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Aug 2, 2024, 1:58:42 AM8/2/24

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Plex haș been around for more than a decade, but what exactly can you do with Plex? Is it free? Is it difficult to use? Does it support multiple users? And perhaps most importantly, how do you get your movie and TV show downloads uploaded and streamable from anywhere in the world?

Plex is software that you can use to store, locate, and access all of your media in one place. You can organize your own personal media files, such as pictures, music, and videos, as well as streaming services to watch movies, TV series, podcasts, and other online content. Basic Plex has no cost.

Plex has two choices for setup. If you only want to stream third-party content, you can open an account, download the app on your device of choice, and you are good to go. If you want to set up a personal media server to house all your files, there are a few more steps.

Once installed and set up, a Plex Media Server can automatically organize all your files on your computer. It can also augment your collection of movies, TV shows, and music with a huge amount of related content from sources around the web, like movie posters and album art, details on cast and crew members, episode descriptions, original air dates, and much more. In minutes, your media collection goes from being a series of files and folders to an experience that looks and feels like a streaming service such as Netflix, only you have control.

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. Though some limitations need to be considered, such as the power of your Plex server and the bandwidth of your internet plan, it can be a great way to include your friends. 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.

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. There's also a great new feature for music fans called Plexamp that we're excited to talk about.

Step 1: Simply download the appropriate installer and follow the instructions. Once the media server is fully installed, it will open a new browser window, which contains the Plex web app.

Step 2: The web app is your main way of configuring the Plex server, but it also doubles as a way to look at your library and play your files on your computer. It will ask you to create a new Plex account and then take you through a setup wizard that mostly involves helping the server track down your media files.

Step 5: To quickly check that everything is as it should be, click the Home button in the web app interface. You should see your movies, music, and any other media you added during setup beginning to populate, along with their respective poster or album art.

Step 1: When you start the Plex client, it will ask you for the same Plex account you created when you installed the server. 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.

Every client device possesses different capabilities, which means each Plex client also possesses different capabilities. When a Plex client connects to the Plex server, it tells the server what those capabilities are. An Apple TV 4K, for instance, only plays video files encoded in H.264, or MPEG-4, using the .m4v, .mp4, and .mov formats.

Plex allows you to access all your streaming services with Plex Discover. 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.

The Discover section will now appear on the left menu, under the home navigation. Once you set it up to include all the streaming services you subscribe to, as well as a ton of other free and smaller niche services, you'll be able to see what's streaming across them all in one place. They're also neatly arranged in some helpful categories, such as Trending, New, Coming Soon, and more. Clicking a title brings up all kinds of info on it, including the services it's available on, as well as the ability to add it to your watchlist.

Plex's search function brings in results from across your streaming services and ones you don't subscribe to as well. It will also pull in results from your own personal media library, Plex's AVOD library, trailers, theatrical releases, and more. Searching is simple and can be done using titles, actors, and directors.

For each Plex user you invite, you can choose which server (if you have more than one) and which libraries (movies, TV, etc.) they can access. 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.

If you have a Tidal subscription, you can add it to Plex. This means that your Tidal music can be streamed on any device that supports the Plex client. But an even bigger benefit for music fans is the way Plex integrates Tidal with your personal music library. As you browse the music on your server, Plex automatically finds matches from Tidal to show you tracks or albums you might be missing and related artists and genres.

Live TV plus DVR: If you have an HD antenna and a compatible OTA DVR, you can watch and record live TV from within Plex. Your recording capacity is limited only by the hard drive space on your Plex server, and all of your recorded shows will be presented with the same easy-to-use interface as the rest of your library.

Mobile sync: A must-have for commuters, this feature lets you wirelessly keep copies of your favorite media on your phone for offline playback. It can automatically add and remove TV episodes as you watch them.

Skip credits: This premium Plex feature uses some advanced monitoring tools to determine when there are credits playing. If you're not in the mood to sit through opening titles or the half-hour-long end credits of the latest Marvel movie, you'll have the option to skip.

With the look and feel of a premium music-streaming app like Spotify or Apple Music, Plexamp lets you experience your entire Plex music library in new and exciting ways. The service also provides a gateway to new Plex-curated artists, albums, and playlists.

While it once seemed like a gimmick, co-watching content online is now a much-in-demand activity. Plex's Watch Together feature allows users to watch their favorite movies and TV shows with friends. Watch Together is supported on the following devices:

Step 2: Once the Watch Together session is going, you can then select the friends you wish to join you. You need to already be friends to invite someone, but you can simply send them a friend request on Plex. You may need to restart the app if you both just accepted the friend request.

Step 3: A Watch Together session will now appear on the top of your app's home screen. Once selected, you will enter the Lobby and see all the friends who have joined and whose status is Ready. You can also just select the Start button to start immediately.

Because Kodi is open-source software, there are a fair amount of third-party extras available for it. Unfortunately, that includes a big collection of unofficial add-ons that can cause you all sorts of problems, including unknowingly accessing copyrighted material.

The unofficial add-ons can also leave you vulnerable to undesirable third parties, including malware, hackers, and snoopers. If you are considering installing Kodi, we recommend looking over our Kodi explainer to learn how to safeguard against cyberattacks or any other potential problem that might occur with third-party add-ons. The guide provides a thorough understanding of the possible legal ramifications of using those third-party add-ons.

Let's face it: No one likes paying for cable. These days, the cost of even the most basic provider plans is enough to stir any stomach. But is there really any alternative? Technically, yes. If you've got a Roku streaming device, or if you're considering picking one up, the popular gadget offers several backdoor portals to some of the greatest local-area content, including news, weather, sports, and more. Read on to discover how to unlock your favorite local streams.

With an ever-growing library of content, there's plenty to watch on Netflix -- as long as you can find something that interests you. 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. The streaming service conveniently allows users to search by general categories, but if you want to get even more specific, there's a trick to help you out.
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I'm wondering about starting a media server. I'm struggling with why though. We have lots a streaming services. Would something like Plex just be a local version? Then we would need to fill it with our own stuff.

For example, my arrive home routine will wake my PC, turn on the TV, set the correct input/volume and then start a Kodi add-on called LazyTV which creates and plays a random playlist of TV shows from my collection.

I also use Kodi and have used it for years. I agree with @BinaryHackerMan above. My Kodi system runs flawlessly and I have complete control over every aspect of it. I have a whole-home audio system and Kodi is the music backbone for that entire system. I do not use it for streaming video or any of the video services. I strictly use it for music database management. I have nearly 8,000 mp3s that it manages. I set it up and I have not had to touch it for over a year now. It just works. I did dabble with Plex years ago. As I recall, the two systems are quite similar.