How to Add, Activate, and Stream Plex on Apple TV

Plex is a client-server media player and streaming service introduced by Plex, Inc. It features 200+ live TV channels, movies, TV shows, music streams, podcasts, and more. The user can browse movies in categories like Action, Animation, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller, etc. In addition, it has the greatest collection of entertainment from Crackle, Warner Brothers, MGM, Lionsgate, and more. Moreover, you can store and organize photos, music, and movies and stream them on any device using a media server. Let’s have a look at the installation of Plex on Apple TV and its setup procedure.

Plex Premium Pricing and Plans

Plex Pass is a premium service with features like download media for offline viewing, early access to Beta and new features of Plex Media Player, and more. In addition, hardware transcoding helps play HD or 4K videos smoothly. To experience premium features, the users need to activate Plex Pass on their tvOS.

• Monthly: $4.99/month
• Annual: $39.99/year
• Lifetime: $119.99

How to Install Plex on Apple TV

Plex app is available on the App Store. So the installation process is pretty simple but make sure the Apple TV works with tvOS 13.0 or later. Follow the steps below to get Plex on Apple TV 4k or fourth-generation and later.

1) Initially, turn on your Apple TV and connect it to the internet connection.

2) From the list of Apps on the home screen, launch the App Store.

3) Click on the search bar, and type Plex to search for it.

4) From the suggestions, select the Plex app tile using the TV remote.

5) The app description window appears. Tap on the Get option to install Plex.

6) Once it is installed, click Open to launch the app.

How to Activate and Use Plex on Apple TV

The following are the steps to activate a Plex account on your device

1) After opening the Plex app, a pop-up message will appear. Click Sign-in.

2) Note down the activation code displayed on the screen.

3) Visit plex.tv/link from any browser and log in with your Apple ID. You can also choose to log in using Google or Facebook.

4) Enter the Plex activation code carefully and click Submit.

5) If the account gets verified, you will get access to Plex content.

6) With this, you can start watching your favorite movies, TV shows, music, and news on the Plex app.

Alternative Way: AirPlay Plex to Apple TV

You can also stream Plex TV on Apple TV 3 and below using AirPlay from your iOS device. Here are the steps to do so. However, this method works on the older and latest tvOS models.

1) Firstly, connect your iPhone and Apple TV to the same Wi-Fi network.

2) Search and download the Plex app from the App Store on your iPhone.

3) Once it gets installed, go to the Control Center and click on the Screen Mirroring option.

4) Select your Apple TV from the list of available devices.

5) It will start mirroring your iPhone screen to TV using AirPlay.

6) Now, use your Plex login details to sign in to your account and stream the best movies with Plex on the TV screen.

How to Install Plex on Apple TV 3rd Gen

If you want to try out some software tricks to install Plex on the third-generation Apple TV, then follow the below steps. The process involves configuring the host device, network, and Apple TV.

Pre-Requisite:

• Apple TV with firmware 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, 6.x, and 7.x
• Get Python 2.7.x on the device with the Plex server. On Windows, get Python 2.7.15 and later.
• Use a static IP address on the device with the Plex server and Apple TV.
• The latest version of Plex Media Server is on the server device.

Steps to Install PlexConnect on Mac

1) From the GitHub, download and unzip the PlexConnect archive file.

2) Then, move the PlexConnect folder to the /Applications/ section of your Mac.

3) Create an SSL certificate for the Apple TV.

4) Enter the command in the Terminal as

sudo “/Applications/PlexConnect/PlexConnect.py”

Steps to Install PlexConnect on Windows

1) Download the PlexConnect files (https://github.com/iBaa/PlexConnect/archive/master.zip) for the Windows PC from GitHub.

2) Now, move the PlexConnect folder to the Program Files Folder.

3) You need to generate an SSL certificate for Apple TV from Windows PC.

4) Go ahead to launch the PlexConnect folder in Explorer and double-click PlexConnect.py to launch it.

5) Select Allow Access when you are prompted to approve the app.

Steps to Set Apple TV DNS Settings

You should configure Apple TV to run PlexConnect on your server. For this, you should change the DNS settings on the PlexConnect device.

1) With Apple TV with a WIFI connection, launch Settings.

2) Select General > Network > WIFI.

3) Choose your WIFI name from the menu.

4) Select Automatic from Manual.

5) Provide the plex server IP address that was set up using DHCP.

Steps to Install SSL Certificate on Apple TV

With the SSL Certificate, your Plex server will communicate with Apple TV over HTTPs. As Apple TV doesn’t communicate over unencrypted HTTP connections, an SSL certificate is necessary.

1) Go to Apple TV Settings and select General.

2) Choose Send Data to Apple and highlight No.

3) Now, select the Play button on the remote to add a profile on Apple TV.

4) On the dialog box, type http://trailers.apple.com/trailers.cer

How to Stream Plex with PlexConnect

1) Make sure to run the Plex Connect on your server.

2) Now, open the Trailers app on Apple and you shall stream the Plex app.

How to Run PlexConnect at Startup Automatically

It is vital to manually launch PlexConnect.py when the server restarts. The steps below will help you run it at startup as a daemon on Mac or Windows.

On Mac

1) Quit PlexConnect by selecting its Terminal window.

2) Press Ctrl+C on the keyboard.

3) Now, open the Terminal and enter the following command to launch the daemon when Mac boots up.

cd “/Applications/PlexConnect/support/OSX”
sudo ./install.bash

On Windows

1) Install PyWin32 by downloading it from the GitHub or pip to run PlexConnect.py

2) Enter the following command in the Command Windows to install PyWin32.

pip install pywin32

3) Once it starts up, and runs, you need to configure PlexConnect.py.

Note: Check if PlexConnect isn’t running. Press Ctrl+C to shut down a CMD window running PlexConnect.

4) Now, open the PlexConnect directory on the Program Files folder and locate the Support\Win folder.

5) To install PlexConnect.py as a service, you need to run the install.bat file.

Plex Compatible Devices

• Android & iOS
• macOS & Windows
• Amazon Fire TV
• Android TV
• Apple TV
• Chromecast
• Roku
• Sonos
• PlayStation and Xbox
• Web Browsers

Frequently Asked Questions