Plex Issues on New Fire TV Stick
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Plex launch on Fire TV Stick 4K Select (Vega OS) Faces Limitations
Summary
- Plex arrives at launch on Fire TV Stick 4K Select (Vega OS), but the app is feature-limited.
- Direct play only supports H.264 + AAC up to 7Mbps; other codecs/bitrates need server transcoding.
- Music, Photos, playback speed, refresh-rate switching, and auto sign-in are missing at launch.
One of the biggest highlights of Amazon’s most recent announcements was the introduction of a brand-new Fire TV Stick, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select, which comes with a brand-new, Linux-based operating system, Vega OS. Apparently, though, it needs some time before you can use Plex on it as well as you currently can on older Fire TV devices.
Plex confirmed that a compatible version of its app, featuring its newer user interface, will be available in the Vega OS app store at launch. So while you will be able to use Plex as soon as your new Fire TV Stick 4K Select reaches your doorstep, you’ll have to wait a bit for a fuller experience. The most significant restriction at launch involves direct media playback. For those of you who stream from your personal media libraries, the Fire TV Stick 4K Select will only be able to directly play video files encoded in H.264 with AAC audio, and only at a maximum bitrate of 7Mbps.
Any content that does not meet these specifications will require server-side transcoding, possibly impacting performance and requiring a more powerful Plex Media Server. This is a significant departure from the broader codec support offered on previous Fire TV devices.
What Does This Mean for Plex Users?
The launch limitations on the Fire TV Stick 4K Select (Vega OS) present a mixed bag for Plex users. While the availability of the app at launch is positive,the restricted