Plex for Xbox One snags new players and more tweaks in latest update

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Plex for Xbox One is getting new media players and other tweaks with its latest update.

Following up on its big redesign that shipped in late 2017, Plex has updated its media streaming app for Xbox One with a few more new features and tweaks. Included in the latest update, you'll find new audio, video, and photo players, along with support for streaming HEVC on Xbox One S and One X, and more. Of course, there's a general smattering of bug fixes and performance improvements included here as well.

Here's a look at all of what's new (opens in new tab) and fixed in Plex for Xbox One:

  • Brand new audio, video, and photo players.
  • Support for direct streaming HEVC video on the Xbox One S and Xbox One X.
  • Support for mspeg4v2 and mspeg4v3 in mkv and avi containers and 4K vp9 support in webm containers.
  • Poster and list items titles will automatically scroll when they are too long to display in their entirety.
  • New 'Play Version', 'Mark as Watched', and 'Delete' modals.
  • Show insecure connection fallback options when primary server is unreachable but insecure connections are a possibility.
  • Improve app usability when system high contrast mode is enabled.
  • Fix tracks count on Album Pre-Play pages.
  • Fix loss of focus when exiting/entering player.
  • Fix loss of focus when returning from screensaver without user lock.
  • App no longer occasionally gets stuck in loading state after switching users.
  • Fixed preplay/library item details getting stuck in a loading state after switching users.
  • Shuffled play queues from playlists only containing the first 50 items.
  • Fixed the background of the items in the user switcher screen so they're no longer tiled.
  • Media Remote play/pause buttons not working in video player when OSD is hidden

It's certainly not as impressive as the full redesign Plex for Xbox One received in October, but tweaks and bug fixes are certainly nothing to scoff at, either. If you're a Plex user, you should be able to grab the latest update via the Microsoft Store on your Xbox One now.

See at Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

11 Comments
  • Will you wrote an editorial on the abandonment of the UWP PLEX app? It's not had an update since May, and the PLEX management are ignoring all questions on the PLEX forum. Even a PLEX support team member can't get a response from them.
  • No update until may ? I've seen updates in the last quarter
  • Go to PLEX's release announcements if you don't believe me. The May update was a hotfix, so the app actually hasn't seen a version update (3.2.5) since January.
  • You definitely haven't seen updates for the UWP app in the last quarter.  
  • Why do we need to write an editorial? Last I heard they're working on a new UWP for Windows and Xbox. But their priority is the platforms they see most use and guess what? The Store app probably isn't the highest priority.
  • Please correct me if I'm wrong, but PLEX have not even acknowledged the UWP app since May, never mind discussing a new app. XBOX is under active development, UWP is not.
  • Your comment about a UWP app for Windows and XBox doesn't tie in with what Plex are saying on their forums.  In fact, users have had to explain to the support staff what UWP is. There are certainly rumours of the Windows and XBox app, but no actual evidence of that.  Support for the UWP app is non-existent, although users on other platforms also report a bad support experience.  It's almost as if they have no developers who know how the UWP software on PC and Mobile actually works - surely that isn't the case? They could, of course, write a UWP app which would work on all Windows 10 devices (Desktop, XBox One, Windows Phone, Windows on ARM, etc.).  Surely that would be just as easy as writing a UWP app for a single platform...   
  • Plex app on Xbox one used to be great. Now the ui is so bad, I can't stand it. Complete garbage.
  • The UI is terrible and not sure why have not heard us in our comments about it. 
  • Plex has been streaming HEVC perfectly fine for me even in 10bit. It's only if my audio is EAC3 or DTS and above or my video is 4K that it transcodes.
    My biggest annoyance is WHEN will Plex let me direct play .srt subtitles and play forced subs by default if they are flagged as forced in my mkv!
    Can direct play HEVC but not .srt... Really?
  • Hey so i have question for you.  I am not to savy with all this computer lingo so please bare with me and try and dumb it down as best as possible.  Okay so i have a 7.1 setup in my movie room and i am running plex through my xbox one.  Do you know how to fully get the movie to play as a 7.1 and not a 5.1? is there a passthrough or something?  I have searched high and low on plex through xbox one and all i seem to find is volume boost from low, med and high.  I really cant tell the difference, and also not sure what all my settings should be on, need help thanks.