cross-posted from: https://programming.dev/post/27204525
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.
IMPORTANT NOTE FOR CURRENT PLEX PASS HOLDERS:
For users who have an active Plex Pass subscription, remote playback will continue to be available to you without interruption from any Plex Media Server, after these changes go into effect. When running your own Plex Media Server as a subscriber, other users to whom you have granted access can also stream from the server (whether local or remote), without ANY additional charge—not even a mobile activation fee.
If you’re already paying for a Plex Pass subscription, or have the Lifetime Plex Pass, this change won’t affect anything. You’ll continue streaming Plex remotely and any friends/family who have access to your server will still get to stream it remotely as well.
The cost of the Lifetime Plex Pass is more than doubling in price at the end of April, so if you don’t want to pay for a monthly/annual subscription, buy it now while it’s only $120. I bought it several years ago and it’s more than paid for itself over the years.
Life time subscriptions are just like pre-ordering games. You’re paying ahead of time for features that may not get developed and your concerns are no longer valid since you have no leverage to leave.
They have your money. Why should they cater to you?
And because you paid for a lifetime subscription, you’re likely to keep using them due to the sunk cost.
I bought a lifetime pass a while ago, and I’ve already gotten my money’s worth. Plex is great, but there’s nothing stopping me from moving to jellyfin if I’m not longer happy with Plex. Given that jellyfin is free, and you can run it side by side with Plex, there’s no sunk cost. The fact of the matter is Plex is a better product than jellyfin for many things.
I paid sometime approaching 10 years ago at this point, like $75. I honestly feel like I got my money’s worth at this point. And I’m not sure this is a sunk cost scenario, maybe not yet, because I still get all the features impaid for out of the gate. I’m willing to adjust my perspective if (and realistically when) Plex starts taking things away from me. But I will not borrow trouble, I have a functioning interface that works well, and I’ll continue to abuse it with my creatively procured media.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enshittification?wprov=sfla1
Now is a good time to try Jellyfin
Probably foolish to believe but i havent switched to jellyfin because im worried its not as secure as plex. plex also has a convienent app on most tvs phones and streaming boxes. Am i giving up on any of these when switching?
If it’s not as secure, then using a VPN is a great way to make sure everything works securely.
I do this. Personally I have no need to expose my network to devices I don’t own, so I just have a WireGuard instance that serves as my gateway. If your needs differ- such as exposing things on your network to friends with their own devices, setting up a gateway of some sort may be more appropriate.
