Sony Bravia/Android/Alexa... launching PLEX

by LaCheeserie

I use Alexa to request a movie from my Plex server and my Sony Bravia/Android TV automatically plays the movie. It's FANTASTIC!

.... but it doesn't always work, the main hurdle is when Alexa says "your Plex player, Sony Bravia TV is not available"

if i get the remote and open the Plex app, then i can tell Alexa to play the movie and everything works, but this obviously defeats the purpose of using Alexa.

To solve the problem... i think Plex needs to already be open in the background...

My question is... is there a way to have PLEX launch in background every time i turn on the TV? Is there a "startup programs" folder for Android TV?

JJ-KwiK

Launch on Boot - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=news.androidtv.launchonboot

nerdyintentions

you might be able to do something like this with a Harmony Hub. I believe it can integrate with Alexa (if not directly then through something like Smartthings or IFTT).

Basically you would have to create an activity called Start Plex or something similar on the hub. Then edit the "start sequence" so that it navigates to Plex and launches it (basically by sending ir codes that navigate to the plex icon and launches it). To make it more robust you might want to send the home ir code first and also reset the selected icon on the home screen to the top-left most icon. That way no matter where you are in the UI, it should reset to the very first icon on the home screen and then attempt to navigate to Plex. Its a little klugy but it should work 90% of the time.

After its all setup, you should have to launch Plex via Alexa (not sure how it works with Alexa. With Google Home integration via Smartthings, you'd say "Hey Google, Start Plex") then you can play your movie/tv show via Alexa after Plex launches.