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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[–] laurelraven@lemmy.zip 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I would be very surprised if they don't go there eventually, and I'd even bet they'll try at some point to force lifetime pass owners to switch to subscription

If you ever think you've found a corpo that can be trusted, no you haven't

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 2 points 6 hours ago

Exactly.

Practically every piece of "lifetime" software I've paid for has gone this route.