In the US today, a lot of households have shifted from the use of cable TV to online streaming services. There are a lot of excellent online platforms for seamless media streaming such as Plex on Firestick. Amazon has also joined in this rapidly growing market by creating the Fire TV platform.
The Fire TV platform can be accessed via the Firestick device. On this Firestick device, you’ll find the Fire TV Plex app – which is just one amongst many other apps. However, here we will focus on the Plex app.
The Plex app is a great streaming tool that you’ll really enjoy. If you’ve already got the Amazon Firestick, or you’re planning to, we’ll be guiding you on how to set up and use Plex on Firestick.
What is Plex Firestick?
If you’ve never used Amazon’s Plex before, here’s what it’s all about. Plex is a versatile server that functions seamlessly on various operating systems – iOS, Android, and etcetera – and various smartphone models.
With Plex, you can access the best movies, TV series, songs, and more – these items, once accessed, can be downloaded and streamed via the Plex app on your iPhone, Android, or any other streaming device. In fact, those who already have Plex on Firestick will enjoy an awesome compatibility experience.
Anyone can gain access to enjoy Plex without paying a fee – although additional features are available for a stipend.
How to Safely Use the Plex App
Just like any other Internet-based service, you must pay attention to safety when making use of Plex. Unlike cable TV, your personal data is more exposed to threats when using Internet platforms. There are a couple of things that you should know, and do, to stay protected while using Plex for Firestick.
We would like to suggest the use of a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to combat potential hacker threats. You might already be using VPNs for some other purposes on your PC or smartphone – you should also add it to your streaming device. A VPN is designed to safely connect you to Public/Shared networks while bypassing the existing dangers on such public networks.
With the installation of a reliable VPN, your streaming device will be able to access movies, TV shows, songs, and more without compromising the safety of your confidential details.
There are different VPNs available today. However, except for one, these VPNs won’t work for Plex on Firestick. The one VPN that would work for your Plex server is IPVanish. IPVanish is an excellent VPN that has no negative side effects on Internet speed. As required, this tool works without collecting and storing your confidential data.
As an Amazon Plex user, this IPVanish tool is your best bet. Plex users who subscribe to the yearly package will only be required to pay 40% of the full IPVanish service fee. Summarily, don’t risk your personal information’s safety by leaving it unprotected.
How to Install Plex on Firestick
So how to install Plex on Amazon Fire Stick? You should know that installing Plex on Firestick is a very simple and fast process. Plex is a tool that was tailored for Fire TV – hence it has higher compatibility with the Firestick device than with other streaming devices or smartphones. Firestick Plex can be downloaded directly from Amazon’s App Store on your Firestick device. But how to download Plex on Firestick?
These are the detailed steps to follow when you want to install Plex:
1. Access your Fire TV device’s home screen
2. From the home screen, locate the Search menu
3. Use the virtual keyboard to type “Plex App”
4. Select the Plex App – which will lead you to Home screen page
5. On this page you need to click on the Plex App icon and tap on Get (Free to download)
6. Next, once the App is downloaded, it begins to install – a process that won’t take more than 120 seconds
7. After the Plex App has been successfully installed, it can be Open right away
8. Once the App is launched, you can proceed to link the Plex App with your account (more details in the next paragraph)
How to Connect Plex with Your Account
After completing the previously listed steps and the installed Plex app is launched, you may then proceed to link the app to your account. Linking the app with your account would make it possible to access your favorite media content.
1. Once Plex on Fire Stick has been launched on our Fire TV device, an option to “login” appears on the screen. Select this option to log in and proceed.
2. The system provides you with a 4-digit code, which when typed in will move you to the next stage. This code must be entered within a specified timeframe, while visiting the link in your mobile phone or a computer (our case): http://plex.tv/link
3. However, before this code can be typed in, you must have already signed in with your Plex username and password.
4. Once all that is satisfied, you can proceed to fill in the one-time 4-digit code and link it to your account.
As you can see, this is a very simple and straightforward process. As soon as your account is successfully linked with the Fire TV Plex app, you’ll be notified. After that, you’ll be able to access your favorite songs, films, TV shows etc.
How to Play Media Content
After you’ve downloaded the Plex App, installed it, and linked it with your account, you’d want to start playing some of your favorite media.
We’re pleased to tell you that this is also an easy process. There are lots of movies, music, shows, and more to choose from. The basic task here is locating what you want to play.
Now, when you’ve opened the Plex app, browse through the media collections until you are able to locate the item of your choice. After locating and highlighting it, click to open it.
Depending on what you’ve just opened – whether it’s music, a movie, or TV show – you’ll be presented with playlists, TV show episodes, and the likes – feel free to scroll through and begin where you’d like.
In summary, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to successfully navigate through the Plex App interface – it’s as simple as A, B, C…
How to Uninstall the Plex App from Your Firestick
Just like any other app, the need may also arise to uninstall the Fire TV Plex App. In case you’re in such a situation, here’s what to do:
1. If the Plex App or any other app is open, close it and go to the Fire TV home screen.
2. Access the main menu bar, locate the Settings menu, and then click it open.
3. Once the settings menu is opened, select the Applications icon, and also open.
4. From there, locate and click open the “Manage Installed Applications” menu.
5. This page should contain a list of Apps, including the Plex App – locate it and open.
6. Clicking the Plex App icon will present you with some options – Uninstall the app, force stop the app, Delete Plex data, or flush the temporary cache.
7. Clearly, you’re to choose the “Uninstall” option amongst the other presented options. Uninstalling the app will erase all Plex data and the app disappears from your Fire TV.
8. Before the uninstall action is carried out, the system will first confirm from you whether you want to continue with the action or not. Once you’ve made the confirmation, the Plex app and its data will vanish from your Fire TV.
With all that has been said so far in this article, running Plex on Firestick is not a complicated process – it’s simple enough for anybody to handle. Using the Plex beginner’s guide, you can conveniently connect to the server. After that, it’s all a walk in the park.
When you’re ready to download and install your Plex App, you can reference the steps that were previously provided in this article.
What About Transcoding?
Transcoding is one of the processes that Plex uses when users connect to the server and access movies, shows, music, or whatever. This transcoding is all about providing media in the correct format.
Before your select media is finally available on your screen for streaming, it must have already been broken down from a large file to a smaller one via transcoding. This is a process that reduces media size but keeps the same media quality or resolution.
So basically, whatever you’ve downloaded from the Plex server is already a reduced version of the original one – except that the resolution quality remains the same.
This transcoding is usually done automatically when files are being downloaded from the Amazon Fire Stick Plex server. However, it can also be done by oneself via the server’s settings.
Fixing Playback Issues
While using an online streaming service, there are chances that you’ll be faced with certain errors. Although normally, using Plex on Firestick is a seamless experience. There are usually different reasons for encountering errors when using a streaming service like Plex. One of such possible reasons is poor Internet connection.
Generally, poor Internet connection causes errors in streaming services, not just on Plex alone. If you begin experiencing some errors while actively watching a movie or show, try to check your Internet connection. You can verify if the connection is bad by playing another movie, and observing whether or not the error persists. If the new movie streams seamlessly, then you can assume that the problem isn’t a bad Internet connection.
Now that you’re certain of a good Internet connection, you may proceed to the Plex setting. However, you’re not supposed to tamper with the default settings except in the event of an error. The settings menu can be opened by clicking your username on the Plex homepage. The settings menu is displayed amongst others once the username is clicked on.
Once you’ve accessed the settings option, locate the video menu. Within this video menu, there are certain corrections/adjustments that can be made to restore your streaming experience to normalcy. If you’re faced with persistent playback errors that cause glitches while watching media content, try adjusting the “Local Quality” setting – reduce it to something smaller.
This way, instead of the movie streaming in the default quality, it can be preferentially reduced to like 480p. After performing this quality reduction, the playback errors should stop, and streaming should return to seamless normalcy.
Apart from poor Internet speed, and quality reduction settings, you may also check out the default format of the video, or whatever, from the Plex server. This time around, switch from the “Allow Direct Play” setting to “Allow Direct Stream” – after doing that, play your video and see if things are back to normal. It’s not like one setting is bad, while the other is good; No, both of them are relevant for seamless streaming through the bypassing of large transcoding actions that weigh heavily on the CPU.
Toggling between both options to see what works best is just a means of solving playback error. A server may not be able to handle massive transcoding actions – hence, the need to pre-optimize media for a seamless playback experience. This way, the server won’t be overweighed with heavy transcoding. Pre-optimizing of media requires the activation of both Direct Play and Direct Stream.
Conclusion
With all that has been said so far, it’s clear that Plex on Firestick is a typical online streaming service that can be easily used by anyone.
The Plex App gives users access to their favorite movies, music, TV shows etc. Once the app is downloaded and installed on your Fire TV device, you can directly access the Plex server and stream or download what you want.
However, before you can access files through the Plex App, you’d need to link your account and sign in with your Plex username and password – a very simple process.
Let us know in the comments down below what you think about Plex and if you use it!
