Plex is out today with an update to several platforms including iOS, Apple TV, and the web. iOS now has improved controls like a new volume UI, while Plex users on Apple TV gain features like gapless playback, soft pauses, enhancements to Hi-Quality playback, and more.
After first bringing some of the following features to its Plexamp software, Apple TV is now gaining improved audio in a few ways:
- Hi-Quality Playback – Direct play of streamed FLAC, ALAC, MP3, AAC, APE and MPC. Floating point processing pipeline. For low-bandwidth scenarios, Plex offers best-in-class transcodes
- Gapless – Seamless transitions between tracks without dropping a beat
- Soft pauses – Gentle fade out/in when you’re pausing
- Advanced Hybrid Caching – The upgraded player not only caches the entire current track to disk, but will read ahead the entire next track as well, to ensure continuous playback even across network transitions and glitches. The cache also stores recently played tracks so you can avoid cellular usage when possible.
The update for Apple TV also brings some bug fixes:
- Added warning to the More sources screen when a server is offline.
- Cache the last play queue to restore it more quickly on app resume.
- Improved reliability of seeking in the Enhanced Video Player.
- Show artist name subtitle in playlists instead of TIDAL.
- Stop music playback when switching users.
- Fixed a crash that could occur after buying a Plex Pass.
On iOS, plex is receiving control refinements with a new volume change UI and improved video player controls.
- Added a custom volume change indicator, so you’re not distracted by full controls popping over the video when changing the volume.
- Polished video player controls to make them more intuitive and elegant, moved some of the secondary buttons (like repeat and shuffle) deeper into the menu in order to free up more space, and improved overall discoverability of playback modifiers in the music player. So now it’s super easy to play super slow, or wicked fast, as well as to repeat, shuffle, shorten silence, and more
The iOS update also includes one fix:
- Cache the last play queue to restore it more quickly on app resume.
In addition to the Apple TV and iOS changes, Plex for the web is previewing a new interface:
At the core of the experience is the humble but mighty Sidebar. In addition to being a more efficient use of screen space than a top menu, this navigation pattern showcases all the stuff you care about, and hides the stuff you don’t.
Plex is a free download from the App Store with optional Plex Pass subscriptions starting at $5/month.
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