Media Streaming App Plex Now Broadcasts onto American PS4s, PS3s

Waiting for the free version to turn up - I like their work, but I so rarely use it, I can't justify spending for a Plex Pass. For the moment, it works through my Apple TV well enough.

PS TV?

So is this a "channel" like Netflix or simply a service like PS3 Media Server or Universal Media Server which I use a lot, for free?

@rjejr Plex provides a Netflix like interface (complete with automatic metadata collection, like episode names, synopsis, airdate, box art) and Netflix like features like play lists, recently watched, resume where you left off an episode (also seeing if you have watched this or that video) to your video library. It's quite nice.

@professorhat you can use the PS4 browser to use their Web based streaming app (for free). It's not as nice as a native app, but it's pretty good.

I wish i could stream everything i got on my SONY Z1 Smart Phone to the PS4 that would be SUPER-MEGA-COOL

.....never even heard of it

The Plex Pass is worth it. If you have a good library or just want to stream movies it is amazing. Also, there are channels you can add (some unsupported like Roku private channels) which add more features to it.

@thedevilsjester - Thanks for the info. My video library is limited to a handfull of movies of several tv series so while an "app" is always a plus in my book, I'm ok w/ free media servers.

Oh, might want to edit the article where it is reads:

"will now be able to use the service to stream movies, music, and photos across your home network."

b/c the US PS blog says - "At launch, the app will only allow you to stream your videos, but the ability to stream your music and photos will be coming shortly."

Subtle difference, but it says only movies will stream now, music and photos later.

And I seemed to have missed the point, apparently PS4 doesn't do media as well as PS3 did, so this is really for PS4 owners, not for PS3 owners as much. My mistake there.

@rjejr to be fair, Plex IS free. You can subscribe to Plex Pass if you want, but the subscription doesn't add any features that I would even care about, let alone pay monthly for.

As with other non Web based platforms, Plex releases a version for Plex Pass users first, and then later, once they suckered in a few new subscribers, releases a version for about $5 (one time purchase) that doesn't require the Plex Pass.

As for only being useful for PS4 users, that's not the case at all. Sure you can use DLNA or play video files directly on the PS3, but it's a far cry from the usability and features that the FREE Plex service provides. You just have to wait a few weeks for them to release the non Plex Pass version.

@thedevilsjester Thanks for the tip - but I'll carry on using my jailbroken Apple TV for the mo - has a nicer interface for the TV

@thedevilsjester - I DL'd the the web server and I honestly didn't like how it ran in a web browser, just seemed odd. I looked for a desktop program alternative and didn't find one.

As I said earlier I only have a few movies and tv shows on my PC so I'll probably just keep using Universal Media Server as its very simple and it works.

@rjejr it is odd that it uses a Web to manage the server, but once you set it up, you never, ever, need to touch the Web portion again. It has a daemon that runs in the background (puts a icon on your taskbar) and all you need to do is dump your videos in the folder (s) that you specified when you set it up and it's all automatic. You can start/stop from the icon in your taskbar. The Web interface is never needed beyond setup unless you want to change your setup, so why it's odd that they use the web, it's understandable, because it's one interface that works the same on all platforms.

@thedevilsjester - Admittedly it was more my paranoia at running thru a web browser page than the functionality. I have DVDs copied to my HDD that theoretically may have gotten there by breaking some encryption and hence some US laws. When I saw the covers pop-up in the web page little alarms went off in my head.

@rjejr the server runs on local host (your machine), it just uses the web browser (locally) to manage your media and settings. The key detail here is that it's running that page off of your computer (you are the web server) it's not using it as a remote app stored on their servers (just look at the url, 127.0.0.1 or localhost, is your machines address) You can also change, select, or turn off the remote metadata collection servers if you are paranoid.

A standalone desktop app won't make any difference in this. Think of it like you would your routers web based admin panel, it's local, running on that machine (the router), and used only in rare circumstances.

@thedevilsjester - Thanks for all the help, but I think I'm ok w/ UMS on my 2 PS3 for the foreseeable future. But not b/c of this sutely biased infographic.

http://www.universalmediaserver.com/comparison/

I got a lifetime membership with plex they deserve the cash plex is freaking awesome

@ReigningSemtex I do think Plex is awesome, but there isn't a single feature of the Plex Pass that I would ever use, so sadly they get no money from me other than the $5 one time app purchase.