Subscribing to multiple streaming services means dealing with multiple watchlists and searching them individually to find that movie you want to watch but Plex may well have the answer to this particular problem. Plex has added a brand new feature called ‘Discover' that will let you search your favorite streaming services such as Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and more from a single global search box, and when you actually find the movie you've been looking for, save it to a single global watchlist. This could be a game-changer in the world of cord-cutting.
Plex calls it ending the ‘Streaming Struggle' which may sound a little Over-The-Top (a Stallone arm-wrestling film) but I'm actually inclined to agree with the marketing hype for once. Not only can you search a variety of streaming services from a single search box and then save said content to a single watchlist, but you can do so on any major platform that you can sign into Plex on, which is pretty much everything you can think of. From Android to Android TV, Apple to Roku, Xbox to Fire TV, and move, you can take advantage of this frankly awesome new feature.
You can search for pretty much anything in the known mediaverse:
- By keywords—actors, directors, and more
- Upcoming theatrical releases
- All your favorite streaming services in addition to Plex
- Any of your personal media servers (if you want it to)
It's not just movies that are currently available that you can add to the global watchlist; you can actually search and add new films to the watchlist and keep tabs on when they are released in theaters, available to rent, and added to one of your streaming subscriptions.
How much does this wonderful new feature cost?
Nothing. No, I'm serious. Plex states that all of the new features described above will be available to everyone, for free. No charge. Gratis. Basically, if you aren't a Plex Pass subscriber, it doesn't matter. Being a brand new feature does come with its own set of caveats, though, because it's launching in a publicly-available beta for the time being which may mean the occasional glitch or bug being experienced. Those already enrolled in Plex's beta channel will need to update to the latest version to gain access to the global search and watchlist feature.
So Plex offers a cross reference…Well, big woop!! It can’t sign into any streaming service I subscribe to, so it can’t even keep track of shows I’ve bought and can actually watch.
I recognize nonsensical marketing hype when I see it, and this is the mother load.
I like Plex for keeping all my home videos in one place, so I no longer have to dig out a disc if I think I might want to watch it. And I can easily switch from one device to another, taking up where I left off. To me, that is a big deal.
But a cross reference of things I mostly don’t own and thus can’t watch…
I couldn’t care less.
The question I want answered is whom is collecting and storing all that linked data? Are Plex Dev’s double dipping on paying subscribers by collecting and selling access to viewing data? That is what needs to be explored and ultimately answered.
Plex isn’t actually linking to your Netflix (for example) account and isn’t able to access your watchlist. Instead, it acts as a global search box, showing where you can watch the title you searched for such as on Netflix or Prime Video, and when you make your choice you are sent to the relevant app on the streaming device whereupon you choose the profile you want to use. There doesn’t appear to be any shared data, in that the watchlist you create on Plex Discover isn’t shared and neither is it able to pull in the various watchlist you’ve already made on the various streaming apps you use.