Following its $40 million fundraise in the beginning of this yr, streaming media firm Plex introduced on Wednesday it’s rolling out a brand new TV present and film evaluations function, placing its app in additional direct competitors with different apps, like Letterboxd and TV Time. The function may even embody social networking parts, because the evaluations might be shared with your pals on Plex and even pals of pals.
The corporate moved into the social networking area final yr with the launch of a brand new “Discover Together” function that allowed customers to create profiles on the app and discover and comply with pals with a purpose to uncover information films and reveals collectively. With Uncover Collectively, customers might share what they’re watching with pals, what they’re bookmarking, and what they’ve rated the content material. This newest launch of film and TV present evaluations builds on that present framework, making Plex not only a streaming hub, but additionally a streaming neighborhood.
Plex says that, initially, customers’ evaluations will solely be shared inside their community of pals and their pals, nevertheless it’s engaged on an replace that may later enable customers to share their rankings and evaluations with anybody on the service. The corporate says it’s searching for beta testers for this function now.
To entry the brand new function, customers will want a verified electronic mail handle to get began, however can then create their evaluations from both the online interface or the cellular apps. To overview objects out of your Private Media library, customers might want to allow a Sync Watch State & Rankings function, Plex notes. Evaluations might want to abide by Plex’s present Group Pointers, as effectively.
As well as, Plex customers will be capable of management which evaluations they’ll see when on film and present element pages by accessing a brand new “Ratings and Reviews” possibility beneath Account settings. From right here, customers can select to see evaluations from Plex customers and critics, customers solely, critics solely, or from nobody.
Plex customers’ present privateness settings might be preserved, as effectively — an space that Plex had earlier run into issues with as a consequence of how Uncover Collectively was an opt-out, not opt-in expertise, resulting in customers leaking their embarrassing viewing habits to family and friends.