[Q] Did someone try the PLEX app with chromecast ?
- Thread starter Delta-flasher
- Start date
Yes. It works on my non-rooted chromecast. You need to have purchased a Plex pass subscription in order for it to work.
Movies & TV shows work well if they are burned to your computer & follow the correct naming scheme. Some Plex channels work & some don't. The only thing I haven't been able to stream to chromecast is pictures & slideshows. Otherwise, it has worked great.
Movies & TV shows work well if they are burned to your computer & follow the correct naming scheme. Some Plex channels work & some don't. The only thing I haven't been able to stream to chromecast is pictures & slideshows. Otherwise, it has worked great.
What Plex channels worked for you? None of the ones I tried at random worked for me.
Overall it works fine for casting local content. The only issue is that the Plex app on my Android tablet disconnects from the Chromecast after a few minutes, and I have to reconnect it to get control back. I can reconnect without interrupting the video if I do it the right way. The Plex app doesn't disconnect from my Roku player, so it looks like the issue is on the Chromecast side.
Overall it works fine for casting local content. The only issue is that the Plex app on my Android tablet disconnects from the Chromecast after a few minutes, and I have to reconnect it to get control back. I can reconnect without interrupting the video if I do it the right way. The Plex app doesn't disconnect from my Roku player, so it looks like the issue is on the Chromecast side.
There is a bug in the Plex Control protocol but it seems to be limited to the device that starts the stream as others seem to be able to jump onto the control and not have restart issues.
Try this and see if I'm correct there....
Next time you lose control, Force Kill the Plex App on your device, Then reload and select the CCast that is streaming.
You should resume control without seeing the Restart from scratch bug.
The loss of control may be CCast related but it may also be WiFi related. Any loss of connection on the device side (even switching bands) seems to disrupt the ability to control.
Plex Devs are aware there is an issue but right now all their CCast attention seems to be focused on the Transcoder and the Surround Sound Transcoding issue.
MediaBrowser will be adding Chromecast support soon.
www.mediabrowser3.com
MediaBrower Server can also act as a backend server for Plex
www.mediabrowser3.com
MediaBrower Server can also act as a backend server for Plex
I don't have to do anything that drastic. I can simply reconnect to the Chromecast and resume control of the current Plex stream without interrupting it as long as I don't change the selection. That's why it's not a big deal.
So your not seeing the Loss of Control, Reconnect and Restart from beginning bug?
I wonder if they fixed that in a recent update...Could be...
I am able to get Nickjr, That Daily Show, and The Colbert Report channels working. However, many others don't work.
Huh, you're right about that, just tried it. With no internet connection the Chromecast won't connect to Plex over the LAN and instead gives the cheery error message "Oops, shouldn't be here." Along with that other delightful message "Brain freeze!" that you get when Pandora doesn't work, it really helps give the impression of a mature, well-designed, user-friendly product. I'm expecting to see "Shucks, we done screwed up." any time now. 
The real player cloud app works well. No $$ needed. And you don't have to upload anything. It'll play smoothly regardless. I'm sorry I spent money on plex to find out that I still needed a subscription
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
That's not true. You do need the $3.99/month Plex Pass. The paid Plex for Android app alone is not enough. Perhaps you are referring to the special developer version that was temporarily linked here in this forum before being removed. That was not an officially sanctioned release.
lovekeiiy
Senior Member
As said above, you need to be PlexPass member. PlexPass members have access to the development Android app which is no extra cost. On a side note, I thought they brought back the life subscription.
More on topic, I have used the Chromecast with Plex. It works fine for me. I don't recall if I tried on my LAN that has the PMS. I have used it work and worked well; I bring a TV, use my smartphone for internet access and router, and a tablet to control plex (phone doesn't get an local IP).
Towards channels that work, I've tried Revision3 and worked fine.
The only issue I have encountered is that the resume feature for movies/tv shows doesn't work. I get the load screen. The load screen disappears, but no movie plays. The tablet doesn't show the movie playing either. Basically, you have to restart the movie, and then jump to where you left off. I've seen this issue before with the Android app, which was eventually fixed.
I haven't tried music or pictures.
More on topic, I have used the Chromecast with Plex. It works fine for me. I don't recall if I tried on my LAN that has the PMS. I have used it work and worked well; I bring a TV, use my smartphone for internet access and router, and a tablet to control plex (phone doesn't get an local IP).
Towards channels that work, I've tried Revision3 and worked fine.
The only issue I have encountered is that the resume feature for movies/tv shows doesn't work. I get the load screen. The load screen disappears, but no movie plays. The tablet doesn't show the movie playing either. Basically, you have to restart the movie, and then jump to where you left off. I've seen this issue before with the Android app, which was eventually fixed.
I haven't tried music or pictures.
This is how I get around the problem of Plex for Android disconnecting from the Chromecast while playing a video:
1. The problem:
I start the stream on the Chromecast from Plex on my Android tablet. Initially I can control it from the tablet. A few minutes later I check the tablet screen again, and I see that Plex has disconnected from the Chromecast and the playback controls have disappeared. If I reconnect to the Chromecast, the controls do not come back. If I back up to the previous screen and hit Play again, the video restarts from the beginning.
2. The solution:
When I reconnected to the Chromecast, I should have noticed a small Plex notification icon appear in the notification area at the bottom of the screen. If I click on that, it shows me that the Chromecast is currently playing a video, and I can tap the entry to reconnect to that video stream. The controls come back without interrupting the Chromecast.
It only stays connected for a few minutes before it disconnects again, but at least I can regain control at any time with a few clicks. It's a bit of a strange quirk, because this doesn't happen when I play a video remotely on my Roku using Plex on the tablet to control it (and BTW there's no extra cost or requirement for Plex Pass to play from the Android app to the Roku).
This always works reliably when I am playing a single video. I have seen problems though when I have played multiple videos in a row. In that case when I reconnect to the Chromecast it may suddenly flip back to a previous video and restart at the beginning of that stream before it gives me the chance to select the current stream from the notification icon.
1. The problem:
I start the stream on the Chromecast from Plex on my Android tablet. Initially I can control it from the tablet. A few minutes later I check the tablet screen again, and I see that Plex has disconnected from the Chromecast and the playback controls have disappeared. If I reconnect to the Chromecast, the controls do not come back. If I back up to the previous screen and hit Play again, the video restarts from the beginning.
2. The solution:
When I reconnected to the Chromecast, I should have noticed a small Plex notification icon appear in the notification area at the bottom of the screen. If I click on that, it shows me that the Chromecast is currently playing a video, and I can tap the entry to reconnect to that video stream. The controls come back without interrupting the Chromecast.
It only stays connected for a few minutes before it disconnects again, but at least I can regain control at any time with a few clicks. It's a bit of a strange quirk, because this doesn't happen when I play a video remotely on my Roku using Plex on the tablet to control it (and BTW there's no extra cost or requirement for Plex Pass to play from the Android app to the Roku).
This always works reliably when I am playing a single video. I have seen problems though when I have played multiple videos in a row. In that case when I reconnect to the Chromecast it may suddenly flip back to a previous video and restart at the beginning of that stream before it gives me the chance to select the current stream from the notification icon.
Last edited:
Slightly OT but newsworthy....
Plex has released a PlexPass preview of PMS (0.9.9.0) that is said to fix the Surround Sound Transcoding issues.
Back to the topic at hand...
I'm sure there is a bug in the Plex Control Protocol...
Just about everyone has seen the problem you describe. And I think it is in the Player App that gets loaded to the CCast which they probably haven't looked at recently. Too busy on the Transcoding and PlexWeb stuff.
Why it loses the connection in the first place may not be Plex related just something that is related to Normal WiFi connections that Plex needs to compensate for in their app.
I don't have any info to back up this notion but I am betting that whatever dev team they have working on the Player App for the CCast side is busy working on Music and Picture support (and it's playlist requirements) and what we are using now is just a down and dirty Video Player since that is the Primary Media people stream from Plex and there are so many other options for playing Music available already (Like Google Music app)
Music will on it's own require an expansion and fleshing out of the Control protocol to enable things like Repeat, Shuffle, FF and REW as well as solving the problem of the CCast sending a signal to play next file in the Playlist. That should also solve the issue some are having with multipart videos not playing properly as well.
Plex has released a PlexPass preview of PMS (0.9.9.0) that is said to fix the Surround Sound Transcoding issues.
Back to the topic at hand...
I'm sure there is a bug in the Plex Control Protocol...
Just about everyone has seen the problem you describe. And I think it is in the Player App that gets loaded to the CCast which they probably haven't looked at recently. Too busy on the Transcoding and PlexWeb stuff.
Why it loses the connection in the first place may not be Plex related just something that is related to Normal WiFi connections that Plex needs to compensate for in their app.
I don't have any info to back up this notion but I am betting that whatever dev team they have working on the Player App for the CCast side is busy working on Music and Picture support (and it's playlist requirements) and what we are using now is just a down and dirty Video Player since that is the Primary Media people stream from Plex and there are so many other options for playing Music available already (Like Google Music app)
Music will on it's own require an expansion and fleshing out of the Control protocol to enable things like Repeat, Shuffle, FF and REW as well as solving the problem of the CCast sending a signal to play next file in the Playlist. That should also solve the issue some are having with multipart videos not playing properly as well.
Works for me. You have to purchase a full subscription in order for it to work. Also make sure when you open the browser you refresh it after you turn or or wake your computer. Chromecast doesn't need to be rooted.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using xda premium
I pointed the Plex PC application to the folder on my hard drive where my local media content is stored and was subsequently able to use the plex android app to play these items on my chromecast but my question is how do I make sure that the chromecast is playing these media files via the local LAN and not using the internet to do it? i.e. I want to make sure its not using my internet cap space to stream when Ive already downloaded the files and have them on my PC.
Try disconnecting your Internet connection while the video is playing then wait a while (at least a minute or two). If continues to play without Internet connection you can rest assured, it's not proxying the media through an external server.
If you disconnect before Plex launches on the Chromecast it may not launch because Chromecast won't be able to look at the Google whitelist.
I'm a newbie in all of this and curious to learn... Why is this necessary? When I'm home, my smartphone is connected to my home network via wifi. Couldn't he just make sure his smartphone is connected to his home network via wifi? If he disconnects, he will no longer be able to browse his collection on the PC and will have to reconnect to select a different movie, correct?
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4Ok, experiment done.
Start streaming from local Plex Media Server to Chromecast, pull the internet cable from the router - playback continues uninterrupted. I gave it a few minutes to be sure it's not just buffering. I guess that confirms that it's not going outside the LAN.
Stop that video and start another one without disconnecting from the Chromecast: no problem.
Disconnect from the Chromecast, it returns to the normal Ready screen, no complaint about the internet.
Try to connect to the Chromecast again: black screen. Gave it a few minutes, no change. Reconnect the internet cable, and it connects immediately as if the black screen never happened.1Yes. It works on my non-rooted chromecast. You need to have purchased a Plex pass subscription in order for it to work.
Movies & TV shows work well if they are burned to your computer & follow the correct naming scheme. Some Plex channels work & some don't. The only thing I haven't been able to stream to chromecast is pictures & slideshows. Otherwise, it has worked great.1
Try disconnecting your Internet connection while the video is playing then wait a while (at least a minute or two). If continues to play without Internet connection you can rest assured, it's not proxying the media through an external server.
If you disconnect before Plex launches on the Chromecast it may not launch because Chromecast won't be able to look at the Google whitelist.1
Admittedly I was a bit unclear...
Disconnect the Internet connection to home router, so the Plex server has no way to get to the Internet.
I'm pretty sure the traffic does not route out, but doesn't hurt to be 100% sure.
Internet access is necessary for at least the Chromecast whitelist query of "How do I handle this particular request?" - and I think for some of the Plex client?1
A couple of other channels that work from Plex to Chromecast: Crackle and Vimeo.
