Plex is a very interesting home streaming platform. Thanks to the Discovery feature, you can “link”all your streaming services.
Plex is a platform that aims to be the hub for all your streaming needs, with a new feature called Discovery bringing services like Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Disney+ together in a single interface. This may encourage you to use the platform more or give it a try if you don’t know.
If you’re completely new to Plex, think of it as a private Netflix or Spotify that you manage. You provide audio and/or video files, and Plex allows you to play them on all your devices, whether it’s a smart TV, smartphone or other.
Some elements of Plex are free, others require a Plex Pass, offered at €4.99 per month, €39.99 per year, or €119.99 for a lifetime license. The features we’re talking about in this article are available for free, but obviously you need to have a subscription to streaming services to be able to use them.
Plex has two elements: a server client that you install on your computer, or a NAS containing all your files and various client applications on your devices. The server client takes care of finding, organizing, and serving the files, while the Plex apps read them.
Here we are assuming that you already have Plex installed in your home. If not, go to the Plex website to create an account and follow the procedure.
Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max and more
As of this writing, Plex highlights Discovery on its home page: start typing in the name of a series or movie and you’ll see all the occurrences on various streaming services in great detail. buy, rent, or just view, as the case may be.
To be able to enjoy all of this on your Plex, you can sign in and open the Plex Web App. You may be asked to add streaming services when you open the app, but if not, click on the “Discover”link on the left navigation bar (the compass-shaped icon) and “Select my streaming services”.
Discovery is available wherever Plex is. On mobile apps, press the menu button (top left), then the gear icon and “Streaming Services”to set up the services that appear in the Plex interface. For now, the web app offers the most successful access to Discovery, but this is subject to change.
Available streaming apps vary depending on where you live, but Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Disney+, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and other Hulu apps are supported. The full list includes even completely unknown services.
Plex is not perfect
Be careful. No sync with Plex. In fact, you don’t even need to connect to various streaming services. Plex wants to show you what these services offer.
In fact, an additional feature that might be fun to use is a universal playlist that you can manage in Plex. No matter where the content is available to stream, you can add it to this list and Plex will tell you where you can watch it — and for how much, if any. A bit like a watchlist available through Google TV.
In some cases, Plex may even direct you directly to the appropriate app when you select a title, but that depends on what device you’re on and what Plex app you’re using – you can’t stream Netflix content on Plex. example -. You will need to switch apps manually in order to watch your content.
It is also possible that some of these service connections will disappear over time, but for now everything is working fine. When you search for something, results appear from all your streaming apps as well as your personal library, giving you the freedom to choose.
We should also mention that Discovery is still listed as beta. So expect a few bugs here and there, but overall it works great and this feature could be very popular. Indeed, according to Plex, Americans spend at least 600 million minutes a night searching for what they’re going to watch. With Discovery, this figure may decrease.