Plex plays any video format on your iPad

Plex was launched for iPad more than two years ago. Since then the application has been improved little by little, and in my opinion it has become the best option for those who do not want to convert their library to a format compatible with iTunes, but they want to enjoy it on all their devices. It supports any video format (or at least, any of the ones I have been able to try), and it is compatible with iPhone and iPad. The application works by creating a server on your computer (Windows, Mac or Linux) that transmits the video to your device, either on your local network or even outside of it, as long as you have an internet connection.

Therefore it is important that Plex is installed both on your computer and on your iPad (or iPhone). The version for your computer is free, and you can download them from your Official Site. The application for iOS costs € 4,49 and is valid for iPhone and iPad. Once you have them, we can start with the server configuration on your computer.

When it has been installed on our computer, through a browser window that will open, we can add the multimedia content we want, sort it by categories, and also the application itself will download the information of the files, covers included, so we will have a very complete library with great detail. It is important to note that we can even add files that are on shared disks on the network, such as my library on my Time Capsule, without the slightest problem, just use the explorer and add the folders that contain the files.

Once added, Plex will update the content little by little, with all the information that is downloaded from different internet databases. Depending on the size of our library, in a few minutes we will have everything already labeled and well ordered, and with the information downloaded. If a video has been tagged wrong, we can always tag it manually. Once the work on our computer is finished, we can go to our iPad to enjoy the content.

As you can see, on my iPad I already have all the content that Plex has included from my computer, and I can stream it. I have tried videos in multiple formats, including FullHD movies in mkv format, and the playback has been excellent, without cuts and with a fluidity identical to what you get "officially" with iTunes. It also includes perfectly synchronized subtitles.

But it is that to be even more complete, the app supports AirPlayso you can send the movie to your Apple TV from your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch. Do you want me to give you more reasons to buy it immediately? Well, if you register for free in Plex, you can also enjoy all that content on your iPad or iPhone even outside your local network. You just have to enter your username and password on your computer, iPad (or iPhone) and the entire library will be accessible from anywhere with an internet connection.

To do this, you must go to the Plex settings on your computer, and in addition to entering your access data, you must check the option "Publish server to myPlex". If your router is UPnP or NAT-PMP compliant (easy nowadays) you will not have problems, although it may be disabled by default and you have to activate it. I have a TimeCapsule connected to the Movistar modem-router, and I only had to activate PnP on that modem-router. Look at the instructions of yours to do it, it is very simple.

Obviously, this option of viewing content from outside your local network requires a good data connection for the video quality to be decent. Plex has the option to automatically adjust the quality to the type of connection, so you won't even have to worry about that.

More information - Plex now available for iPad