Plex Now Lets You Put All of Your Streaming Service Libraries Into a Single App

A new app is setting out to solve the crisis that it names “the streaming struggle.” Plex is an app that has just launched its Beta testing phase, and it purports to be able to pull together all of your various streaming services “Disney+ to HBO Max to Hulu to Amazon Prime to Apple TV+ and back,” together in one place, with an interface that will help viewers better navigate the anxiety-inducing amount of choices in viewing content, and select what is best suited to them, in an easier manner than we’ve seen before. 

“Ahhh the app dance. You know the one—where you sit down with the best intentions of watching a movie but after 30 minutes of pin-balling from one streaming app to the next you finally surrender the remote and fall asleep to Seinfeld…again. If this familiar routine gives you the icks, you’re not alone,” Plex writes into the introduction to its official site. The company goes on to say that, “We’ve all spent countless time juggling all of our different subscriptions and free services, jumping from Disney+ to HBO Max to Hulu to Amazon Prime to Apple TV+ and back, not to mention ad-supported streaming, plus rentals or purchases, only to still not know what to watch. It’s what we’ve affectionately named the streaming struggle.

So, the question is, how do we make streaming fun, easy, and delightful—taking out the struggle, but also making sure the sense of discovery and surprise is still there?” the site asks. “Our solution was to find a way to give you access to anything and everything in the streaming universe from a single destination. Less searching, more watching. Bye, bye, streaming struggle.

Finally comes the actual sell: “Today, we’re proud to be launching an entirely new section of Plex, focused on discovering, searching, and personalizing movies and TV shows across virtually any streaming service—whether it’s Plex’s own free movies and TV, or your other subscriptions like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and as many of the various personal media libraries you have access to. As of today, Plex searches, personalizes, and organizes all of your content, no matter where that content lives. Now, when you log in on any of our major platforms, including Roku, Apple TV+, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, iOS and Android mobile devices, smart TVs, game consoles, and the web app, you’ll get a new welcome screen that will invite you to customize your preferences. Then comes the fun part. A whole new world of daily discoveries will greet you from your home screen.”

The selling points of the app are its ability to pull relevant information about viewing habits and preferences from across different platforms (say, your favorite actor starring in multiple films that stream on different services); the UI that helps organize preferences and watchlists from all streaming platforms in one comprehensive and intuitive home screen; and the fact that the basic plan for Plex is free. The company is even going hard on the branding front, trying to make “Plex It” the next big slang term in streaming. 

Right now companies that make smart TVs (Apple, Google) and streaming devices like Google Chrome, Amazon Firestick, or Roku are all trying to set THE mold for the most popular and effective cross-platform streaming UI. With studies showing how viewers are experiencing actual feelings of anxiety from an overwhelming amount of content choices, the need is certainly there. Will Plex be the big winner? Test it out and see for yourself…