Apple TV finally has its own official Plex app. Available now for free on the new Apple TV App Store, media streaming service Plex has been one of the most wanted apps for the set-top box since its original launch in 2007. While official Plex apps existed on iPhone and iPad — as well as on Roku, Google TV, and a host of other devices — the company held off working on its own official app for Apple TV until Apple chose to open up its platform with the addition of a dedicated App Store.

Announcement of that addition came with the reveal of Apple's fourth-generation Apple TV, but Plex co-founder Scott Olechowski confirmed earlier in September that his company would be producing an official app for the new box. For many years, third-party apps were the only way to use Plex with Apple's second- and third- generation Apple TVs, necessitating complicated install procedures and forcing users to jailbreak their devices in order to stream their media collections. In 2013, that process was simplified slightly with the release of Plex Connect on Apple TV, which hijacked the device's Trailer channel to allow backdoor access to your media.

Plex originally planned to release its official app as close to the launch of the new Apple TV as possible, using its iOS app as a base for the software, but was delayed by its desire to use full native code — a decision that required more programming time. That meant the app was beaten to the market by third-party client Simplex, but Plex says its Apple TV software is "essentially one of the richest" in terms of features, a fact that should fix the app as one of the hardware's most recommended downloads.