanitizedItem( item, 'title' )}}. 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). This setting determines whether content from this library will be included in global search or not.