Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Audio / Video
  3. News

Plex app is now free for Roku, includes redesign, new features

Mike Flacy
By

plex-roku-1
Image used with permission by copyright holder
Shifting from preview mode for Plex Pass users to public mode for all users, Plex has made the new Roku application free for all users. It was previously priced at $5, similar to the old version of the iOS Plex Pass app. Detailed on the official Plex blog, the company is also making the Xbox 360 app free to download for any Plex user. Previously, you needed the premium Plex Pass subscription to access Plex from the Xbox 360 gaming console.

Similar to the recently redesigned iOS app, the new Plex app for Roku offers a significant upgrade in visual design as well as additional features. Users can access movies, television shows, music and photos within the interface as well as installed channels like Apple movie trailers. This interface is more user friendly than previous versions, ideal for visiting guests that want to browse through your movie, music or photo collection.

plex-roku
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Within the interface, users can use new filters to find specific genres of media. In addition, video streaming settings can be adjusted within the menu, basically allowing the user to scale up to higher quality 1080p streams assuming the local Wi-Fi network can handle it. In addition, mobile streaming settings can be adjusted through the new interface, ideal for Plex Pass users that want to limit streams to sizes that won’t gobble up data on limited LTE plans.

Recommended Videos

If you already have the Plex app installed on your Roku device, it’s easy to force the update. While Roku devices will update automatically within the next 24 to 48 hours, force the update by visiting “Settings > System > System Update” within the main Roku settings user interface. Select the “Check Now” option to force the update and download the upgraded Plex app to your Roku device. If you don’t have the Plex app installed on your Roku device yet, visit the Plex page on the Roku Channel Store to install the software.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Mike Flacy
Mike Flacy
Contributing Editor
By day, I'm the content and social media manager for High-Def Digest, Steve's Digicams and The CheckOut on Ben's Bargains…
The first Roku-made televisions are now available at Best Buy
Roku Select Series television.

Roku today announced that its first slate of Roku Select and Roku Plus Series televisions — the first sets to actually be made by Roku — are now available exclusively at Best Buy. The first 11 models are meant to be affordable options not unlike the Roku TVs made by the company's manufacturing partners. (Those partners, so far as we know, will still make their own Roku TVs.)

The Plus Series is the more advanced of the two options, with QLED screens at 55, 65, and 75 inches. Those prices hit $649, $749, and $1,199, respectively.

Read more
Plex now lets you skip the credits on movies and TV shows
A mid-credits scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off showing Plex's Skip Credits option.

In a move that is sure to enrage the thousands of people whose names appear at the end of our favorite movies and TV shows, Plex has introduced a new feature that lets you skip the end credits on the content in your personal library.

The feature works similarly to its Skip Intro option -- a far less controversial feature given that most subscription streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video already let you do this. With Skip Credits, the Plex Media Server uses an algorithm to detect the difference between a screen full of rolling text and a screen that has a full image of, well, not text.

Read more
Apple Music is now available on Roku
Apple Music on Roku.

Roku today announced that the Apple Music service is now available on its Roku players and Roku TVs. That brings more than 90 million songs and 30,000 playlists to the No. 1 streaming platform in the United States.

And, well, that's it. If you're already an Apple Music subscriber, you've good to go. Just sign in with your existing Apple ID. If you're new to Apple Music, an individual plan costs $10 a month, and family plans run $15 a month. (There also is a Student plan for $5 a month.) And signing up via the Roku Channel Store gets you the same one-month free trial that you'd get if you signed up via Apple.

Read more