Live TV support is something that has been sorely missing from Plex, not least because you've been able to record TV for a while now with its DVR feature. That always required using the web app to browse and schedule recordings, but that's all about to change.
Plex is now bringing live TV channels and a front-end to its DVR to all of its client apps. It's a staged rollout, with Android TV and iOS mobile apps the first to get the new features, but from there one-by-one the rest will follow.
Plex Live TV and DVR fill a void in the current media consumption landscape by offering both major local and international network programming, with news and sports, at a fraction of the cost of traditional cable or satellite packages, skinny bundles, and other live TV streaming services. Plex Live TV and DVR are available to Plex Pass holders at no extra cost, with a one-time purchase of an antenna and digital tuner from a wide variety of vendors.
Plex Live TV and DVR works with any antenna and supports a wide range, and growing number, of digital tuners, including: ATSC (North America), WinTV-dualHD, WinTV-HVR-955Q, WinTV-quadHD, Digital TV for Xbox One, AVerMedia AVerTV Volar Hybrid Q, SiliconDust HDHR (all models), DVB-C/T/T2 TVButler 100TC, WinTV-soloHD, and Freeview HD TV for Xbox One.
While there's no timeframe for the Windows 10 or Xbox One apps being updated, that little snippet above provides some very interesting information. Plex TV, it seems, will be able to use the Xbox One OTA TV tuner to provide the channels. And the ability to set shows to record. Hello Xbox DVR that never was.
Sure, it'll still require you to have a Plex Media Server running on another machine, everything Plex does requires that. You'll also need a Plex Pass subscription. But inside the Plex app on Xbox One you'll be able to watch TV, record TV and then playback recorded TV. It's not necessarily important where the shows are being stored, but it looks like you'll be able to do just that.
Of course, you can also use something like the HDHomeRun Connect in place of the Xbox OTA tuner, but it's great to see Plex declare support for the Xbox hardware in this way.
