How to Use Plex, the Best Way to Stream the Content You Own
Have a collection of movies and TV shows in your personal library? There’s hardly a better way to manage it than Plex. Like the similar library app Kodi, Plex gives you an attractive interface to browse or search your shows to find something to watch. But its key feature is in letting you stream your own content from your computer to any device you own and even share that library with others.
Unlike video streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, Plex is a bring-your-own-media kind of affair. You can store your own digital copies of movies and shows on a desktop computer—or a NAS, if you’re feeling adventurous—that’s always connected to the internet. Then, with the Plex app on your phone or TV, you can stream those videos to almost any device.
If that sounds complex, keep reading. We’ll break down everything you need to know about Plex.
What Devices Support Plex?
That question has a two-part answer. With Plex, there are actually two apps: the server, which runs on one device that stores all of your media; and the client, which you can use to play back that media. Technically, you can use Plex on just one device and run both the server and client to manage your library, but Plex’s most useful feature is streaming your media elsewhere, so you’ll probably want to download more than one client.
The Plex Media Server runs on a wide array of platforms that you might run on a stationary computer. The most obvious examples are Windows and Mac. Plex also supports Linux, FreeBSD, and even a bunch of niche NAS platforms if you’d rather run your server on dedicated networked storage and free up your desktop computer for other things.
The Plex apps (or clients) come on a different, but no less varied, range of platforms, including Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac. However, you’ll also find dedicated Plex apps for most smart TV platforms and boxes like Apple TV, Chromecast, and Fire TV, as well as consoles like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. In other words, if there’s a place you watch TV, there’s a good chance Plex already has an app for it.
What’s It Like to Use Plex?
Once again, this question has a two-part answer. If you’re using the Plex Media Server to run your own library, you might want to get comfortable with digging around in file structures. Setting up a Plex server involves finding a place to store your files, naming them properly, and occasionally tweaking metadata so all your shows have the right cover art. For those running a server, there’s a lot more to learn about the interface, but Plex makes it fairly easy for anyone to run their own.
On the other hand, viewers-whether you’re streaming from your own server or watching from a friend’s-have a simple interface. On the left side of most of the Plex apps, you’ll see browsable libraries (which the server host can organize however they want) of movies, TV shows, or playlists. At the top of most apps, there’s a search box where you can search through your own server and the server of anyone who has shared their library with you.
Sharing is a huge part of Plex’s appeal. Think of it like borrowing a movie from a friend’s library. Take a look at whatever they have on their shelf, pick something you like, and start watching. Only you don’t have to return any discs when you’re done, and they can watch at the same time if they want. If you know a few people who all run their own servers, it’s easy to find something to watch.
What Content Can I Use With Plex?
Plex is not a content provider. You can rip your own Blu-rays to your computer and have digital copies of your movies or shows that you can watch anywhere, or you can stream videos you’ve made yourself. You can also use the Live TV features of Plex paired with a broadcast antenna to roll your own DVR.
Plex is also branching out into streaming content directly, including free ad-supported movies and TV shows from companies like Warner Bros. It’s still early days for this type of content, but Plex is in the process of adding more partners.
You can also subscribe to Tidal through Plex as an add-on, granting access to 60 million songs. If you already have a Spotify or Apple Music subscription, this might not appeal to you, but if not it’s a handy way to manage all your media in one place.
Is Plex Legal?
Like driving a car, Plex itself is perfectly legal. That doesn’t mean you can’t do illegal things with it. If you pirate movies or TV shows and then load them up into Plex, the app will stream them to your devices just as it would anything else. It doesn’t distinguish between legally acquired media or pirated content.
However, Plex doesn’t actively offer a way to access that pirated content. When Kodi added support for add-ons, at least one developer created one that let users stream pirated media. It was a murky situation, as Kodi didn’t provide the stolen media directly, and it’s an issue that still hasn’t been fully worked out.
Do I Need to Use a VPN With Plex?
Generally speaking, you don’t need a VPN when using Plex. Any content that’s streamed from your server to a client app is encrypted and shouldn’t be viewable to anyone who may be trying to snoop on what you’re doing. Since Plex doesn’t allow you to download third-party add-ons like Kodi does, you don’t need a VPN for that reason, either.
That only applies to traffic being sent from your Plex server out to anyone watching, however. If you’re already using a VPN to protect your other traffic, then you might end up with an extra layer of protection. It can also break your streams. For more, check out our guide to managing your Plex server, including how to use a VPN with Plex.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com on October 14, 2019.
