WearOS has a built-in media control that you can configure to pop up automatically when the phone is playing music or video. There are also multiple apps that act as remote controls for the phone’s camera. Mine also displays the camera view on the watch, which can be very handy.

The third-party media players often provide more detailed controls. They handle a broader range of formats (particularly VLC). And some of them perform better.

To be honest, though, the main reason I use third-party players is because I’m familiar with them. It’s similar to the advantages of using a third-party launcher. You have a lot more control over when and how you upgrade your UI experience.

And, on a side note, one of the best things about having a smartwatch is being able to control my phone’s media players without taking out my phone.

I use MX Player, PowerAmp, and VLC for various things.

I love the pattern on the grip.

If you eventually buy another you should look at the Knifeless Rebar. You lose the blade, which you carry separately, but gain scissors.

I wish I could just get Prime shipping and drop the video service. I may still drop the whole thing.

PlayOn produces higher resolution files than AnyStream on the services I use most frequently.

AnyStream has worked well for me. Sadly, I often get better quality results with PlayOn.

I don't know if this will help, but I've been using Plex to manage my music and other audio for more than a decade. It pulls in metadata from online sources and allows me to search or apply filters. That is a lot more versatile than anything I could do directly with the files.

If you aren't interested in running your own server, look at some of the more sophisticated player apps. Many of them can provide similar metadata features. Then you wouldn't have to worry about how the files are physically organized.

I use option #1. Each instance of KeePass maintains a local file, but updates them automatically whenever it opens or closes. I also back up the file to my personal server automatically, so I have a copy even if the cloud service fails for some reason.

This setup has been serving me well for a long time.

I have a small UPS to keep my fiber and router working for a while and I have a larger UPS for my server. Even the larger UPS will only keep the server going for maybe half-an-hour, but most outages here are short. For me, the most important benefit is that my UPS will tell my server to shutdown when it begins to get short of power. Graceful shutdowns remove the risk of corruption and data loss.

I’ve had this happen, but only when Plex has reason to think the file for the movie has changed. File date changes and name changes can prompt that. Is there any chance something like that is happening to trigger the metadata updates?

If you need to add more than one drive you should look at external enclosures. There are 4-drive models just over $100 and 8-drive models just over $200. You connect them with eSata, USB 3, or USB C, depending on the enclosure.

I have found the usual small prybars useful, but I have since discovered variants like this:

It provides a much better grip and the curve give it a lot more leverage. I’ve been surprised at how much more effective it is than straight bars of a similar size. (This one was made by Teale Designs on Etsy.)

I’m a little puzzled about two things you said. First, I haven’t found MKV to significantly larger than MP4. Second, I specifically switched to MKV because it was much more flexible in terms of handling subtitles.

I use Handbrake for encoding. If there are already subtitles in the material it just carries them over without any fuss. If not, I can add SRT tracks quite easily.

I hadn’t even realized that there were issues with TrueHD and MP4 containers.

I’ve been running Plex directly on Ubuntu for more than a decade. Setting up a Linux box takes some learning, but I’ve barely had to touch mine since I got it configured. It is very stable.