Plex has confirmed that it will require a Remote Watch Pass or Plex Pass for remote streaming on its TV apps. The change is going into effect for the Roku app first, followed by all other TV apps and third-party clients in 2026.

Earlier this year, Plex increased its pricing for Plex Pass and stopped supporting all options for free remote streaming in the Plex apps, such as adding a custom server connection in the app settings. The company said at the time, "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." That's also when Plex introduced the Remote Watch Pass as a less expensive way to enable remote streaming again.

Plex is now rolling out the remote watch changes to its Roku TV app. If you have Plex Pass, or the owner of the server you're streaming from has Plex Pass, you don't need to do anything. Otherwise, if you are streaming on a different network from the server's home network, you need Plex Pass or Remote Watch Pass.

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[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 10 points 10 hours ago (4 children)

Why? Plex was one of the original self hosted streaming platforms and for a long time was pretty much the only option. We have more options now, and those still on Plex, I imagine, are because they don't have the time or capacity to perform a migration. So they stick with what they've got until it breaks.

Maybe this will be the one that breaks it.

I was a Plex holdout until 3 months ago. I wanted off Plex for the last 2 years but just never had the time.

For those waiting, don't be like me, it's easier than you think.

[–] jjlinux@lemmy.zip 3 points 10 hours ago

I switched to Jellyfin about 4 years ago, no regrets. If I'm traveling I tunnel into my home server and watch whatever I want. As most of us, I started in Plex because back then I was with Synology (cheapest NAS they had back then). The moment I moved to building and maintaining my own server, I tried JF, liked it from day one, learned to deal with the caveats and fix them (took me a while), and have been on it since then.

[–] Auli@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago

Same I put off and might still be on it if I didn't loose my watch history. I figured if I was starting over might as well be with FOSS.

[–] AndyMFK@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

What was the migration like? I've been looking to get off Plex for a while now but like you say, haven't had the time nor the energy.

Is it as simple as just installing it and pointing it at my NAS?

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 2 points 9 hours ago

Pretty much. Personally, I spun up another VM and had the two running alongside each other for a few weeks. Doing it this way allows you to split the work. First get the base server up and running, do some testing and get familiar, then migrate a client.

It took more effort to get family to switch their client than it did to do the server.

[–] jazzkoalapaws@ttrpg.network -1 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

It makes more sense to just use free streaming sites or save videos to a storage drive.

Plex, like framework, seemed like corporate shite that wannabe nerds fell for to fit in with other wannabes.

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 2 points 5 hours ago

I've not using a free streaming site for years, but when I did they were bags of shite. Buffering, unavailable, etc. There are apps that aggregate the various sites that try and find a wanted show on multiple sites, but they weren't much better.

I see self-hosted streaming as just an extension of your "save videos to a storage drive" option. We are just extending the access of that to where its wanted.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 hours ago

Obvious troll account.