How to Setup Multi-user Plex without Subscription

by Rian

As I was saying about Plex, and it would apply to any other self-hosted streaming, my goal — and most people’s, no doubt — is to fill in the gaps between what mainstream streaming services offer and the contents that fell through licensing since we signed up for it. It’s pointless to argue that the users should be jumping through VPNs to see if the said media is still available in another region.

That being said, Plex does have a disadvantage. Plex offers a subscription to make it more Netflix-like, if you will. However, for most hobbyists looking for new projects, having Tailscale can replace remote access pass subscription ($1.99/mo) and a dedicated media player to replace premium features ($6.99/mo). As far as I am aware, Plex doesn’t offer subscriptions in South Korea due to regional regulation. My hands were quite tied when I learned multi-user (i.e. profiles on streaming services) were tied to the premium subscription.

What I wanted to achieve here was simple. I wanted each iCloud user (Infuse supports native multi-user profiles on Apple TV) to have their own board: continue to watch series, resume from last stopped, and so on. All the things that are typically tied to “profiles” on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, the usual streaming services.

If you are on a similar setup as I am, you would be able to make do without Plex subscriptions:

• Apple TV as streaming box (hardware, multiple iClouds logged in)
• Infuse Pro as media player (purchased lifetime, shared via Trakt)
• Plex Media Server as self-hosting server
  

The method itself is rather straightforward. There are some quirks both tvOS and Infuse need to iron out, but the idea still stands.

1. Per iCloud account, you need a separate Plex account. Once registered, invite the user to the library.
2. On Apple TV, login with a primary iCloud account. On Infuse, add Plex as share as before.
3. Press the TV button on remote twice to open app switcher and force-close Infuse.
4. Switch to a secondary account. Infuse would not show the added share from step 2 and will ask to add a new share.
5. Add Plex with the new Plex account from step 1. Be sure to name the share differently than the one from step 2. (e.g. MyNAS-Jack, MyNAS-Jane)
   

From what I can gather, the problems were largely two folds: one. tvOS doesn’t flush the app completely on account switching, and two. Infuse may overwrite existing shares if the shares are named identical. I noticed how Infuse was overwriting shares at first, and I chucked it up to Infuse not supporting multiple iCloud feature properly. Technically, it shouldn’t be able to overwrite shares setup in another account’s. So I am curious when and how it will be fixed.

But ultimately, it’s bizarre Plex is keeping simplest features such as multiple profiles to subscription. I would imagine it would only be more justifiable if I had more access to the platform. Because so much of the features are behind the geoblock, I can’t even begin to consider it.