Plex is locking remote streaming behind a subscription in April
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I mean, I'm with you, it is nice to support something you use, financially. But you made a one time payment 12 years ago. Your money is certainly not there anymore, they used it and paid something with it. I don't know, it just sounds like a really weird take reading your post. But maybe its me whose weird, I would prefer one time payment over subscriptions too.
I looked at and look at it as an investment. 13 years ago it could have been a good decision or a bad one.
The idea behind a lifetime membership is a means to spark fund raising, and I thought then "I use this a lot, it works for me I'm gonna pay for it".
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If you have plex pass lifetime already, your family can still streams fully from your server. Nothing changes here.
Yes, that's great for me and mine, but not for others. I don't like to support or platform/promote applications that require a subscription for any access at all.
The problem is Plex aren't Netflix in my usecase. I'm sharing my library with my friends.
Now if they'd like to charge for the content they host. Great more power to 'em, but I feel icky with a payment or subscription model that charges to deliver my collection to my friends and family.
So, like I said. I'll likely start migrating to jellyfin and start the conversation with people in how to get the jellyfin app on whatever device they have.
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Your view unfortunately doesn't show you how shitty the unpaid experience has become. XBMC used to be a good product. Since becoming Plex, now we have:
- no local hardware accel
- no HDR
- panels that look like local videos that trick you into switching to a paid app
- rearranged home screen after some updates
- no downloads on remote devices
- and now I'll lose the ability to share streaming with my kid, who lives many cities away
If this were clear from the outset , no one would be upset. But pulling back features Plex at one time promised "forever" (remote streaming), is complete rug-pull bullshit.
You can enjoy that warm and fuzzy reverse-fomo feeling now, but you should know that they'll start limiting your paid experience eventually.
Xbmc didn't become plex. It's still alive and kicking but rebranded to Kodi (mostly because it had little to do with xbox anymore) ages ago.
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Your view unfortunately doesn't show you how shitty the unpaid experience has become. XBMC used to be a good product. Since becoming Plex, now we have:
- no local hardware accel
- no HDR
- panels that look like local videos that trick you into switching to a paid app
- rearranged home screen after some updates
- no downloads on remote devices
- and now I'll lose the ability to share streaming with my kid, who lives many cities away
If this were clear from the outset , no one would be upset. But pulling back features Plex at one time promised "forever" (remote streaming), is complete rug-pull bullshit.
You can enjoy that warm and fuzzy reverse-fomo feeling now, but you should know that they'll start limiting your paid experience eventually.
no local hardware accel
What do you mean by this?
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How is it misleading? Plex Pass is a subscription? It would be confusing to many people if it said "Plex pass" instead of "Subscription" as not everyone would necessarily even know what that is. Subscription is very clear.
I think the disconnect here is a lot of people buy the "lifetime" Plex Pass, which is a one-time cost and not a subscription. Saying "X feature will be locked behind a subscription" implies some new pricing model and leaves users who paid a one-time cost years ago wondering if it's time to look for an alternative or if they're completely unaffected.
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Just played a bunch of episodes on Fedora KDE (Flatpak from flathub, Jellyfin client v.1.11.1, Jellyfin server v.10.10.6) without any trouble.
Are you by chance using Wayland?
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With the caviat that you have tailscale enabled on both devices. This prevents it from being used on a roku outside your home but you could access it remotely from your computer/phone/tablet.
It is significantly harder than Plex, currently. There are improvements happening all the time though.
Hmmm, i use a Synology NAS with Jellyfin installed and my family can use their Roku TVs without issue. I didn't realize Synology made a difference there
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I'm not pirating a bunch of shows just to pay Plex for the privilege of watching it.
Jellyfin ftw
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does jellyfin have a roku app?
does jellyfin have a roku app?
Yes, it streams pretty well, it has some UX issues, but it will let you get off plex as it stands right now with most of your needs covered.
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With the caviat that you have tailscale enabled on both devices. This prevents it from being used on a roku outside your home but you could access it remotely from your computer/phone/tablet.
It is significantly harder than Plex, currently. There are improvements happening all the time though.
You very much can create an external port and access anywhere without any of this. No tailscale needed but I'd recommend one knows what they are doing...
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You can access Jellyfin through a browser, too. Is that an option for the Samsung TV?
I've got a Samsung TV and am nearly a complete Luddite (in the colloquial sense).
I managed to install the Jellyfin app on my TV just by following the step by step instructions on a website
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With the caviat that you have tailscale enabled on both devices. This prevents it from being used on a roku outside your home but you could access it remotely from your computer/phone/tablet.
It is significantly harder than Plex, currently. There are improvements happening all the time though.
Huh? I'm streaming from my Jellyfin just fine when I'm on the go, with no tailscale or other VPN set up
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Hmmm, i use a Synology NAS with Jellyfin installed and my family can use their Roku TVs without issue. I didn't realize Synology made a difference there
It totally depends on how you expose it to the outside world. If it's exposed just like it is, it works fine with every device. If you put an authentication before it (e.g. Authelia), it can only be accessed by browsers from outside the network. That being said, it's not recommended to expose Jellyfin directly, because there are a ton of security flaws. Best practice is to use a VPN
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My Jellyfin and Plex containers were able to use the same locations for media.
I installed Plex before learning I'd have to pay for any of the functionality I was looking for. Installed Jellyfin and used the Plex folders lol
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Yeah.
Jellyfin is spectacular for LAN usage on two computers. Once you start using devices (because, you know, that is what people tend to plug into their TVs...) or going on travel, it rapidly becomes apparent that it just isn't a competitor.
Hell, a quick google suggests jellyfin STILL doesn't have caching of media for offline viewing. Plex's works maybe 40% of the time but... 40% is still higher than 0%.
I have a lifetime pass for Plex and encourage anyone who even kind of cares to get one next time it is on sale (or shortly before the scheduled price hike). I have tried Jellyfin a few times over the years and... it is basically exactly what I hate with FOSS "alternatives". It isn't an alternative in the slightest but people insist on talking it up because they want it to be and that just makes people less willing to try genuinely good alternatives.
As someone who has attempted to switch to Jellyfin a few times now, I have to agree. Its a great project and my switch would have been successful if it was only me using it. But between my parents streaming remotely and my kids, its not even remotely close to what Plex offers currently.
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We are also changing how remote playback works for streaming personal media (that is, playback when not on the same local network as the server). The reality is that we need more resources to continue putting forth the best personal media experience, and as a result, we will no longer offer remote playback as a free feature. This—alongside the new Plex Pass pricing—will help provide those resources. This change will apply to the future release of our new Plex experience for mobile and other platforms.
Well that's the beginning of the end for them.
I'm about half-way off the platform already (and I'm a lifetime subscriber)
The only thing I go back for is Roku use (better app), PlexAmp (better app) and offline viewing. I don't have to go off JF for those, but it's a lot better on Plex.
But it's not so much better than I can't protest.
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To be fair, they didn't say that they needed more resources for remote streaming
Fair enough, although that actually has worse optics IMO. It goes from "this costs us money, so pay us" to "we need money, so we're creating an artificial reason for you to pay us"
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Absolutely not, fuck Emby with a branding iron, they're far shittier than Plex's decisions.
At least Plex started out as a for-profit company and has never misrepresented themselves as anything but. Unlike Emby.
fuck Emby with a branding iron
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Your view unfortunately doesn't show you how shitty the unpaid experience has become. XBMC used to be a good product. Since becoming Plex, now we have:
- no local hardware accel
- no HDR
- panels that look like local videos that trick you into switching to a paid app
- rearranged home screen after some updates
- no downloads on remote devices
- and now I'll lose the ability to share streaming with my kid, who lives many cities away
If this were clear from the outset , no one would be upset. But pulling back features Plex at one time promised "forever" (remote streaming), is complete rug-pull bullshit.
You can enjoy that warm and fuzzy reverse-fomo feeling now, but you should know that they'll start limiting your paid experience eventually.
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no local hardware accel
What do you mean by this?
What do you mean by this?
Not OP
Hardware-accelerated streaming is a premium feature and requires an active Plex Pass subscription.
If you want to use your video card to transcode, you have to be paid.
