Plex has announced the launch of two new features that will make the media platform serve as a central hub for searching and curating streaming content across different services.

From seeing what’s available to watch on your linked services, to curating your watchlist across platforms, here’s a look at the new features.

Plex Announces Discover and Universal Watchlist

Plex allows users to stream free content from the web, as well as content stored on their own media servers and devices.

In this way, Plex serves as an all-in-one streaming hub for many of its users.

However, in a blog post on April 5, the company announced it would be expanding these capabilities with the Discover and Universal Watchlist features.

The aim of these features is to lean into Plex’s offering as a content hub, as well as providing users with an offering that reduces the pain points of juggling multiple streaming service subscriptions.

As Keith Valory, CEO of Plex, noted in a statement:

We have been saying for years that our goal was to create a one-stop-shop for all the entertainment that matters to you, and today we put a massive piece of that puzzle in place.

Valory added:

With new streaming services, movies, and shows constantly coming available, it’s time to tame the media chaos and that’s what we aim to do with these new features. In short, we know it's painful to find what to watch. We just want to get you there as quickly as possible.

Discover will provide a way for users to search for content across different services, including paid streaming platforms.

Meanwhile, the Plex Universal Watchlist will let you see what’s available for you to watch on your available streaming platforms.

The new updates will roll out as a publically available beta from April 5.

How Plex Discover Works

So what exactly is the point of the Discover feature? Plex says that Discover will act as a kind of search engine for streaming content.

In a statement, the company noted:

Plex’s new Discover source will do for streaming media what Google did for the Internet—help take an overwhelming experience and simplify it by allowing you to plug any movie or show into https://watch.plex.tv/ and ‘Plex it’ to find where it’s available to watch.

The feature lets you search for a specific title using Plex. If one of your services has the content, you can then launch it straight from Plex. You can search across streaming services such as Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and more.

There are websites that allow you to check what movies are available to stream, but the ability to launch available content straight from the app takes this a step further in terms of centralized convenience.

You are also able to search according to different types of keywords, including not only titles, but also actors and directors.

The search also includes upcoming theatrical releases and can scan your personal media servers.

Universal Watchlist: A Centralized Tracking Feed

Like Discover, Universal Watchlist is also aimed at providing more convenience for users and helping you spend less time switching between apps.

Your Watchlist will be in a dedicated tab to make it easier to switch to when you're looking for something to watch.

The Watchlist is aimed at curating a list of content that you want to watch, keeping track of when it becomes available on one of your linked services or if it switches to a different service.

This includes unreleased content, such as upcoming movies. When the title is available to rent or watch on a service you subscribe to, Plex will notify you in a collection called “Available from Your Watchlist”.

More Streaming Convenience

As more services become available and the streaming market becomes more segmented, consumers are faced with a number of inconveniences when it comes to browsing and tracking content.

The new features from Plex aim to cement the platform’s position as a central hub, while solving some of these inconveniences for streaming users.