1y ago

Plex sunsets 'allowed without auth' setting.

In Winter 2023, Plex introduced an ad for clients accessing a local Plex server without logging in to Plex's authentication servers (or Facebook, et al). It advertised the benefits of using a Plex account to enjoy a more enriched experience, though a simple press of the back button quickly dismissed it.

That ability was scrapped this week, now requiring clients to authenticate with Plex's remote auth servers. All clients tested were known to have successful connections with a local Plex server prior to this week's change.

Roku Ultra (2x)

Firefox on Ubuntu

Firefox on MacOS

The following tested the same, but are not confirmed to have, in the past, succesfully connected without logging in:

Chrome

Plex iOS app

Edge

Roku TV

19 comments

That means if there is internet outage, I cannot access my own media through Plex. Right?
Edit: add "through Plex"
- Sounds like it. The more Plex does things like this, the closer I get to adopting Jellyfin.
  
  This was the inevitable outcome. Plex has been on the enshitification path for a while. Been telling people to save themselves some grief and just move to Jellyfin now. You'll have to do it eventually once Plex hits another step on their path.
  
  well plex doesn't even advertise itself as a fully self host thing anymore. it's a way to watch locally dtored media alright, but a lot of stuff requires reaching out to the online services
- *Through Plex
Glad I started a jellyfin server last month
This will present a great deal of issues… but does the network loopback workaround still work?
Edit: this community had been dead for a while. @gregorum@lemm.ee, would you like another mod here to lend a hand? I’m gonna DM you.
- Yeah, I have had some personal issues which have kept me from keeping the community alive.
  I really could use some help! Just stick to the rules and make sure others do, too!
  Also, there’s a Plex release forum, and if you fav it, you get email updates on every Plex release/update before it gets posted anywhere. It contains the platform, version number, and a new/fixed list. Subscribe to this, and use it for new version posts. I’ll chat with you more re: tweaks if they’re needed!
  Edit: Welcome aboard!
  
  Oh, uh… I’m really sorry to hear that, but I’d be happy to help out until you’re cool to come back! I’ll DM you with some questions…
- That’s a great question, this is the first I’ve heard of that.
Does that apply to local network too?
Read through this a couple days ago but now going through my server to check, is the setting 'List of IP addresses and networks that are allowed without auth'? Because I'm on the latest linuxserver docker image and still have that setting in the server network settings.
- Yeah but some clients don't care about that setting.
- Yea, the setting is still there as is the documentation page on how to use it (last updated in 2019). It’s just stopped being honored.

19 comments