Ongoing Beta Beta Test: Plex

[azoriusmage]

“Some kind of WiiM apologist” just because I have more patience and understanding of software development than others? Ah, the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune that I have to bear

Maybe if it had been an upgrade I had already paid for that was running late I might sympathise, but these are free updates adding functionality to a piece of kit that was presumably bought for what it offered at the time of purchase.

I bought for airplay feature they took away

 

[pieterv1]

It’s not as if they’ve been sitting on their hands doing nothing given the regularity of firmware and app releases

That's the thing, it's odd that we didn't get any updates for so long... while clearly they haven't stood still and they're very active on the forum with other announcements.

 

[azoriusmage]

That's the thing, it's odd that we didn't get any updates for so long... while clearly they haven't stood still and they're very active on the forum with other announcements.

A common mistake is to use forums like this as marketing tools making announcements while not responding to questions.

 

[Chetee]

Any update o news about Plex-Wiimhome integration ?

 

[pieterv1]

Any update o news about Plex-Wiimhome integration ?

Not sure what you mean? It has been a part of the WiiM Home app for quite a while now.

The desired solution would be the ability to stay inside the Plex(amp) apps - some of us are paying for - and to be able to "cast" the audio to a WiiM device from there, without the limitations of Chromecast or Airplay.

 

[Intruder]

Not sure what you mean? It has been a part of the WiiM Home app for quite a while now.

The desired solution would be the ability to stay inside the Plex(amp) apps - some of us are paying for - and to be able to "cast" the audio to a WiiM device from there, without the limitations of Chromecast or Airplay.

What limitations? I can use plexamp fine casting to wiim pro... The wiim app works fine too.... Am I missing something?

 

[azoriusmage]

What limitations? I can use plexamp fine casting to wiim pro... The wiim app works fine too.... Am I missing something?

I assume what is sought is for it to be a plex endpoint so you can use all the features of plexamp rather than the limited set right now.

 

[pieterv1]

What limitations? I can use plexamp fine casting to wiim pro... The wiim app works fine too.... Am I missing something?

Chromecast: no gapless playback, limited bitrate so more often than not the audio gets transcoded (I think to 16-bit/44.1kHz)
Airplay: limited to 256 kbps, streaming directly from the host device

And functionality-wise the Plexamp app has a lot more to offer compared to the Plex integration in the WiiM Home App

 

[Vladetz]

Chromecast: no gapless playback, limited bitrate so more often than not the audio gets transcoded (I think to 16-bit/44.1kHz)
Airplay: limited to 256 kbps, streaming directly from the host device

And functionality-wise the Plexamp app has a lot more to offer compared to the Plex integration in the WiiM Home App

Chromecast supports up to 24/96, maybe even 24/192
But yes, native Plex endpoint would be better

 

[Qnots]

The biggest problem I have with Chromecast is that I cannot use it when I want to cast from Plex on my Windows PC. And I use my PC to control the entire house, including selecting which music is playing where. Also Chromecast does not support gaples playback which is annoying when playing live albums or conceptalbums where one song fades into the other.

 

[Chetee]

Any update o news about Plex-Wiimhome integration ?

Perhaps I didn't explained myselft coreectly.
Obviously I know you can control Plexamp from the WHA but missing DJ features, Sonic Sage or Sonic Adventure.
I was asking for any news or updates for all of this + the endpoint feauture from Plexamp

 

[Qnots]

Also controlling Plex from WHA results in a situation where Plex does not show the media as playing. As a result Plex also does not scrobble the played songs to Last.FM.

 

[timmo]

It does play, it is stable, but the way they have currently implemented it, has its limitations.

Say for example if you have your Plex server at a safe remote location (or just on a different network than the Ultra), it doesn't work. The current implementation requires the WiiM device and the server to be on the same network. This kind of defeats one of the main selling points of Plex(amp) in general: access to your media from anywhere outside of the server network.

Agreed - I would prefer the Sonos implementation of Plex for the WiiM Home app because at least you can access it outside the network which is more important to me … remote access to my Plex music library. I compared both implementations and WiiM offers more from Plex than Sonos does (e.g. ‘Stations’), but remote access is a biggie. It’s an interesting Plex implementation in the WiiM Home app - don’t know if anyone else has done it the same way.

 

[timmo]

Oh - and the reason why I care so much about remote access is I’m trying to find a workaround for when Plex removes music libraries from video streaming boxes (happening soon!). Was hoping Plex users could get a WiiM device which would give them access still on Apple TV (in conjunction with the Apple TV ‘WiiM Home’ app). I know it’s not pretty, but am brainstorming solutions

 

[simbun]

Agreed - I would prefer the Sonos implementation of Plex for the WiiM Home app because at least you can access it outside the network which is more important to me … remote access to my Plex music library.

This is likely a Plex restriction rather than WiiM, just like it is that PlexAmp only support Sonos rather than all UPnP. Money talks!

 

[timmo]

This is likely a Plex restriction rather than WiiM, just like it is that PlexAmp only support Sonos rather than all UPnP. Money talks!

I don’t mean ‘casting’ to Sonos from Plexamp if that’s what you mean? I’m just talking about Plex as a ‘service’ in Sonos to browse and play your library just like in WiiM … but the implementations are different between both because WiiM’s only works if Plex is on the same network (Sonos service for Plex supports remote Plex servers).

 

[timmo]

I found these two articles:

Player Apps and Platforms Archives

support.plex.tv

Supported Plex Companion Apps

This article does not apply to Plex for Mobile apps 2025.10 or higher for Android and Apple devices There are...

support.plex.tv

But there is an app called ‘Infuse’ that connects to Plex remotely (but no support for music libraries) and that’s not in above list. I don’t understand the licensing model (if any) to allow apps to connect to Plex servers

 

[simbun]

I don’t mean ‘casting’ to Sonos from Plexamp if that’s what you mean? I’m just talking about Plex as a ‘service’ in Sonos to browse and play your library just like in WiiM … but the implementations are different between both because WiiM’s only works if Plex is on the same network (Sonos service for Plex supports remote Plex servers).

I was referring to the remote access of libraries.

I don’t understand the licensing model (if any) to allow apps to connect to Plex servers

All I know is that you definitely won't get the answers on the WiiM forum.

 

[timmo]

I wish WiiM would create a 2nd Plex Beta to do this differently, and people can choose and test to see which works best

 

[TimTim]

I assume what is sought is for it to be a plex endpoint so you can use all the features of plexamp rather than the limited set right now.

That would be ideal. I would even be happy if Plex was fully functional within the Wiim App. The last time I checked, when displaying all albums by an artist, it just displayed a selection. The missing albums could still be found via search though.

The Ultra is pretty amazing but there are a few instances of almost getting it right which are rather annoying.