February 7th, 2025
New
This is a minor update with some changes being tested on the beta track
This setting allows users to change the default action when a media item is opened in Dispatch. There are two options: Go to info page and Start Playback immediately.
These options are found in Settings -> Experience -> Playback Options
Go to info pageWhen this option is used, selecting a media item from the movies, televeision, or search pages will open the selected item's info page in Plex. This has not changed from previous versions, however, with this update the ethos is applied to the home page as well. When enabled, the info button will be hidden from media items on the home page and the Play/Resume button will always go to the info page in Plex.
This option is useful for users who encounter a bug where starting playback directly from Dispatch stops Plex from recording / updating the user's playback progress. Unfortunately, this is a bug within the Plex app that has existed for years and also exists when using the default Android TV launcher.
Start Playback ImmediatelyWhen this option is used, selecting a media item from the movies, televeision, or search pages will start playback in Plex immediately. On the home tab, the info button will be shown and the Play/Resume button will always start playback immediately in Plex.
In earlier versions of Dispatch, some users reported some playback lag while using Dispatch. In order to make sure user's media playback experience was never impacted, a feature was introduced to automatically shut-down Dispatch while media is being played.
However, with all the recent optimizations, it's likely this feature is no longer required. As such, for the next while, releases on the beta track will have this feature disabled by default. If testers on the beta track don't report any regressions to their playback experience, this will eventually be rolled into the stable track.
The feature will remain optional, however, and can be turned back on from Settings -> Experience -> Playback Options.
Note, however, that on devices with lower amounts of RAM, it's likely that the Android OS will close Dispatch during playback anyway. Higher RAM devices, however, will notice that pressing the home button will re-open Dispatch much more quickly if it wasn't previously closed by the above option or by the Android OS.
The following has been fixed:
Fixes an issue causing Plex login errors in certain regions (this fix is also available on the stable track)
Fixes an issue causing duplicate watch next items for non-Plex media
Fixes an issue causing certain images to load more slowly than they needed to
Fixes an issue where occasionally the media fanart and wallpaper did not load correctly on start up
Users who want to join or leave the beta track can do so from here: