VLC is one of the most popular video media player services available on all platforms. The full form of VLC is the VideoLAN client, and it has been around for almost eternity now. It is the best free to use an open-source platform available to view your videos in high quality. The goal of today is to provide readers with necessary information about VLC for Mac. MacBook has its default media player in the form of QuickTime. The only issue with a quick time is that it does not support all types of video formats. The VLC media player is the solution to all of the problems that you might be facing with the different video extensions. Through this guide, we are hoping to provide you with the necessary information about VLC on Mac.

VLC Media Player – Brief Information

Official Download of VLC media player for Mac OS X. VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols. Full list of the top Video Player apps that are similar to VLC Media Player, including Flip Player, Macgo Free Media Player, Free Mac Bluray Player, QVIVO, Aurora Bluray Player, Harmony, Air Video.

Support for NPAPI plugins was removed from all modern web browsers, so VLC's plugin is no longer maintained. The last version is 3.0.4 and can be found here. It will not receive any further updates. Older versions of Mac OS X and VLC media player. We provide older releases for users who wish to deploy our software on legacy releases of Mac OS X.

The VLC media player is one of the most instantly recognized icons on the internet. The simple yet intuitive and active media player service offers consumers with high quality and efficiency. Through the VLC media player, you can easily watch all of your favorite tv shows and movies. It is also the perfect application to stream videos from a live feed. The best part about the VLC media player is that it is entirely free to use, open-source and portable. It means that it is available throughout all platforms and can be used interchangeably on multiple devices. Videolan has put in a lot of effort to make it one of the most fantastic video viewing applications on the internet. There are a lot of features offered by VLC, and we are going to have a more in-depth look into them later on in this article.

VLC started as an academic project in 1996 and was still in its rudimentary stages. The video player was officially released online on all platforms in 2001. It has been 19 years since its release, and it is still one of the most fantastic video players that you can have.

Features of VLC Media Player:

Before you download the application on your Mac devices, let’s have a look at the features that are available on the VideoLAN client. It will help you to have better clarity over whether you want to continue with Quicktime or download this new application.

1. Pocket Media Player:

VLC has been dubbed as a pocket based media player. What this essentially means is that VLC is available on all platforms and also runs all video formats. One surprising fact about VLC is that it can even Run incomplete video files, incorrect downloads, and even some corrupted formats. The player can also be used to play videos that are downloading in the background. The outreach of the video player is quite high, and users recommend it all around the world.

2. Diverse

The VLC media player is quite diverse. Apart from allowing you to play any video file, the player can also be used for security purposes. The VLC media player can be hooked up to a video camera, and this can be used for live surveillance around your home. With the help of a few external software, you can record footage.

3. Codecs

Codecs are an essential part of any video. They are used to encode the video into shareable files and make them small in size. A Video player does the task of encoding and decoding video files. VLC has access to all the possible encryption methods for videos available anywhere in the world. It translates to you playing any video on your Mac device without any external download.

4. Compatibility

The VLC media player is compatible with most operating system for PC devices and is available even on smartphone platforms. The application is entirely consistent with different OS. It makes the app highly desirable and easy to access anywhere.

5. Streamlined connectivity

The VLC media player can also be used to connect with the multiple devices which run the application. You can set up a virtual drive and access all of your media files from a common point. A single computer can provide media to multiple devices in the house which have the VLC media player. It is possible through an HTPC network. It is also possible to easily transcode media files through VLC.

Supported Formats on VLC:

The VLC Media player can run almost any video that you throw at it. Let’s have a look at the multiple video formats that can be used on this. Here’s a list of both Input and Output formats that can run on VLC.

VLC vs Quicktime:

Quicktime is the default media player on Mac devices, and VLC is a third party client that can be downloaded on the macOS. Let’s compare the two to see how they stack up against each other.

The Quicktime media player and VLC stack up well against each other but the winner is clear after this comparison. VLC can be the ideal choice for many movie buffs around the world.

How to Download VLC Media Player for Mac?

Follow the given guide to download the media player service on your macOS devices. The steps are quite simple, and you have to follow along.

• On your Macbook head over to one of your favourite browsers. (Safari, Chrome, Etc). Click this link to head over to the VLC Media player download page.
  
• When you are on the webpage, you will be greeted with the VLC download button. Click on the orange download button to start the process.
  
• Once the download of the setup is completed, you can begin by running the installation file. Accept all the terms and conditions to start the installation process.
  

You have successfully installed the application on your device. Run it by playing any video file.

Conclusion:

VLC Media player is no doubt the best player for streaming video content. And just for information Apple default has media player to stream content. If you are VLC Fan then you can get VLC on your Mac by following this guide. If you face any issues in above mentioned steps do let us know in the comments section below.

When you need to play a video on your Mac, what do you do? Which app do you open? If you’re new to macOS, you might just double-click on the media file and it’s likely that QuickTime Player will start up — good enough for the most common tasks.

Soon though you’re bound to feel QuickTime’s limitations. It might be that you’ve transferred a file from your camera that’s not supported, or you want to watch a foreign movie with external subtitles. All this is difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish with QuickTime Player. You need to upgrade.

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Instead of having one VLC player alternative, get an entire collection. Setapp is a Mac apps subscription that gives you a large choice.

What Makes VLC Player For Mac Good

From the first moments of looking for a better media player, VLC for Mac is going to show up in search results again and again. The app is free, has good ratings, and seems to be universally loved. There’s even a version for your iPhone (and nearly every other operating system in existence). What’s not to like?

The official story of VLC player goes back to 1996, when a few students of École Centrale Paris in France developed the app as their academic project. Back then, they called it VideoLAN Client (VLC for short). As VLC player got more and more recognition and became popular worldwide, the original developers released the code under the open-source license, so that anyone could fix bugs and contribute new features.

By now, VLC player is available on Windows, macOS, iOS, Apple TV, Linux, Android, Chrome OS, and Xbox One. The only question left is how to find a VLC for Mac download.

How to get a VLC download for Mac

Unfortunately, due to some licensing issues, VLC player for Mac isn’t available on the App Store (although the iOS version is). With a simple Google search you’ll find that lots of third-party websites offer you VLC for Mac downloads — but beware! Such download files are often infected with various kinds of malware looking to find an easy way into your computer.

The only option that’s 100% safe is to find a VLC download for Mac on its official website:

1. Go to videolan.org/vlc

2. Click Download VLC

3. Double-click the .dmg file in your Downloads folder

4. Move the VLC icon into Applications

With regards to technical requirements, VLC player is supported by any 64-bit Intel-based Mac that runs macOS 10.7.5 or later (the latest one is 10.15). This covers 99% of Macs in use nowadays. And even if you need to make VLC player work with ancient Macs, older VLC versions are available for download from the official website as well.

To play a video on VLC for Mac:

1. Open VLC

2. Either drag the video you like onto the app’s window or go to File ➙ Open File… ➙ select the video ➙ Open

One of the most beloved VLC media player features is adding and fine-tuning external subtitles. When you’ve downloaded the .srt subtitle file you want to use:

1. In the menu bar of the VLC player, click Subtitles

2. Add Subtitle File… ➙ select the file ➙ Open

3. In the same Subtitles menu you can change the text size, thickness, color as well as the background color

With so much to offer, why would anyone choose any other app for their videos than VLC player? True, while QuickTime Player struggles with nearly every video encounter, VLC for Mac handles all the basics pretty well. But there’s so much more to discover in the land of video-playing features: multiple subtitles, audio extractions, ad-free web playback, AirPlay streaming, etc. Let’s see which VLC alternative for Mac offers it all.

Stream anything anytime with Elmedia Player

If VLC media player for Mac is a shell you can open content in, Elmedia Player is a full-on entertainment center. Get any videos you want anytime, thanks to its streaming functionality. The app is able to download YouTube directly to your Mac or play videos instantly using its web-browser extension, which allows to bypass all the ads.

Moreover, any downloaded videos can then be easily played on your AirPlay-enabled devices — watch a movie on a big screen with Apple TV, for example, without the need for USB drives or awkward cables. And while VLC media player might get stuck playing HD videos on a big screen, Elmedia will sail through them seamlessly with the help of hardware-accelerated decoding.

Vlc For Mac Catalina

Play, stream, and download video

Free Download Vlc For Mac

Get Elmedia Player, a perfect replacement for VLC, which has a streaming feature and a browser extension for direct downloads.

Elmedia Player, simply put, has everything you’ll ever need not to get bored. Even when videos become too much, you can extract audio files and save them as MP3 for easy on-the-go listening.

Gain full video control with Movist Pro

As good as Elmedia Player is, the ultimate VLC alternative for Mac could be a mighty 4K movie player called Movist Pro.

Movist Pro not only effortlessly decodes any video you come across (with an option to select decoders manually if needed) but also lets you configure the perfect video-watching scenario, including the quality and the size of each file.

If you want to watch a high-dynamic-range (HDR) video, but your screen doesn’t support it, the colors will show up dull and faded. Movist Pro features a built-in HDR tone-mapping technology that automatically adjusts colors to what they are supposed to be.

While nearly every VLC alternative for Mac lacks powerful subtitle management that VLC is known for, Movist Pro takes it a step further with support for multiple subtitles at once — invaluable when you’re trying to learn a new language or watching a movie with a bunch of international friends.

Finally, using the Movist Pro Safari extension, you can watch any video right from your browser window, with any of the above personal settings already specified.

How to start with Movist Pro? One step only: simply drag and drop your video onto the app and enjoy.

The best VLC alternative for Mac

So while some might argue that VLC media player for Mac is still good, the truth is — lots has changed since 1996. New entrants like Elmedia Player with its built-in downloader and ad-free streaming, or Movist Pro with multiple-subtitle support and HDR improvement are winning the market. The one you choose should quite frankly depend on the features you’re going to use the most.

Best of all, you don’t need to go all in and buy Elmedia Player or Movist Pro to see how they work. Both apps are available to you on a free seven-day trial from Setapp — a platform with over 150 Mac apps, where each one is the best for a particular task, whether it’s budgeting, retouching, or just getting things done. What might you be watching tonight?

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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