Android TV 11 for Shield TV seems to cause issues with some apps and break Plex servers

Ben Schoon | Jan 17 2022 - 9:49 am PT

The Nvidia Shield TV is perhaps the single best-supported Android device of all time, with models from 2015 and on getting updated to Android 11 earlier this month. However, it seems that Android 11 update is breaking Plex servers and causing other issues for some Shield TV owners.

Since the Android TV 11 update started rolling out to Shield TV owners last week, quite a few Reddit threads have shown up with users complaining that some apps no longer work properly.

Many of the issues reported by users can be chalked up to the storage changes Google made in Android 11. “Scoped Storage” requires apps to use storage folders differently, and this often requires the app to be updated to handle these new guidelines appropriately. Nvidia has a support page that explains what Shield owners need to do to avoid this issue, but the process doesn’t appear to solve the problem for all apps.

In the case of Plex, it seems these storage issues are the root cause of the issue, but specifically with Scoped Storage blocking access to external storage devices. A Plex employee shared on the company’s forums that there “appears to be an issue” accessing external storage on the Android 11 update for Shield. Unfortunately, nothing was shared on the timeline for a potential fix, but some users have reported that a factory reset seems to solve the problem.

Notably, there appear to be some lesser issues beyond just storage-related problems. On one Reddit thread, some users report issues with HDMI CEC, “stuttering” video in HBO Max, Disney+, and Netflix, and some lag issues in other apps. Third-party launchers also appear to be broken following this update, requiring a factory reset to be fixed.

Nvidia has started a support forum thread to collect reports of which apps do not work on Android 11 that were working on previous updates.

H/T PiunikaWeb