MrMC, Infuse, Plex & Co.

[Everbrave]

On many forums, you will find this kind of X vs. Y discussions while ignoring the basic concept behind the specific application.
MrMC/Kodi is a complete media centre solution, which is suitable for consuming several types of media with its It integrated media management. is a device specific client which assumes that he media files available locally, i.e., fast connection on the same network.
Infuse is also a device specific client, currently only for iOS and tvOS, which can play only videos with little media management capabilities. Here, also, the media files are assumed to be available locally; playing from a cloud drive is a only a virtual extension since it is still a NAS.
Plex is a client-server concept with remote playback on different clients, by many users, in mind.
So, at this point, these three products cannot simply be compared; it depends on the actual needs and the use-case.
They are not a replacement to each other.

Most discussions, however, boil down to the UI. MrMC/Kodi inherited the UI from xmbc and, didn't significantly change over time. Skins offer a face-lift but no new UI. Probably, the functionality might require a more sophisticated in depth control, but an "intelligent" UI should hide the complexity from the user. The setting complexity is so immense and confusing, if not contradicting, which require an experienced user and the Stander-Expert levels of interaction does not make really better. This is the issue where MrMC has to spend more effort; it already has an excellent player and media management.
Infuse, has a simple, "flat" (in the sense of the depth of interaction) UI which is favoured by many users who just want to play movies and tv shows. For example, I mostly use MrMC, my wife and kids prefer Infuse. BTW, the UI of infuse is -almost- exactly that of Synology's DS Video app on Apple TV; I don't know who "inspired" who.
The UI of Plex, in my opinion, is an excellent one; I would say the best I currently know; because it provides for a good depth-width compromise with a reasonable learning effort.

The Co., which I own, are Squire (also with Plex integration like MrMC), PlayerXtreme which are all clients only and Emby which is a client-server completion to Plex, all with their own advantages/disadvantages but really come in a second class regarding usability.

In summary, from my point of view, MrMC is the most complete solution for many clients with a direct contact to the developers; which is big plus(!)Infuse is the most usable, aside from its chaotic marketing/pricing scheme, Plex is currently the "only" client-server solution (until Emby catches up).

Happy new year to everybody and many thanks to the developers of MrMC for a great product.

[amet]

hehe, thanks for the recap but not sure what to make of it.. is it good or bad?

happy new year!!

[Everbrave]

hehe, thanks for the recap but not sure what to make of it.. is it good or bad?

happy new year!!

I avoid valuation if it is not "hard based" and certainly not to the good/bad extremes but I could make suggestions for improvements :
MrMC, the best player with the best support (my choice) needs more effort on its UI, Plex, the best UI and excellent media management, needs a better ATV client, Infuse, a good balance of Player and UI (the choice of my family), needs a better media management, e.g. a native Plex support.

[amet]

<snip>... MrMC, the best player with the best support (my choice) needs more effort on its UI ... <snip>

well, we can certainly look into getting more skins included, Tgx offered to get all his skins compatible and allow us to use it, question is would that cover the "more effort" part ^^

[Everbrave]

<snip>... MrMC, the best player with the best support (my choice) needs more effort on its UI ... <snip>

well, we can certainly look into getting more skins included, Tgx offered to get all his skins compatible and allow us to use it, question is would that cover the "more effort" part ^^

A lighter skin such as Nebula, Mimic or Estuary, is certainly better but I am thinking of no skins at all; MrMC has only one appearance and "settings sets" instead of customisation to the parameter level.
I don't have a solution but I can imagine a "Flipboard" kind of UI, e.g. a full screen (page) of icons for the "Movies", swiping right or left takes me to TV Shows or Music, Automatic library clean-up if a media folder have been modified, Media files can be added without having to categorise it but are recognised based on the content (Infuse), swiping up/down takes me to the file shares, etc. You can take the UI to an additional 3rd Dimension for rarely used setting through "press and hold". Just an illustrative example, nothing mature.

[Everbrave]

An upadte on the topic:
I used to install PlexKodiConnect on Kodi to take advantage of Plex library.
Today, I installed Plex for Kodi add-on (MrMC doesn't allow it, I know and it gives me both Plex library and a clean UI, q.e.d.

There has been -business- suggestions in some forums that Plex should "buy" infuse as a client for ATV, but it seems Plex prefers the other business model, i.e., to integrate their server in existing clients (MrMC, infuse, etc.).

Is it feasible for MrMC to negotiate/implement Plex add-on?

[davilla]

An upadte on the topic:
I used to install PlexKodiConnect on Kodi to take advantage of Plex library.
Today, I installed Plex for Kodi add-on (MrMC doesn't allow it, I know and it gives me both Plex library and a clean UI, q.e.d.

There has been -business- suggestions in some forums that Plex should "buy" infuse as a client for ATV, but it seems Plex prefers the other business model, i.e., to integrate their server in existing clients (MrMC, infuse, etc.).

Is it feasible for MrMC to negotiate/implement Plex add-on?

Shhhh, don't spoil our surprise.

[Everbrave]

An upadte on the topic:
I used to install PlexKodiConnect on Kodi to take advantage of Plex library.
Today, I installed Plex for Kodi add-on (MrMC doesn't allow it, I know and it gives me both Plex library and a clean UI, q.e.d.

There has been -business- suggestions in some forums that Plex should "buy" infuse as a client for ATV, but it seems Plex prefers the other business model, i.e., to integrate their server in existing clients (MrMC, infuse, etc.).

Is it feasible for MrMC to negotiate/implement Plex add-on?

Shhhh, don't spoil our surprise.

Sorry for the spoiler, but it is good to know that we have similar "thoughts"
I think it makes perfect sense from a business point-of-view, both for Plex and MrMC.

[cosmoxl]

An upadte on the topic:
I used to install PlexKodiConnect on Kodi to take advantage of Plex library.
Today, I installed Plex for Kodi add-on (MrMC doesn't allow it, I know and it gives me both Plex library and a clean UI, q.e.d.

There has been -business- suggestions in some forums that Plex should "buy" infuse as a client for ATV, but it seems Plex prefers the other business model, i.e., to integrate their server in existing clients (MrMC, infuse, etc.).

Is it feasible for MrMC to negotiate/implement Plex add-on?

Shhhh, don't spoil our surprise.

I've briefly played with plex for kodi add-on in SPMC on Shield and I don't care for it at all. I hope that whatever you plan to do I can still use Plex in the current way in MrMC.

[Everbrave]

An upadte on the topic:
I used to install PlexKodiConnect on Kodi to take advantage of Plex library.
Today, I installed Plex for Kodi add-on (MrMC doesn't allow it, I know and it gives me both Plex library and a clean UI, q.e.d.

There has been -business- suggestions in some forums that Plex should "buy" infuse as a client for ATV, but it seems Plex prefers the other business model, i.e., to integrate their server in existing clients (MrMC, infuse, etc.).

Is it feasible for MrMC to negotiate/implement Plex add-on?

Shhhh, don't spoil our surprise.

I've briefly played with plex for kodi add-on in SPMC on Shield and I don't care for it at all. I hope that whatever you plan to do I can still use Plex in the current way in MrMC.

May I ask you whether you dislike the Plex UI? Since, technically the current MrMC implementation can at best be the same.