Plex is undergoing another major change at its offices. It’s not the first this year, and it may not be the last. The company continues to remove features it believes are no longer appropriate for users to use, with the long-term goal of centralizing the tool around a very specific use.
A few months ago we were already talking about how Plex was “evolving” through the latest changes it introduced to the tool. Now the company confirms another modification that is on the way and that, at least, will not be completed until next year 2025. It is the disappearance of Plex’s internal support for managing photo collections. The platform, as we indicated, is no longer interested in you having access to all your photographs from within the application.
A new app arrives
But Plex doesn’t intend to leave users in the lurch. The team behind the service knows that there are people who use its photo system, so they have sought an alternative. It is a new app that is already available in beta form on both iOS and Android and that is landing on mobile devices under the name Plex Photos.
With the app, Plex aims to maintain the quality of its service and continue to give users a good way to manage their photos on the go. For now, however, everything related to photos will remain available until their removal is activated in 2025. This will happen inevitably and will not only mean the deletion of the photo tool within Plex, but also the music tool, something we talked about earlier.
Although Plex Photos is currently only available on mobile, once this feature is removed from Plex, the app will be available on other platforms as well. New features are also expected, as it is currently quite easy to use. There are no advanced features included and the interface in general is simplified. You can browse through photos, mark favorites or zoom in, but it lacks additional features. Fortunately, there is a system for sorting photos in different ways, although it also lacks depth. However, it all makes sense considering that we are talking about a beta version.
In the future, there will be some integration with the general Plex app and the possibility of sending photos to the television screen, among other things. Editing functions and other elements that could make the service more interesting are also expected.
What is the reason for the change?
Plex wants to be completely transparent with its users. They have made this decision because only 0.2% of their users use the photo function within Plex. In the case of music, which also has its own app known as Plexamp, the percentage is a little higher, at 2.5%, but they are clear that these are resources that require a lot of investment and effort and that they are not providing them with any kind of advantage. Therefore, they believe that taking these tools outside of Plex will be beneficial.
In addition to being able to gain more users by having the apps available independently, Plex will also have a good justification for focusing its core app on what it really cares about. This includes TV shows, movies, and other video media. They also want to continue to encourage the use of the Plex app as a social network, something they have invested in recently but which also seems to be having little success. In any case, the important thing is that the core of Plex, the video-related stuff, is still very popular and that is what will make the tool continue to succeed in the future.
