Download Plex 0.9.2.6

The program Plex, also known as Plexapp, is an open source media server for Mac OS X and now Windows. Clients are for more platforms available, including Mac OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android. Plex started out as a spin-off of XBMC Media Center and has been developed separately ever since. The program includes its own App Store, where plug-ins can be exchanged. For example, these plug-ins allow instant viewing of content from Hulu, Netflix, and CNN Video. Recently version 0.9.2.6 of Plex was released and its changelog looks like this:

Plex v0.9.2.6 – A little something for everyone

An important general fix:

• As issue when scanning a lot of new content (especially TV shows), where the Media Server could become unresponsive. We are now downloading media at the time of the scan (to make access faster in clients), and there was a bug that could cause an excessive amount of simultaneous downloads to, um, mess things up.

Some fixes specifically for Windows users:

• The issue with season/episode posters not appearing has finally been fixed.
• An issue where Plex Media Server refused to start when the user directory had an apostrophe in it. Many thanks to mrrwbrown and nyez1 on the forums for helping us track it down, we really appreciate it!

And a few subtitle fixes:

• Subtitles weren’t being automatically enabled when there was just one embedded subtitle in a file and the preference was set to subtitles being “always enabled”.
• As if that wasn’t bad enough, if a subtitle wasn’t enabled automatically when a file was played on Plex for Mac, it was disabled rather forcefully, so that it wouldn’t (won’t) appear again even if your preferences changed.

So to summarize, every video you played with the last version which did NOT choose to display subtitles automatically now has them disabled unless you manually enable them. This is likely not a big deal, because if you wanted them enabled you would have likely done so at the time! And the bug is now fixed.

We are going to be making more subtitle improvements, including fixing IDX/SUB subtitles, adding support for MicroDVD (on mobile clients as well!) and making the whole process of adding subtitles to your media easier and quicker. Don’t worry, we’re just getting started!

Next up, a few improvements for music fans:

• Support for scanning FLAC! So I recently upgraded my desk stereo a bit, and as a result, I got into an argument with a friend about MP3 VBR vs FLAC. He insisted that there was a huge difference in imaging and dynamics (words that audiophiles like to throw around, along with “coherence” and “coloration”, as they mark their CDs with green pens and purchase three-hundred dollar HDMI cables in hopes that the zeros and ones are, I don’t know, transmitted in Helvetica?). Anyway, having purchased quite a few CDs in the past, and having ripped them to VBR MP3, I was hoping that he was wrong, because, after all, re-ripping 400+ discs didn’t sound like much fun. To make a long story short, he uploaded three tracks for me in MP3 and FLAC format, and IA/B’d between then (blindly, of course). The result? They both sounded great, and I couldn’t tell the difference to save my life.
• The Local Media agent has been updated to pull album art out of tags for MP3 and FLAC files. And there was a lot of rejoicing.

Just like subtitles, the music support is a work in progress, and we have awesome things planned…

Finally, for all of you who access your media server remotely, you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve added authentication to the web manager.

Plex screenshot, click on the image for a larger version.