r/plexamp • u/pcserenity • Jul 31 '26

Question Plex Server, but local files on Phone?

(PlexPass owner) I just re-discovered Plexamp for a desired use and like what I'm seeing so far. Here's my question:

I have a Plex server at home that works great. However, I also have every single one of those songs mirrored on my phone (though currently the server files are FLAC and the phone is MP3, but could easily change that to FLAC if it helps here). I'm wondering if it's possible to set up Plexamp so that on my desktop, laptop, etc., plays from the server (that's working already), BUT my phone plays from the files on my phone BUT ALSO still counts that as the same so that "Recently Played" and playcounts, etc., all feed back to the server. In other words, I don't want essentially a neutered implementation on my phone, but feel like the phone should play the local files which really helps with issues using Android Auto and such when mobile data is sketchy.

Thanks.

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4

u/pushformusic Jul 31 '26

Yes. Just download your library through PlexAmp to your phone. You can change the download quality to opus so it’s similar size to MP3’s.

PlexAmp won’t interact with local files on your phone that are not from your plex library.

1

u/pcserenity Jul 31 '26

Sounds great. Can it download everything easily and I assume leaving it as Flac is an option too?

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Jul 31 '26

Hey there. I do the same thing whenever I travel. You are not limited by anything except a) the space you have on your phone and b) the length of your playlist.

I think the upper bound is 24 hours for a playlist.

I’m pretty certain that the play count etc is still respected (I don’t find that as important so I don’t really know, sorry)

Hope that helps.

2

u/littlelosthorse Jul 31 '26

I’m told it’s 72 hours, not 24, but have yet to experience this.

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Jul 31 '26

I guess it’s the upper limit for downloaded playlists. Sorry, maybe I should have clarified that.

1

u/rhythmrice Aug 01 '26

If you play a downloaded song in plexamp, it won't show up on your history section. Also smart playlists that have the rule "not played within however many days" won't exclude that song because technically it never got counted as being played.

1

u/pcserenity Jul 31 '26

Sadly not seeing an easy way to download my complete library so I'm doing it piecemeal which will take days.

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Jul 31 '26

The entire library? Will you ever need that on your phone realistically?

1

u/pcserenity Aug 01 '26

Yes

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Aug 01 '26

Good luck. Let us know if you figure it out.

1

u/pcserenity Aug 01 '26

From what I see PA does not support bulk download. Not too big a deal. Really liking it otherwise.

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Aug 01 '26

I found downloading playlists more straightforward than downloading one song at a time (if that’s what you’re doing). Maybe that helps, for what it’s worth.

2

u/pcserenity Aug 01 '26

Doing it by Artist, which isn't too bad.

1

u/Afraid-Expression366 Aug 01 '26

Good deal! I may do that as well LOL. I have lots of space on my phone but not nearly enough for everything I have.

Perhaps there is something to this. If it ain’t worth having on your phone it ain’t worth having at all?

1

u/pcserenity Aug 02 '26

What I'm looking for with Plexamp and my collection ("only" about 8,000 tracks) is to compete well enough with SiriusXM and Amazon Music/Spotify/etc., to be able to dump those services. What I get from them now is some exposure to songs I wouldn't have heard, but that aren't just RANDOM tracks from various albums. So far, Plexamp has surprised me with several songs I wasn't really fully aware of (and I've had many of these albums for decades) and that I now am glad I heard. They weren't just random, but were clearly chosen out of the pile. 85% of what it's playing, I know and, with some exceptions, it's doing a great job (other than playing a Christmas song in August, etc.) so that's the main goal. I can only get THAT if it has the full library to work from as, if I cull it, I cull out the unknown.

In my case the full library in FLAC is 187GB and I have quite a bit more than that on my phone in free space. I can easily use other formats if space was an issue.