Try This Free Plex Alternative Client If You Hate the New Interface

J
Justin Pot

Try This Free Plex Alternative Client If You Hate the New Interface

Plex has been rolling out a new user interface for a while now, and to say it's been divisive among users would be an understatement. Users on Reddit regularly complain about the interface being confusing and slow; others wish the application would focus on personal media servers instead of things like movie rentals.

Plezy is an alternative Plex client that solves these issues. The application, which is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS, focuses entirely on personal media servers.

Plez has a simple user interface, but the real advantage over the official Plex app is its speed. Everything about Plezy is faster than the official Plex app—it launches faster, searches faster, and starts playing videos faster. If you've ever found yourself frustrated waiting for Plex to load, Plezy might be the answer you're looking for.

The Plezy player showing an episode of All Creatures Great and Small

Credit: Justin Pot

Having said that, Plezy isn't perfect. A few prominent Plex features, including live TV and offline downloads,aren't supported at all. There are no applications for Roku, Apple TV, or any TV-based platform. The application also can't combine shows and movies from multiple servers, even for search or the "now watching" list, meaning anyone who uses multiple servers may have to switch between servers regularly. That's a small annoyance more than balanced by the performance improvements.

But if you just want a quick way to play personal media on a computer, phone, or tablet, Plezy does the job faster, and with less clutter, than the official Plex app. Plex is a great way to build your own personal streaming service, but the company has been downplaying that particular use case for a while—it's nice to see an alternative client with focus.

The desktop version of Plezy—macOS, Windows, and Linux—is available for free. The iOS version costs $4. The Google Play link was not yet active while I was writing this, though you could download the APK file from Github and sideload it.

Continue reading...
 
Tags
None
1
0
0

You might also like

Notable forums

Deals & Gifts

2
Follower count
1
Message count

Shopping Trends

2
Follower count
1
Message count

Must-Read Books

2
Follower count
0
Message count

Cooking Hacks

2
Follower count
5K
Message count

Must-Visit Places

1
Follower count
553
Message count

Local Food

1
Follower count
0
Message count

Home & DIY

1
Follower count
3K
Message count

Garden & Plants

1
Follower count
139
Message count

Outdoor Living

1
Follower count
379
Message count

Ask & Share

1
Follower count
0
Message count
Top