This Week in Self-Hosted (4 April 2025)
#AprilShowers bring new projects, software updates and launches, a spotlight on #BookLore -- an ebook management and reading platform, and more in this week's #selfhosted recap!
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#plex
10 posts9 participants0 posts today
It seems that the biggest issue for me when it comes to migrating to #Jellyfin on my #homelab, in place of #Plex, is that it's more reliant on transcoding, somehow?
On Plex, I could easily completely disable transcoding as none of my devices - regardless of TV via the app for #Android TV, desktop via their corresponding desktop app, or mobile via #iOS or Android app, etc. ever needed transcoding and all of them does Direct Play for my media just fine.
For Jellyfin, for the same media, it seems to always be transcoding (presumably for technical reasons) on the web UI, Android app, or iOS app (Jellyfin). The desktop app can do direct play perfectly fine, I assume the iOS native app #Swiftfin can too (tho it seems pretty buggy and basic in functionality to be that usable). Direct play seems to also be more important/vital than on Plex since transcoding on Jellyfin somehow consistently desyncs the subtitle after some time watching or scrubbing through the content.
I can accept not being able to watch Jellyfin content on mobile I suppose, and exclusively use the desktop app instead of the browser when on desktop, but I wonder if the TV clients on Android or #Apple TV face the same issue too? Also, there doesn't seem to be a simple option to globally disable transcoding is there?
Public service announcement: if you use the #plex app, do NOT update to the new version. It’s so buggy that it is unusable. Literally. You are warned. And there’s no support or bug reporting mechanism in it, either.
I have a video encoded in AV1 at 22 Mbps. Neither of the #Plex apps for the Nvidia Shield or Roku can play natively even though it’s 2025, 5 years after the codec was released, so Plex transcodes to H.264 at 83 Mbps. My M4 mini barely shows any CPU activity doing the conversion, and I’m streaming it over switched gigabit Ethernet, but the Shield app stutters every few seconds. The Roku app works fine. So does Jellyfin.
There is no single streaming setup that works for all media. Sigh.
Replied in thread
@infuse the best video player I’ve seen - better than I imagined even and I’m really spoiled - for all Apple devices 
Oh lol, it's one of those things where people say "so and so" is amazing!!! Works perfectly for me so it must for you... then you realise immediately after giving it a whirl that something as basic as subtitle support on your media, regardless if transcoding or direct play (why that'd even matter, honestly?) is broken on #Jellyfin.
I'm eager to switch to Jellyfin bcos I always knew it was the platform to be on, not #Plex (since #FOSS and all), but I am perplexed how Jellyfin is supposedly not able to deliver on this seemingly very basic feature for a video streaming platform - support playing subtitles (properly) with your videos 
https://forum.jellyfin.org/t-subtitles-out-of-sync
RE: https://sakurajima.social/notes/a633ncz6ta
forum.jellyfin.orgSubtitles out of syncHello there, great to meet you all. Iam facing a problem regarding subtitles sync, still new to jellyfin so I thought that Iam doing smthg wrong because alot of people (Reddit, blogs, forms) reported
Gros ravalement de façade pour l’app Plex sur iOS http://dlvr.it/TJvQM6 #Plex #ApplicationMobile
I'm testing out #Jellyfin as a possible alternative to #Plex in my #homelab, so far so good, but I'm kinda puzzled why the subs on my media seem kinda "broken"? As in, they're all perfectly fine when played from my Plex server, but when playing them on Jellyfin (through the Web UI), they're not at all synced to the actual video/audio. What's up with that?
My Plex server can beat up your Plex server.
La app de Plex para iPhone se renueva por completo: nueva interfaz, acceso más fácil a tu contenido y mejoras de rendimiento.
Pero ojo… también suben los precios desde el 29 de abril.
¿Usas Plex en tu iPhone? 
#Plex #iPhone #Streaming #Apps #TechNews
I’ve been using #plex for over a decade. For some reason I’ve slept on #plexamp because I through streaming was all I needed. After hearing several people talk favorably about it I decided to throw my old collection in it. What a fantastic app! I feel like I’ve rediscovered a ton of music I love. The DJs and Stations are really fun and well done. It’s just a joy to use. Check it out if you have an old music library lying around.
Esta guía te enseña a hacer #Plex lo más privado posible.
https://selfh.st/plex-privacy-settings/
#Privacidad #Privacy #SelfHost #SelfHosting
selfh.st · Optimal Plex Settings for Privacy-Conscious UsersUpdate these settings to limit the data Plex collects about your account, content, and streaming habits
Within 2 seconds of launching the major revamp of the iOS #Plex app I found a bug, and seconds later I found a horrible design error. The live TV guide is missing. When I tap a channel to stream it there are no controls on the portrait view. There is no way to stop the video, only pause it and that can only be done when the video is expanded to the landscape view. When I navigate away from the app and return it either forces me to select a user again or worse, it autoplays the live video. 
uhh, does the new Plex mobile app no longer support music or am I missing something?
Finally switched from #plex to @jellyfin and I feel so dumb cause it was so easy and quick! Brought back the nostalgia of customizing my old XBMC setup 
:p
Still can't believe I could have saved myself so many rants about enshittification over the years 
But I suppose every of these rants and all the others about every other app are part of my anticapitalist villain origin story so I probably needed them to be where I'm at
WELCOME to BAD MOVIE CLUB!!
In 2025, I’m trying to watch ALL of the ‘amazing’ films from FULL MOON, so I’m choosing three a month from the list. If you want to watch them and discuss them, you can find most of them for free these days on sites like #tubi and #plex. Expand this post to see this month’s selections.
Use hashtag #MastodonBadMovieClub (or #MBMC) and remember: The only BAD movie is a BORING movie. These #FullMoonFeatures films are NOT boring.
Noticing that #Plex has ad detection that gets thrown off when there's a weather emergency in progress (as there often is here), and therefore there's a ticker and weather map continuing through the program and the commercials.
#HeadsUp if you have a #Plex Pass, they’re about to increase the cost A LOT – in #Australia, the annual subscription is increasing from AUD$49 to $109 (!!)
a MUCH better option (if you can afford it) is to upgrade to the lifetime pass, which is currently AUD$160 – less than 2 years at the new price & ~3 years at the old price. so long as Plex stays viable for at least 2-3 more years, this is the best option, price-wise
BUT these prices are only available until April 28 when the new pricing comes into effect. at that time, the lifetime pass also increases DRAMATICALLY to USD$250, which will be ~AUD$400 (!!)
so if you’re gonna stick with Plex, NOW is the time to upgrade – but definitely before April 28 (US time, I assume, so best to upgrade by April 25ish to be sure)
current subscriptions are pro-rated so you won’t be paying twice for the remainder of your subscription
info about the changes are on the Plex blog at https://www.plex.tv/blog/important-2025-plex-updates/
oh, and they’re also changing their privacy policy & terms of service – including changes to what data they will share or sell 
I highly recommend you review the changed versions:
#privacy policy (AU)
https://www.plex.tv/en-au/about/privacy-legal/
terms of service (AU)
https://www.plex.tv/en-au/about/privacy-legal/plex-terms-of-service/
you can update some of your privacy & data sharing / selling choices (where they permit) in your account settings, but a lot of the preferences are scattered across their website in a really shitty way 
& they’re presented inconsistently (some you have to check to opt out, some you have to uncheck to opt out)
you’ll need to log into your Plex account to see and check / uncheck / leave unchecked the checkboxes shown in each of these areas
opt-out choices
https://www.plex.tv/en-au/vendors-us/
they use a dark pattern for the first option – make sure you UNcheck (or leave unchecked) the one labelled “If this box is checked, then Plex may sell your personal data as described in the Privacy Policy. If this box is unchecked, then you are opted-out of this sale.”
the second checkbox labelled “All No” is one you’ll (probably) want to check – it’s the one below the text that reads, “Click “All No” if you want to opt-out of sharing personal information with any Vendor for each specific purpose or feature”
limit what activity data is sent from your Plex server
UNcheck (or leave unchecked) this checkbox labeled “Send playback data to Plex”
also take a look through your Plex server settings for other privacy & data settings like what’s visible to others from your Plex profile
https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/account
under “ACCOUNT VISIBILITY & ACTIVITY SHARING” you can “Manage which of your Plex activities are viewable by your friends on Plex.” - hit edit to review / change these settings (I set everything to private except for “Account Visibility”, which I set to “Friends Only” 
)
review your privacy settings (takes you to the pages mentioned above that live outside your account but can only be set there )
https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/privacy
server-specific options – located in the settings menu under > General
the url will be in the form of
https://app.plex.tv/desktop/#!/settings/server//settings/general
review the following options – personally, I uncheck them all:
- Send crash reports to Plex
- Push Notifications (post attention to the helptext here, “Note: Push notifications are delivered using Plex services. They're associated with your account, and some of them may contain information about the contents of your library.”
- Enable Plex Media Server debug logging
- Enable Plex Media Server verbose logging
website cookies
you can reject optional cookies at
https://www.plex.tv/en-au/
there might be some other settings spread around – either inside your account or server settings, or on the Plex website – so have a good look around
sadly, like so many other things we use these days, we’re in the era of having to treat the companies that provide the services & products we ̶b̶u̶y̶ ̶ rent from them (even physical ones) as hostile providers
not only are we the product if we’re not paying for the service, usually even when we are paying for things we (well, our data & metadata) are still the product 
Plex · Important 2025 Plex UpdatesPersonal Media and Beyond You’re going to be hearing a lot from us this year—we’ve got a ton of exciting...
I just bought a lifetime #plex pass, after trying it for 6 months or so. I only use it for #plexamp to stream #music #flac from my #synology #nas to my #linux laptop, #rpi with #allo #boss2 #dac and #android phone. I also created an account for my almost 80-year-old father so he can join my server and library.
I came from #roon which I enjoyed a lot, but due to different reasons I made the switch. Plexamp provides such a seamless experience, I really can't wish for more. Keep up the good work!