VLC

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on VLC:

VLC Media Player update is packed with useful new features

By

VLC Media Player update is packed with useful new features
VLC Media Player 3.3 has a re-written video playback interface. There are many other new features, too.
Photo: VideoLAN/Cult of Mac

A new version of VLC Media Player for iPhone, iPad and Apple TV includes some much-requested features, including support for accessing files from connected drives as well as spatial audio with AirPods Pro and Max

This is a popular — and free — choice for playing video and audio, and updates are fairly rare. That said, VLC Media Player 3.3 appears to be worth the wait.

3 best DVD-to-MP4 converters for Mac: Key features explained

By

With the right software, your Mac can convert DVDs to MP4s. Three of the best Mac DVD converter apps are Movavi Video Converter, VLC and HandBrake.
With the right software, your Mac can convert DVDs to MP4s.
Photo: Viktor Hanacek/picjumbo CC

This DVD-to-MP4 converter post by guest blogger Elena Dibrova is brought to you by Movavi.

Want to play a cherished movie on your iPad but you only have it on DVD? Maybe you are setting up an in-home media-streamer using Plex? Solve the problem once and for all by installing a video converter. These apps can convert video files from DVD to MP4 without affecting the content and quality of the recording.

Best apps to download now for your new Mac

By

Best apps for your new Mac
Your new Mac deserves these amazing apps.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you were lucky enough to bag a new Mac for the holidays, you’re probably on the hunt for some awesome new apps to use on it. We’ve rounded up five of the best that we think every Mac owner should be using.

These apps will let you play any video, keep a close eye on precious storage space, extract important data from your iPhone and iPad backups, and more!

Popular VLC video player is getting AirPlay support

By

VLC AirPlay
VLC will make it easy to stream to Apple TV from anywhere.
Photo: VideoLAN

CES 2019 bugPopular open-source video player VLC is getting AirPlay support “in about a month.” VideoLan, the team behind it, also plans to make it easier for users to switch to VLC from iTunes.

The confirmation comes just as VLC celebrated a staggering 3 billion downloads — around a quarter of which came from mobile devices.

Concepts, Lifeline and other awesome apps of the week

By

appsoftheweek_1024
Have an 'appy weekend.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

It’s a lazy winter’s Sunday, which means it’s the perfect day of the week to try out a few of the hottest new apps currently hitting Apple’s various App Stores. But which ones to sample?

Whether you’re looking for a great Apple TV media player, an engrossing text-based game for your Apple Watch, or a great iPhone app to plan your first 2016 adventure, we’ve got you covered!

Check out our picks below.

How to use VLC to watch any video on Apple TV

By

appletv
Apple TV's new app could give us the interface we've dreamed of.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

So you’ve got a fourth-generation Apple TV (the one with Siri Remote and all the apps) and you’ve just downloaded VLC, the “play everything” video app that was just ported to tvOS.

The last few versions of Apple TV haven’t included any storage for video files, and the same is true of the latest model: All the device’s storage is for apps and associated media files. Getting your own videos up on the big screen using VLC takes a little finesse.

Here’s how to watch any video (with a few caveats) on your Apple TV via VLC.

‘Play any video’ app VLC comes to Apple TV

By

VLC AirPlay
VLC will make it easy to stream to Apple TV from anywhere.
Photo: VideoLAN

Finally, the play any video everywhere convenience of super-video app VLC is coming to your new Apple TV.

As the go-to video player app on OS X and iOS, it’s about time we see it on the big screen, considering it was planned last September.

Once you search for and download VLC on your Apple TV, you’ll be set to play any videos you can possibly throw at it, whether stored locally, on a local media server, or even right from your browser.

Plex and VLC are coming to the new Apple TV

By

Two of the best streaming media apps are coming to the new Apple TV.
Two of the best streaming media apps are coming to the new Apple TV.
Photo: Cult of Mac

If you’re worried for some reason that the new Apple TV might not have strong enough video chops with all those apps and games, good news: Plex and VLC, two of the best video apps around, are coming to Apple’s new set-top box.

Remembering 30 Years Of Mac, This Week On The CultCast

By

cultcast-mac-pro-header2

128K of RAM? Who could use it all?! We celebrate 30 years of Mac and remember some vintage models of yore on our newest CultCast. Plus, Google Contacts will make you a cuter nerd; Beats music has a feature others should copy; Jailbreaking is losing its luster; and a trusty iOS app makes watching unsupported video formats a cinch.

Enjoy a few laughs whilst getting caught up on each week’s best Apple stories! Stream or download new and past episodes of The CultCast now on your Mac or iDevice by subscribing on iTunes, or hit play below and let the audio adventure begin.

Thanks to FreshBooks for supporting this episode! FreshBooks is the simple cloud accounting solution that’s helping thousands of new entrepreneurs and small business owners save time billing and get paid faster. Sign up free today.


VLC Updated For iOS 7, Adds Dropbox Video Streaming

By

VLC could be heading back to the App Store as early as today. Photo: Cult of Mac
VLC could be heading back to the App Store as early as today. Photo: Cult of Mac

VLC, the versatile play-anything video app that I have installed on every Mac I’ve had admin access to in the last half decade, has gotten a great update in its iOS incarnation. VLC for iOS not only looks better, but will now grab video from Dropbox and Google Drive.

Redesigned VLC Gets Google Drive & Dropbox Integration

By

VLC-iOS-redesign

VLC, a popular third-party video player for iOS, today received a major update that introduces a swanky new design and lots of new features. The app now looks right at home on devices running iOS 7, and it has the ability to stream videos from Google Drive and Dropbox. You can even download videos from UPnP media multimedia servers on your local network.

VLC For iOS Is Coming Back To The App Store Tomorrow

By

vlcforiOS

VLC for iOS is making a return to the App Store after a licensing dispute got the popular video player pulled from the App Store over two years ago.

The visual appearance of the app has remained fairly consistent to the old version from 2010. The app was completely rewritten and is much faster thanks to modern output modules for audio and video, and offers multi-core decoding and support for any video files available in VLC media player for desktop operating systems.

VLC Media Player Could Make A Return To The iOS App Store

By

VLC has the power to do what QuickTime can't.
VLC has the power to do what QuickTime can't.

Back in October of 2010, iOS developer Applidium brought VideoLAN’s legendary VLC media player to the App Store. Unfortunately, the universal app had a short shelf life, as it was pulled at the request of VideoLAN a few months later. The issue revolved around VLC’s General Public License (GPL) licensing agreement. Because VLC is open source software, it was technically illegal for Applidium to sell a port in Apple’s DRM-restricted App Store.

Fast forward more than a year later, and a change in VideoLAN’s licensing means that VLC can be legally brought back to the App Store in all of its glory.

VLC Media Player For Mac Updated With Retina Graphics And Many More Improvements

By

7372535874_81a06df11c_b

The guys at VideoLAN have updated their hugely popular VLC media player app with a host of improvements and Retina graphics for the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display. VLC has been download over 1 billion times across Mac, Windows, and Linux computers, and version 2.0.2 is out now and available for free.

As a formidable QuickTime replacement, the latest VLC media player improves video playback, adds more video output options, includes multiple bug fixes, and more for Mac users.

Slick New VLC 2.0 Finally Fit For the Mac

By

cult_logo_featured_image_missing_default1920x1080
Like an ugly duckling transforming into a beautiful swan, VLC 2.0 for Mac also comes in black. Image Felix Kühne/Flickr

VLC, the cross-platform play-everything-and-we-mean-everything video client is about to go 2.0 on the Mac. And amongst all the new features is one very welcome change: A completely re-designed interface that makes it look a lot more at home on Apple hardware than the open-source v1.x ever did.

Must-Have Apps For Any New Mac [OS X Tips]

By

Little Snitch is one of the most useful apps your Mac doesn't feature out of the box
Little Snitch is one of the most useful apps your Mac doesn't feature out of the box

Got a new Mac? You’ve probably realised that OS X provides an excellent out-of-the-box experience. Unlike with Windows, few add-ons are required. There’s a great browser, for example, and full PDF support. But there’s still some tools that most experienced Mac users download the minute they boot-up a new Mac. Here they are, listed for possibly the first time…

VLC Plays Just About Any Video File You Can Find [50 Mac Essentials #45]

By

20110929-vlc-icon.jpg

Your Mac comes with QuickTime Player, which does a great job of playing a lot of video content. Lovely.

But if you spend a lot of time doing stuff with video, you’ll know there are times when QuickTime lets you down. There are formats it just won’t play, even if you have Perian installed (which was number 4 in our list of 50 Mac Essentials).

When those moments arise, VLC will come to your aid.

VLC App Pulled From The App Store In Response To Nokia Employee’s GPL Crusade

By

Screen-shot-2010-10-31-at-20.54.551.png

Let’s flash back a few months to October, when an iOS developer called Applidium ported the indispensable VLC video player to the App Store as a free download. It was a great day for iOS device owners who wanted a more robust way of watching videos across many different codecs, but one of the lead contributors to the VLC project, Rémi Denis-Courmont, decided to get pissy about it. Why? Because VLC was released under a GPL license, and he felt that Apple wrapping a port of VLC in App Store DRM ran counter to that license.

Well, score a victory for VideoLAN, I guess. Denis-Courmont has successfully had VLC pulled from the App Store in response to a claim that the app violated VideoLAN’s licensing agreement.

VLC Is Now A Universal Binary On The iPhone, iPod Touch And iPad

By

post-66046-image-350b7b6190b9723d939db105d8d8c2a9-jpg

Our most beloved of open-source video players, VLC, got a spankingly sexy iPad port last month… and now it’s been updated as a universal binary that supports the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and third/fourth gen iPod Touch.

If you’ve previously downloaded the iPad version, the update also adds the ability to delete files within VLC itself, as well as faster decoding and increased support for some of the more esoteric extensions.

Is there anything VLC doesn’t run on at this point? Besides the AppleTV, that is, which is positively twitching for a port?

VLC is a free download from the App Store. Go get it.