Profanity filter for Plex on Apple TV
Mute the swearing in your own Plex library as it plays on your Apple TV. Nothing gets re-encoded, nothing runs in a browser tab, and it costs nothing.
What Plex does on its own
Plex has no profanity filter. The forum threads asking for one go back years, and the answer in every one of them is that it isn’t supported. The workarounds people find are a browser extension that only works at app.plex.tv on a computer, and command-line scripts that re-encode every file with the swearing cut out.
Neither of those helps if you watch Plex the way most people do, in the Plex app on a TV. That is the case CleanCut is built for.
Filtering without touching your library
Your files stay as they are
Nothing is re-encoded and nothing is written back to your library. CleanCut mutes the TV at the right moments while the original file plays untouched.
It works in the Plex app on the TV
Not in a browser tab on a laptop. You press play in Plex on the Apple TV, with the remote, and the filter follows along from your phone.
Free, with no subscription
Plex movies and shows are covered on the free tier, with every rule and word-list control. There is no CleanCut account to create.
Three steps, then it runs on its own
Connect the Plex account you already have
CleanCut signs in to Plex the normal way, so it can tell which film or episode the TV is playing and read the subtitle track Plex already has for it, the same one you could switch on with the remote.
Press play in Plex on the Apple TV
Same app, same remote. The Apple TV reports the title and the playback position, and CleanCut reads that over your own Wi-Fi.
The swearing goes quiet on the clock
Each filtered word becomes a window in the subtitles. When playback reaches one, the TV mutes, and comes back on the far side. Set profanity to skip instead and it seeks past the line.
Because the filter is anchored to the Apple TV’s own position rather than a timer, it survives pausing, rewinding, and scrubbing. If a subtitle file turns out to be out of step with your copy of the film, a different cut or a different frame rate, Mic Sync listens for a few seconds and lines the two back up.
Deciding what counts as profanity
CleanCut ships a word list you can edit. Switch off the entries you don’t mind hearing and the rest keep being muted, and choose whether a filtered line is muted or skipped past. Changes apply to the film you’re watching straight away, with nothing to restart.
It works from the subtitle track, so a film needs one in Plex for the filter to have something to read, and language is what it filters. The same app also mutes swearing in Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video and the other streaming apps on the Apple TV; the Apple TV guide covers those.
Getting started
Plex movies and shows are filtered in full on the free tier. Live TV channels are next on the list.
- Install CleanCut on the iPhone or iPad you keep near the TV, on the same Wi-Fi as the Apple TV.
- Pair with the Apple TV using the code it shows on screen. You only do this once.
- Connect your Plex account and choose your word list.
- Press play in Plex on the Apple TV. CleanCut stays open on your phone while you watch, with the display dimmed right down.