Popular media player Plex has released a redesigned TV app on Roku and Apple TV (in beta). The company says that "at the core of the experience is the sidebar" that is customizable.
A redesigned Plex TV experience
Earlier this week, a new version of Infuse was released and now Plex has revealed its redesigned TV app. Regardless of your allegiance, media player apps are advancing with a focus on rich features wrapped in a user-friendly interface.
- "We’re thrilled to announce that our new big-screen interface is now available for Roku users in the Roku channel store, and it’s also now available as a beta for Apple TV," Plex said in the announcement. "The new UI represents months of hard work, extensive user testing, and ongoing conversation with our community."
For the introduction, Plex took a trip down memory lane. From OS XBMC to "server-first" to "type-first", Plex has tried to rethink its philosophy for how it is presenting your local media files in a user-friendly manner. The company explains that they internally "refer to the new effort as “UNO”, since bringing a unified, consistent experience to all platforms and devices is one of the core objectives".
One of the big changes is in navigation. Plex is abandoning the top menu in favor of a sidebar. It should now take "fewer clicks to get where you want to go" and your content should be easier to discover. You can also customize navigation by rearranging or hiding content sources in the menu as well as pinning favorite libraries in the sidebar.
The new Plex TV app is available on Roku and in beta on Apple TV (here's how to download it). The company says that it will bring the app to other platforms in the future.
More information about the revamped Plex TV app is available below.
New Plex TV app - in company's own words
Internally, we refer to the new effort as “UNO”, since bringing a unified, consistent experience to all platforms and devices is one of the core objectives. A few others include:
- Restoring some basic usability qualities that suffered a bit under “type-first”. Fewer clicks to get where you want to go. More discoverable actions and sources. More intuitive gestures and navigation. Fewer distractions with things you shouldn’t have to care about.
- Ownership and customization. You have complete control over your navigation—you tell Plex what you care about, we build an experience for you, and if you don’t like it, you can rearrange sources, hide sources, and more.
- Improved functionality in a multi-source world. Features like Search need to work perfectly to deliver exactly the results you want.
- At the core of the experience is the sidebar. In addition to being a better use of screen space than the top menu, it lets you see all the stuff you care about, and none of the stuff you don’t. |
