What does Plex do that Apple TV does not do?

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Level 1

4 points

What does Plex do that Apple TV does not do?

I have read about Plex, and it looks fairly interesting. But, I don't understand why I would need Plex if my family and I are firmly ensconced in and happy with the Apple media infrastructure. Please let me explain:

I have several Apple TVs around the house on a Family Plan. All of us share movies, TV shows, music, podcasts, photos, etc. As far as I can tell, there are no holes or desired features that are not already in Apple TV, and none of us have any unfulfilled feature requests in Apple's world.

So, my question is, what, if anything, does Plex do that Apple TV, etc., does not already do? In other words, why would I need Plex (if I need it at all) if we're having zero problems sharing our media now?

Posted on Apr 17, 2022 11:32 AM

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Answer 1

Rudegar

Level 10

179,976 points

Apr 17, 2022 3:09 PM in response to cjaubert

only thing I can think of plex would provide to the appletv would be that media could be on a nas and the plex app on the appletv could access it from there

other than that you need to specify more because plex is a software solution and appletv the hardware box is a physical device, apples to oranges and all

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Answer 2

cjaubert Author

Level 1

4 points

Apr 17, 2022 3:27 PM in response to Rudegar

Thanks Rudegar. Yes, you are correct that, for the most part, Apple TV is hardware and Plex is software. But my question was really why would I need Plex if Apple TV can play or display or store all the media, as well? In other words, it’s all watchable on AppleTV either on the device itself (taking into account storage limitations, of course) or by streaming. Is there something I can store or find or watch on Plex that I cannot store or find or watch on AppleTV? Thanks.

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What does Plex do that Apple TV does not do?

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