VLC comes to Apple TV with wide format support, 'Remote Playback' feature

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
VideoLAN on Tuesday released a tvOS version of VLC, making the video playback app native to the Apple TV for the first time.




As on desktop and mobile devices, the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. It also enables things like chapter selection, and choosing between multiple audio and subtitle tracks where available. Subtitles can be rendered in text or bitmap format, and downloaded on the fly if they're not present locally.

Video files can be accessed from several sources, such as DLNA/UPnP, SMB, FTP, and even Plex. Where needed login credentials can be entered and saved, syncing with VLC for iOS. Credentials already saved in iOS can be synced in the opposite direction.

One of the most unique features in the app is Remote Playback, which lets people employ another app or a Web browser to push media. The Web interface involves dragging and dropping files or stream URLs onto a special page, where users can also do basic playback control.

Another distinct option is variable playback speed, which VideoLAN says is missing from any other Apple TV playback apps.

Although not its main purpose, the app also supports Web radio and music, with artist and album art sourced from Hatchet.

VLC for Apple TV is a free download, accessible through the device's App Store. VideoLAN is already preparing new features, such as integration with cloud storage services like OneDrive and Dropbox.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 35
    steviestevie Posts: 956member
    the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. "



    I'm not sure why anybody would want to play formats that are not approved by Apple, or why Apple would even allow it.



  • Reply 2 of 35
    rezwitsrezwits Posts: 878member
    Apple doesn't care about legacy formats, and formats it's in competition with. So having a player that plays (mostly) everything is nice.
  • Reply 3 of 35
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Any word on support for HEVC/H.265 encodes?
  • Reply 4 of 35
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    stevie said:
    the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. "

    I'm not sure why anybody would want to play formats that are not approved by Apple, or why Apple would even allow it.
    because people are different? not everybody is you, and not everybody has the same use cases.
    singularitywilliamlondonnemoeacargonaut
  • Reply 5 of 35
    rwesrwes Posts: 200member
    stevie said:
    the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. "



    I'm not sure why anybody would want to play formats that are not approved by Apple, or why Apple would even allow it.



    Or for some of us who have a good amount of older material. Material which isn't in an Apple supported format, that we can't just easily drag into iTunes and then play from the Computer app on the Apple TV.

    On my Mac, I regularly fire up VLC for that older content - this is awesome! And I personally prefer VLC over the other options for quite a few things.
    edited January 2016
  • Reply 6 of 35
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    But but it's not 4K.
  • Reply 7 of 35
    pmcdpmcd Posts: 396member
    Not a big fan of VLC but it's very nice that it is available. There are now many apps that play a variety of formats. For example, MrMC which is basically Kodi ( without AddOns) and Infuse both bring a lot to the platform. There's also Video Player for Many Movie Formats, OneVideo and of course the server client solutions such as Plex, AirVideo HD.  Pretty impressive for such as short time.
  • Reply 8 of 35
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    fallenjt said:
    But but it's not 4K.
    What a bummer as It does not even support 8K UHDTV format !!!
  • Reply 9 of 35
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    stevie said:
    the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. "



    I'm not sure why anybody would want to play formats that are not approved by Apple, or why Apple would even allow it.



    Your joking of course.
    allmypeoplesingularitywilliamlondonargonaut
  • Reply 10 of 35
    thewbthewb Posts: 79member
    rezwits said:
    Apple doesn't care about legacy formats, and formats it's in competition with. So having a player that plays (mostly) everything is nice.

    Agreed. I made a decision to just give up the struggle and encode/transcode all of my stuff to conform to Apple-supported formats and be playable in iTunes / iOS / AppleTV, but I still think out of the box the new AppleTV should be more compatible and versatile than it is. I'm glad VLC has shown that an Apple TV app can do more, because the Plex app for Apple TV utterly failed to do so, instead it relies on the Plex server (your Mac or PC) to transcode everything to the Apple spec on demand, which is in no way optimal.
  • Reply 11 of 35
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,905member
    I am waiting for Amazon to release it's Native Prime instant video App for the new Apple-TV. Until than instead of being paid Prime membership customer, I will be using friend/family's prime membership for the 2-day free shipping. Don't care airplay support of amazon app.
    edited January 2016
  • Reply 12 of 35
    knowitallknowitall Posts: 1,648member
    VLC is one of the best apps on the Mac and works fine on iOS.
    Maybe HandBrake can be ported also.

  • Reply 13 of 35
    The iOS (and presumably the AppleTV) version is patent encumbered, so you can't play all the audio/video formats that you can on the desktop version. I tried watching some MKV files and found that they were silent because the AC3 audio codec isn't present.
    argonaut
  • Reply 14 of 35
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,717member
    thewb said:
    rezwits said:
    Apple doesn't care about legacy formats, and formats it's in competition with. So having a player that plays (mostly) everything is nice.

    Agreed. I made a decision to just give up the struggle and encode/transcode all of my stuff to conform to Apple-supported formats and be playable in iTunes / iOS / AppleTV, but I still think out of the box the new AppleTV should be more compatible and versatile than it is. I'm glad VLC has shown that an Apple TV app can do more, because the Plex app for Apple TV utterly failed to do so, instead it relies on the Plex server (your Mac or PC) to transcode everything to the Apple spec on demand, which is in no way optimal.

    The main issue with many of the unsupported video formats is that it's unclear whether they infringe on video encoding patents or not (see this discussion on the WebM page).  If Apple adds support to their products for such formats, then they open themselves up to all sorts of potential litigation landmines.  That, combined with the fact that they have their own equivalent video formats which are properly vetted and licensed, makes it pretty clear why they won't be adding support.

    Obviously VLC (and other apps) could potentially have this same problem, but then they're not being sold, so how would one calculate the damages/money owed?
    edited January 2016 stevie
  • Reply 15 of 35
    boltsfan17boltsfan17 Posts: 2,294member
    Nice. I'm a big fan of VLC. It's going to be nice to be able to stream the Pac 12 Network on my Apple TV. 
  • Reply 16 of 35
    Will check this out. Currently using Infuse (and pleasantly surprised how nice it is, though it has some ways to go to be indispensable) since there is no Kodi (haven't yet checked out MrMC - should look at that one too). What are people's favourites here (other than the stock Apple app)?
  • Reply 17 of 35
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    pmcd said:
    Not a big fan of VLC but it's very nice that it is available. There are now many apps that play a variety of formats. For example, MrMC which is basically Kodi ( without AddOns) and Infuse both bring a lot to the platform. There's also Video Player for Many Movie Formats, OneVideo and of course the server client solutions such as Plex, AirVideo HD.  Pretty impressive for such as short time.
    Will check this out. Currently using Infuse (and pleasantly surprised how nice it is, though it has some ways to go to be indispensable) since there is no Kodi (haven't yet checked out MrMC - should look at that one too). What are people's favourites here (other than the stock Apple app)?
    My favorite by far is Air Video HD.  Beautifully done!  But regardless of which app you use, running it directly on the Apple TV is nice.  I actually have both server and ATV plugged into the wired network, so I never have flaky-wireless issues.


    williamlondonargonaut
  • Reply 18 of 35
    Nice. I'm a big fan of VLC. It's going to be nice to be able to stream the Pac 12 Network on my Apple TV. 
    Whoah, would love that too.
    How would you do it?....I'm assuming you'd need subscription to PAC12 Networks.
    But even so, not sure how that would work.

    Wouldn't be better just for PAC12 Networks to get an app on Apple TV?...hoping so.

    Thanks.
  • Reply 19 of 35
    rwes said:
    stevie said:
    the new app lets users play formats that aren't natively supported by Apple. "



    I'm not sure why anybody would want to play formats that are not approved by Apple, or why Apple would even allow it.



    Or for some of us who have a good amount of older material. Material which isn't in an Apple supported format, that we can't just easily drag into iTunes and then play from the Computer app on the Apple TV.

    On my Mac, I regularly fire up VLC for that older content - this is awesome! And I personally prefer VLC over the other options for quite a few things.
    That's not my problem.  Anybody who hasn't already converted all of their video files to Apple approved formats deserves to lose access to those files.  Apple should pull VLC and any other app which allows people to play anything other than what Apple approves.  :p
    stevie
  • Reply 20 of 35
    Will check this out. Currently using Infuse (and pleasantly surprised how nice it is, though it has some ways to go to be indispensable) since there is no Kodi (haven't yet checked out MrMC - should look at that one too). What are people's favourites here (other than the stock Apple app)?
    I am absolutely LOVING Infuse. What a lifesaver!
    argonautwilliamlondon
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