Desktop AF
Aloha, Plexians! Hoping this blog post finds you well. We have a few things to discuss. Some of them may be controversial; but most are (hopefully) informative.
First of all, starting next week, we’ll be exclusive on the Epic Games Store.
(Just kidding. Too soon?)
But for real: We have a brand new desktop app that we’re excited to show off! It has all the glorious player capability of Plex Media Player, plus an exciting new offline capability. We used to call it “Sync”, but now it’s just “Downloads” — a friendlier term that means it’s just a single click to take your favorite media with you, and you can find it all in one predictable place. It’s also built on a much simpler and more reliable mechanism, so downloads start quickly, and give clearer feedback along the way. It’s a bit of a sneak peek at the direction we’re headed with offline media across the board (including the mobile apps), so check it out and let us know how it works for you!
This new app is just called “Plex” — it’s the macOS and Windows equivalent of our other apps: your window to media greatness (even though this one’s supercharged with all the same server and library management capabilities of our web app).
You can download the new Plex desktop app here.
It’s almost midnight, a few hours before this post goes live, but we already hear you asking: What does this mean for the Windows Store app? Whither Plex Media Player? Whoa, whoa, slow down. Let’s take this one at a time. Also no one says “whither” anymore (even though it’s a super useful adverb… just sayin’).
First, the Windows Store app. It’s been a little broken for a while now. Back when we first started developing Windows apps, it made a ton of sense to embrace the ecosystem, but over time (👋 Windows Phone 💀) it made less and less sense to keep investing dedicated development resources to the Metro [sic] platform. We’d much rather invest the effort on a cross-platform app with a best-in-class player engine under the hood, so as of today we’re taking our Windows app out of the store. The new desktop app which replaces it has a much more capable player stack, support for all modern features, and finally a proper replacement for Sync. Just “Download” the media you want to keep available offline. The app itself is free for everyone, though offline (download) support still requires the server owner to have an active Plex Pass. Go forth and defenestrate!
Second: Plex Media Player. The desktop “side” of the (admittedly Janus-esque) Plex Media Player will live on in the form of the new desktop app. For the TV layout lovers out there, we want to be clear about this: the long-term plan is for the new desktop app to replace Plex Media Player as our only desktop solution. The new desktop app is notably lacking TV mode, which means that we’re going to stop supporting the traditional HTPC setup (using a desktop computer connected to your TV or home theater) with this app. There. We said it. It marks the end of an era for us, and we’d be lying if we said it wasn’t a little bittersweet. But take heart. We looked at how most people were using the app, and most of you will have an equal (if not better) experience with a streaming device and our new players.
Our new Apple TV and Android players support nearly all the same formats. And of course modern streaming devices don’t need as much care and feeding as desktop computers. They don’t need to sleep (much), they use a tiny amount of electricity (Al Gore made us say that) and they don’t require nearly as much effort to get up and running. They have remotes that work wonderfully out of the box (no more fiddly custom key mappings!) In short, they’re designed for the environment in which you’re using them, and it shows. We implore you to check out how far our apps and the various excellent streaming devices have come — it’s truly night-and-day since you unboxed your first potato-powered Roku or Apple TV.
At the same time, we recognize there are some exceptions, so we will keep updating Plex Media Player until Jan 30, 2020 (
you can find the downloads here).
So, in a nutshell: brand new desktop app that includes offline capability! End to the confusion around the Windows App Store app (💀). (Gradual) end to the TV layout in PMP. And a gentle reintroduction to the word “whither.” Seriously though, take the next six months to pick up a connected device that fits your needs, wallet, and ecosystem of your choice.