I've been in a multi year process to move my users off plex onto jellyfin. They just keep doing things I'm not a fan of
this post was submitted on 26 Feb 2025
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The eternal problem of open source: people will happily pay for proprietary software and services, complain that open source isn't ready. Then when it is, they will not donate a single cent to continue development but instead create passive aggressive posts and issues demanding features or shitting on the project.
Obviously they got outside pressure to remove this because of muh ease of piracy sharing
Honestly I really don't like how self hosted streaming services have been lumped into the same category as piracy. I have no issue buying media. If the law says I can't share it outside my household I will comply without arbitrary software locks.
My concern is that media companies will go after Jellyfin. They don't really need to win all they need to due is bankrupt everyone involved.
Don't worry, there are countries where it's perfectly legal to rip your own physical media and use it in a digital library. There are some countries where it's even legal to download a pirated digital copy of your owned media.
Jellyfin will remain, and even if the capitalist pigs try and go after it - which is already close to impossible - they'll find shelter in a country with moral values.
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I'll sadly have to keep using Plex until jellyfish makes library sharing simple.
I have like 10 different family members using my server. If I have to do anything beyond just letting them log in to a plex account on the app to get access, they just won't.
I have like 10 different family members using my server. If I have to do anything beyond just letting them log in to a plex account on the app to get access, they just won't.
Umm that is all you need to do with jellyfin. You can setup wizarr and give them invites to create an account or just manually make them and give out the info to people.
Yup, took my SO like 10s to get on our Jellyfin server. No issues here.
Is adding a URL too much? Jellyfin is also just login in addition to enter the server URL.
Yes. Even with Plex I've had people just never log in. Or after I log them in and set it as a favorite they just never go to the unfamiliar icon.
Most of the problem isn't even Plex/Jellyfin/etc.'s fault, it's that the UI of smart tvs is a nightmare hellscape running on underpowered hardware and people just want to interact with it as little as possible. The absolute best thing would be to copy Netflix/Disney/etc and throw a QR code on the screen to sidestep that by throwing authentication to the phone.
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Jellyfin has much better Syncplay than plex
release announcement:
Is there some trick to get it to work properly? Everytime I tried to use it, it works fine for like 10 minutes and then everyone desyncs to hell.
It's still better than Plex's which didn't work at all though.
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"We’ve spent two years requiring our apps from the ground up to boost our development speed, which should enable us to bring new features to you more efficiently, across more platforms,"
... "and that's why we're deleting a bunch of features never to bring them back. Because we're just so efficient!" Crazy how many companies use this awful excuse.
Also is that a misquote by the author or did they really write "requiring"?
Removing old features so we can bring them back as paid features later on.
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Although Plex is running on your server it isn't there to do what you want.. unless Plex's real owner permits it.
That's how proprietary software works.
Lack of feature parity is the number one thing holding so many people back from switching to Jellyfin. Of Plex is going to start deleting beloved features, a lot of minds will be made up very quick.
This is a feature that Jellyfin natively has already. So now Jellyfin exceeds Plex in some areas.
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Switch to jellyfin, it's really at the point where it's ready for everyone
I run both Plex and Jellyfin. Jellyfin is ready for everyone who doesn’t have to deal with the Mother-in-Law Factor. Plex has an easy setup process, and I could walk my MIL through it on my phone. In 5 minutes, her TV was connected to my server.
Jellyfin isn’t to that point yet, and likely never will be. Since there’s no centralized server for an app to phone home to, there’s no way to create a unified account creation/login experience. Jellyfin is nice as a “just for me” server. But as soon as I have to help others use it, it becomes a nightmare. Walking my MIL through setting up Jellyfin on her TV was the reason I re-installed Plex in the first place.
I had finally converted my wife away from using paid streaming apps, and dealt with all of the “Why do I have to use three different apps to access it on my three different devices? They all look different and are harder to use” complaints. By the time it got around to my MIL, I was tired of dealing with it and just reinstalled Plex so people could have a consistent experience.
I still use Jellyfin for my personal viewing because I prefer it. But saying “just ditch Plex, Jellyfin is ready now” is a little disingenuous. Jellyfin is ready for the people who want to use it. But if you’re trying to convince people to ditch their streaming apps, you’re fighting a lot of social inertia. You need to be able to provide a consistent experience across their different devices, with a decent login experience. And Jellyfin definitely isn’t there yet.
Thank you for being a voice of reason. People here are completely out of touch from reality
Lemmy has a lot of really outspoken FOSS enthusiasts. It sort of goes hand in hand with the whole “anyone can spin up their own instance” idea that Lemmy is built upon. Same reason there are so many Linux users here. But that also means you need to take any sort of “just switch to the FOSS version it’s basically the same thing” posts with a grain of salt.
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I'm seeing a lot of love for Jellyfin in the comments. Seems like Jellyfin is finally mature enough to give a real shot.
Does anyone know how Emby is doing in relation to Plex feature parity?
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people still use plex after the last sneaky they pulled?
I paid for a lifetime pass like six years ago or more. It was definitely before Jellyfin was well known or well developed.
I'm probably gonna keep using it until they do the whole "lifetime is over" crap these kind of companies usually do.
I'll at least have gotten my moneys worth.
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What sneaky?
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Lame. I’ve used this feature a lot. It feels like such a basic thing to include.
SharePlay is a standard feature in Apple devices, and it handles it. But only in supported apps.
The pandemic showed how nice such a feature can be for a lot of people.
I have had a plex instance but when they started adding their own movies and crapola into it, and requiring logins and etc etc etc I started keeping a Jellyfin instance live as a hedge. I still use Plex primarily, but use Jellyfin and keep it patched just in case. If there's any kind of ugly action with Plex, I feel like my bets are pretty well hedged. Plex definitely has a lot more polish than Jellyfin, but I wouldn't doubt if there is a rug-pull in some way or another. After all, Plex sold a bunch of lifetime subscriptions ONCE but they still end up paying to support those. Sooner or later they are going to want more money again.
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