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Avia isn’t the only app that got a big upgrade to add Chromecast support today. Plex, one of the most popular media servers out there, has been upgraded to add support for Time’s best gadget of 2013, the HDMI media dongle that allows you to beam content from your various device over to your TV for easy viewing on your home entertainment setup.
If you aren’t in the know, Plex is a platform that allows you to serve up all of your multimedia to any supported device, including those with Plex apps (here’s the Android version) and most devices with standard DLNA playback features.
Users can only “fling” or “cast” video from the start, but Plex has said that photos and music will be along shortly. Plex also threw in this unfortunate tidbit: Chromecast support is only available for PlexPass subscribers right now. The feature will be coming to free users shortly, though, so it shouldn’t be too long before you’re able to enjoy all your media on your HDTV of choice.
With Plex being a dominant player in the media streaming world, this is a pretty big deal for Chromecast users. If you were turned off by Google’s attempt to block you from streaming your own content from third-party apps early on, this should help breathe new life into a $35 bundle of joy that is starting to gain a ton of steam heading into 2014.
[via Plex]
Sweet! I have a huge media library and I already have a plex server set up. Great news.
Just an FYI for those that install this. At this time it’s force closing upon launching. The Plex Team is aware and are fixing it.
The only app on the list that can finally do local playback well, and it requires a minimum of $4 a month to make it work with Chromecast.
No thank you, Google.
a month?
“Chromecast support is only available for PlexPass subscribers right now.” from the article.
Source: https://my.plexapp.com/subscription/about
Edit/rant: Also lifetime subscriptions to companies is a joke. If I had a lifetime subscription to Audiogalaxy before they got bought by Dropbox I would be so furious. Plex seems like one of those companies that love to be acquired by another in the next 2-3 years.
Well you could do the lifetime membership. Or just wait until it’s out of beta and comes free to the general public.
So you have to pay while it’s in beta? That’s weird.
http://phandroid.com/2013/12/10/avia-chromecast-app-review-personal-music-photos-and-videos-google-facebook-dropbox-local-storage-dlna-servers/
Avia seems to be the only true barebones local and network playback, since it’s only $3 as an in-app-purchase, once.
Avia won’t transcode your video, but Plex will, so you’re outta luck with a lot of content (like DTS audio in mkv files iirc)
This is awesome news, exactly what I bought the Chromecast for. Goodbye Roku!
Plex just crashes now when i try to open it. Was really excited to use it with my Chromecast, but not after reading I have to pay more.
PLEX the best app
My biggest complaint and cause for disinterest in chromecast was that it wasn’t really setup for local content capabilities. So this looks promising. Especially, since I have been using plex on my Roku.
My only complaint is you can’t play shared content on your cast. Me and some friends share libraries, and if you try to Cast it, it says you don’t have permission. :/
I’m sure that will get fixed when it’s available to non-plexpass users. Or maybe if your friend is also plexpass, they don’t have a cross-plexpass option just yet.
You just need to make sure the shared server is running the latest version of the Plex Media Server we released this morning and it’ll work fine!
This morning both of my chromecasts came back out of their boxes. They are happily attached to both my TV setups now that I can play everything I need. Plex, and Netflix.
Goodbye to my vizio co-star, off to the junk pile it goes. I also get to disable the input for Samsung smarthub on my AVR… no more issues of it hogging attention over the CEC bus and switching inputs on TV powerup… Got all I need in chromecast now :)
My co-star stopped working. Worst $99 that I’ve spent.
This is the best news. I am now going to order 1 or 2 Chromecasts and replace at least one roku even!
This is awesome. I’m casting video from my Plex server to my Chromecast with reckless abandon! I can finally retire the power-sucking Mac mini that I used as my client. Chromecast works perfectly in the Android app, but not so much in the Web UI. Hope that gets fixed.