VLC 2.0 for Android released
The update to VLC 2.0 for Android introduces a large number of new features such as network browsing and video playlists to the popular media player.
VLC Media Player may not be as popular on Android as it is on desktop computer systems, but it is still fairly popular thanks to the feature set it ships with.
The new version VLC 2.0 is available for all Android versions 2.2 and newer, and already available on Google Play and various third-party stores.
VLC 2.0 for Android
The following guide walks you through the major new features that are introduced in VLC 2.0 for Android.
Video Playlists
You can now add videos to a playlist to play them one after the other without breaking the flow at any time during playback.
The feature is a bit hidden in the application. Basically, what you need to do is tap on the three dots next to videos and select play all from the context menu that opens.
This works best for collections of videos that are located in the same directory.
Download subtitles
The new feature enables you to check for subtitles for selected video files automatically. VLC 2.0 uses the Open Subtitles service for that, and will download subtitles automatically when detected.
The player supported options to load local subtitle files in previous versions already.
Simply tap on the three dots next to a video and select "download subtitles" from the menu that opens, or tap on the speech bubble icon while a video is playing and select the option there.
You set the language for subtitle downloads in the player's settings under Interface > Subtitles download language.
Network Browsing
VLC 2.0 for Android introduces options to browse network resources and play media files stored on network servers using the Android device.
The player supports DLNA/UPnP, FTP, SFTP, NFS and Windows Shares. To use the feature, tap on the main menu icon on VLC's start page and there on Local Network.
VLC detects networks automatically, but you may add new servers manually as well. To do that tap on the plus icon and fill out server and account information to add it to VLC.
Pop-out window
Probably only useful on larger devices, the feature allows you to play videos in a smaller pop-out window on the screen while doing something else on the device.
To use the feature tap on the three dots while a video is playing, and select the dotted rectangle icon with the small rectangle inside to launch pop-out mode.
Other features of note
Apart from those major features, several smaller features or changes are also new:
- VLC 2.0 for Android supports favorite folders and URLS now.
- The history, notifications, and control, have been rewritten.
- Faster decoding and playback for all video types.
Closing Words
VLC 2.0 for Android is a big update that introduces several major features to the media player. Even if you don't require all of them, they certainly will increase the appeal the mobile player has.
Now You: Which media player do you use on your mobile?
I like it. I use VLC on both phone and PC. I would call the popup feature “interesting”, at least on my Nexus 4. I can only think of usable scenarios, but it involves a larger screen, like a laptop.. but not on phone. Still, nice to have, why not.
VLC is a pretty nice media player, I use it as my default music and video player on android and video player on Windows & Linux.
Clementine is my default audio player on desktops.
“Which media player do you use on your mobile?”
I use Infuse and VLC on iOS.
I’ve tried many free players but sadly all have ads. Does VLC shows ads too?
No, VLC for Android does not show ads.
Network streaming is the best shit ever. I’ve been in the beta program for some time now so I’ve used it a lot.
There’s literally one thing I still miss from Poweramp, and it’s the ability to play .cue files.
I can’t stand the symbols based UI. I can’t even tell what half the symbols mean. Is it so hard for the devs to put text below it? VLC 1.9.0 was in beta for a long time. I am sure someone would have told them but they did not listen.
Have they implemented a loop feature yet?
You mean video loops? Yes, that is supported.
> video playlists
YES! This is the only reason I’d ever use another video player for Android. So happy they added it to VLC!