Plex for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One gets updated, is now free

By Kris Wouk Published December 18, 2015

plex-ps4 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Plex is one of our favorite options for managing and streaming media, and the variety of platforms the software is available on continues to expand. Late last year, a Plex app arrived on the Xbox One and Xbox 360, followed by PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 apps in January of this year.

The apps themselves were great, but some potential users were put off by the requirement of a Plex Pass subscription, which goes for $5 per month. There are plenty of other benefits to Plex Pass, but if you’ve never used the software before, it’s hard to tell if it will actually be worth it to you.

Starting this week, that is no longer a problem, as the most recent update to the Plex app on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and Xbox One removes the Plex Pass requirement, making the app absolutely free to use. The Xbox 360 app dropped the requirement earlier this year.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who has been using Plex for a while, as it’s a fairly common practice for new versions of the app to only be available to Plex Pass subscribers in early access form, going free once the app is polished and bug-free. An updated version of the app on the Roku had the same requirement before going free for all in August.

The update also brings several bug fixes and enhancements to the app. The Xbox One app has added screen dimming to help plasma screen owners protect their TVs, and now displays a Continue Watching option on the home screen. Meanwhile, PlayStation users can now mark seasons or even entire shows as watched or unwatched directly from their console.

To actually use Plex on your console, you’ll also need to be running Plex Media Server on your PC or NAS. If that sounds daunting, don’t worry: we’ve got a guide on how to set up and use Plex that should help you get started.

For more info, see the release notes for the PlayStation and Xbox versions of the app on the Plex forums.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Kris Wouk is a tech writer, gadget reviewer, blogger, and whatever it's called when someone makes videos for the web. In his…

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