This is true
Plex Live offers some features that Channels doesnât have, and vice versa. They are similarly priced, although Channels is $3 more. But many people feel that the Channels interface and support is worth more than the extra $3.
But for $5, if I had not already found my Channels DVR solution, I would have tried Plex Live out. I tried a lot of things out when I was looking for a good TV solution. And ultimately decided that I preferred Channels. I would like to see a real Plex Live user review, which donât seem to exist currently. I did, however, see a comment that the Plex Live interface does not offer a grid guide and does not yet work on ATV.
I originally balked at the $8 price tag back when it was announced. When the Plex DVR support was announced I revisited the Channels DVR in comparison. I ended up going with Channels and have been amazed. I pay the $8 / mo. just because of the insane support level that the devs offer on the forum. That and channels works way better on my Synology than Plex ever has.
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I have not visited using Channels Remotely in a while so things nay have changed. But I think the difference is that you have to use the WEB UI instead of the tvOS/iOS Apps with Channels. I would prefer using the Apple TV App (or iPAD App) Remotely then use my Laptop or iPad Safari. With PLEX you use the PLEX App on whatever device it supports. Of course currently Live TV is only supported on iOS and Android TV and not on the Apple TV (yet). But you can play DVR Recordings from either the PLEX DVR or the Channels DVR.
For a number of reasons I prefer Channels over PLEX. However, I do use PLEX for other content like ripped Movies and TV Shows.
I have PLEX PASS and setup the DVR and will play with the Live TV but again Channels is much better on the local network. If Channels Apps (tvOS and iOS) worked remotely via the DVR (which is like PLEX) and they also supported other content they did not create (like ripped content) then it would have more use for me. But then it would be much like PLEX in that regard. My biggest problem with PLEX is that it requires Transcoding of MPEG2 files and I expect because of this the channel switching will be way to slow for me.
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Devs had said iOS is coming. Although web-ui does work great and covers most devices, I can understand that it is slightly more complicated for some users/family members to bookmark a URL.
As far as connecting the ATV to remote DVR servers, this is only really a benefit for people who frequently travel with their ATV (to hotels with good high-bandwidth internet connections). Or for people who are trying to give away their DVR access to a third party. Channels would need to allow separate user accounts for this to work well⌠kind of how netflix does it with multiple sub-accounts.
@djcastaldo
Or people with a second home. Or people that visit relatives (like the in-laws) where you have limited access to the shows you like to watch. For those times I use my various OTT Streaming Services (Netflix, Hulu etc) and things like PLEX.
Granted, I really do not do this that often and I really would not use Channels that often anyway but my point was since I can not use it on the Apple TV I simply would never use it remotely. But this is really just my use case.
But since we were comparing Channels to PLEX I simply mentioned it because with PLEX you can use the PLEX App on the Apple TV Remotely at least for the DVR at this time.
No time shifting on Plex â not at all on par with Channels, so doesnât âshame themâ with the price.
One thing to take away from the Plex Live TV / DVR update is the support for additional tuners from different manufactures, which is something I would hope might come to the Channels DVR. Really could do with DVB-S support, esp. with SD dragging their feet
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Apps are free if you pay 8 a month fyi