How to Install Plex on Apple TV Without Jailbreaking

Apple-TV

Thanks to two Plex enthusiasts, Apple TV 2 and 3 owners can how install Plex on their device without the need of jailbreaking (via GigaOm)– as ATV3 jailbreak still miles away.

The neat hack, called PlexConnect, uses Apple’s movie trailers app as a “trojan horse” to inject Plex to the Apple TV. The catch is that you need to ensure your PlexConnect machine always has the same IP address.

All you need to do is configure your ATV3 correctly by selecting the settings button and configure DNS settings manually. You will need to change the IP address to that of the local IP of the device that you are running the PlexConnect application on, and then click on the “Done” button. If you are using firmware prior to version 5.2, and it asks you to configure the IP address of the router and subnet mask, leave them unchanged.

The hack will route traffic through a computer running a python script that swaps Apple’s movie trailer data with the one from a Plex media server. You can download PlexConnect from here. (Mac / Windows)

Installation guide for Mac/Windows users

Note: Before you start downloading PlexConnect, Windows users should download and install Python 2.7.x (download link). Please note that PlexConnect is not designed to work with Python 3.x. Also, if you are running a firewall (Windows or otherwise) create a rule for python.exe.

1. Download the latest version of PlexConnect (Mac / Windows)
2. Unzip and open the “Settings.py” file with TextEdit (Windows: Notepad)
3. Replace the “8.8.8.8” with your DNS server (the one you noted down from the ATV before you changed it). You will find this number is the line “return ‘8.8.8.8’ # google public DNS”. Save the file.
Windows users: Double click the PlexConnect.py to start PlexConnec and skip steps 4., 5. and 6.
4. Open terminal and change its directory to that of the PlexConnect folder (by typing “cd”, without the quotes and then dragging the folder to the terminal window and hitting return.)
5. Type sudo ./PlexConnect.py and hit return
6. Enter the your password for your Mac, and hit return
7. Navigate to the Movie trailer application on your Apple TV and find the Plexconnect Interface. Enjoy!

The result can be seen on the video below:

YouTube video

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