What’s Happening With Plex?
Plex confirmed in a post on its forum that Podcasts and Web Shows would no longer be available from April 15th, 2022. While the company acknowledges that this decision will negatively impact many users, it feels keeping these two sections isn’t worth it, explaining:
Thankfully, those who love web shows can continue watching them in other areas of the Plex app, although the company doesn’t specify where that’ll be. Plex does mention that the latest movies and TV trailers are available via the Discover section, while the latest news, films, and more, can be found under the Live TV tab.
The biggest victim of this update, however, is the podcast section. The entire category is getting the boot on April 15th, 2022. The move is surprising since podcasts are increasingly popular, with many platforms welcoming them with open arms. Even Spotify has started to push podcasts with new ads.
Plex introduced Podcasts to the platform back in 2018. It seems, however, that not much changed after its launch. Numerous forum threads see users complaining about various podcast-related issues that Plex didn’t manage to fix completely.
Users complained about issues like having all podcast episodes added to the queue if they played a single episode. Also, most Plex apps didn’t even mark that an episode had already been listened to.
Rather than pouring money into fixing all the issues users have been complaining about for years, Plex has decided to take a step back and remove the section altogether, choosing to focus on video instead.
How to Export Your Podcasts from Plex
Even though you won’t be able to enjoy your old episodes or find new podcasts on Plex, there’s still a way to save your library. If you were using Plex for podcasts, you can still move your favorites elsewhere. Plex offers users the possibility to download the list of podcasts subscriptions in OPML format, which means you can upload it to a different podcatcher.
First, you’ll need to find your X-Plex-Token. In order to do this, you must already have a Plex Media Server set up. Go to the Plex web app, find your Library, locate a file, and hover your mouse over it.
When they show up, click the three buttons and press Get Info when the menu appears. Once the card appears, click View XML. This will open a new page in your browser, and you must click the address bar. At the very end, you’ll see X-Plex-Token=, followed by a combination of letters and numbers. Copy that combination.
Now that the most difficult part is over copy the following URL, and change the word TOKEN for the combination you just copied.
Once you copy and paste this link into a new tab, a file titled plex.opml will be downloaded to your device. Use that file to upload it to a different podcatcher to access your favorite podcasts and add new podcasts you may have found, too. And that’s it. Unfortunately, you’ll have to complete this process by April 15th, 2022.
Where Else Can You Listen to Podcasts?
Now that Plex has waved goodbye to podcasts, it’s time to find a different home for all your favorite episodes. You can either search them up on another platform or look for a podcatcher tool.
While we understand that it’s unpleasant to go through all this trouble in the first place, perhaps it’s for the best. After all, there are so many other free alternatives available for listening to podcasts.
