Serviio

So i think most of us agree that plex has a great layout. it looks amazing and everything is organized so perfectly. however, the server will NOT stay running more than 15 minutes on my pc before it just decides to close itself. i discovered the serviio server about a week ago and it has not stopped functioning perfectly yet. and its free (i actually paid for plex which is now unusable). the problem with serviio is that it is the most horrible looking abomination i've ever navigated. would it be possible to use my plex app for its visual appeal but have it connect to serviio for dependability?

Plex and Serviio are two similar but separate programs. Plex has the advantage of having a well designed app that is available on my streaming players and Smart TVs, as well as the web interface for streaming via a browser. Plex and Serviio can co-exist on the same computer without a problem.

Serviio does not offer any player apps of its own, so you are dependent on whatever player you have available to use on a streaming device. Most Smart TVs have a DLNA player included, but none I've ever seen have a very nice user interface. For streaming players, you can find some player apps that are improvements over the Smart TVs, but not by a lot. I think the best player I've found for DLNA use is either Roku, using the Roku Media Player app, or Kodi, which is available for many Android based players, such as the Nvidia Shield.

Roku at least offers some metadata for the media, compared to virtually nothing on any Smart TV I've used. Kodi also has the same metadata available, plus it has available add-ons that can provide extended media information. There are also other player apps available for Android devices, with varying levels of user information available. For iOS devices, VLC and Infuse are two good players. VLC doesn't offer any metadata, but Infuse is quite good.

If you haven't modified the Serviio presentations, by default they are all enabled, and might be what you consider the "abomination". I only have Titles, Movies, Series, Last Added and Playlists enabled, so it's a pretty clean look. If you're unhappy with the way Serviio is presented to you, consider using an alternate player of some sort.

To answer your last question: no, there is no way to use Plex as the "front end" of your Serviio server. They can certain both use the same media locations, as mine does. I only use Plex when I'm traveling, as my Roku player can connect from any hotel Internet connection. That's something that can't be done with a DLNA server. But Plex and Serviio both use the same media files.