We recently launched Playback Speed Controls on our video players, allowing users to speed up or slow down video playback on both personal media and within our content libraries.
While technical limitations prevent the feature from being made available on all platforms, speed controls are available on most major platforms including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, iOS, Android, and on our web app. To use speed controls, a user must hold an active Plex Pass or be in the Plex Home of a server admin with a Plex Pass.
Many cinephiles consider this kind of futzing sacrilege, and understandably so, but the increased control has applications beyond bingeing new shows at the speed of light.
Maybe you want to slow down a breakneck montage, like the Victor short film in The Rules of Attraction, to get a good look at all the single-frame shots in a sequence.
Perhaps you’re trying to cram in an entire season of Rick Steves’ Europe before backpacking across Europe yourself.
Or maybe you’re a completionist, trying your hand at all 36,000 hours of Unsolved Mysteries to hone your detective skills.
Whatever your purposes, Plex’s video speed controls are here to help you! Simply press the Playback Settings button on our video player, and change the Playback Speed from the default (Normal) to a faster or slower pace, depending your needs. The selected Playback Speed will remain consistent during a playback session until the session ends or the user manually stops playback.
It should be noted that speed controls are unfortunately not available for Watch Together sessions or Live TV.
Along with auto-play, skip intros, and credits detection, speed controls are our newest tool to help put the playback experience in the hands of the users, and make bingeing a breeze.
About Mary
A movie lover and Plex user with a watchlist about a mile long, Mary has worked at Plex for over two years. She is a software engineer and she works on the tools that keep the content flowing on Plex. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, ballroom dancing, and singing in her local choir.
More Support
Want a deeper dive? We’ve got you covered:
Video Playback Speed Controls
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Intro to Plex
Quick-Start Guide to Server Set-Up
More on Plex Media Server Installation
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