Plex has decided to bring back its familiar sidebar navigation on its smart TV app.The streaming service is listening to its users who spent the last year complaining that the redesigned app's new top-bar navigation was too slow and unintuitive.The sidebar is back along with new improvements Plex admits defeat after a year of chaos The headline change is the return of the sidebar on the left side of the TV screen.
Longtime users had been requesting this since the new Plex experience started rolling out last year.Previously, navigating the old interface meant pressing left on the TV remote and landing on a vertical sidebar.That muscle memory was broken when the streaming service moved everything to a horizontal top navigation bar as part of the sweeping app rebuild.
Something as simple as accessing a personal library required hopping through the extra menus.Today’s announcement is also more than just a rollback.In addition to the familiar interface, Plex is making favorite libraries appear as a top-level source.
This removes the extra navigation steps to reach the content you actually want.Users can favorite Live TV and DVR sources while also rearranging them just like regular media libraries.There’s a new way to switch pages within a source without having to work through the entire menu again.
Plex says that the latest update also includes continued fixes for performance, focus issues, and other bugs.The changes are currently live for those enrolled in preview programs on Apple TV and Roku.Android TV users can opt in through Google Play’s testing program.
The streaming platform is opening additional seats in TestFlight for Apple TV users.Fire TV isn’t included in this wave, but Plex confirmed that the update is coming soon as the company is working through the preview feedback before extending the rollout to the platform.Related Stop buying hard drives for Plex: How I reclaimed 7TB for free Your Plex library is bloated—this automated tool saved me 7TB.
Posts 18 By Patrick Campanale Plex faced the heat almost immediately when the new redesign hit Roku devices last September.The streaming service attempted to course-correct with a fall 2025 update but acknowledged in today’s announcement that those changes weren’t enough.After more than a year of complaints, users finally have something more familiar to look forward to.
Source: Plex
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