VLC 3.3 for Android introduces a massive list of new features
VideoLAN, the maker of the popular VLC Media Player, has released VLC 3.3 for Android today. The new version is a massive improvement over previous versions. Most of the work went into improving the user interface and user experience.
VLC 3.3 can be downloaded from Google Play; existing users should receive upgrades of the media player automatically unless they have changed the app auto-updating settings on their Android device.
One of the first things that veteran users of the player will notice is that VideoLAN moved the main navigation to the bottom of the screen.
A tap on Browse shows another new feature: local and network sources are grouped now for easier access. Another new option that falls into the same line of improvements is the added option to add videos to a group. The main idea behind the feature is to provide users with a manual grouping option, as the automatic options that are provided may not be sufficient in all cases.
The video player has been redesigned and the developers believe that it looks more modern now when compared to previous iterations.
The player features a number of improvements. There is a new lock icon to lock the orientation of the screen, and if a video has different audio or subtitle tracks, it is now possible to access these directly from the interface.
The built-in subtitle downloader has been improved, and it should be easier now to find the subtitle that matches the video that is active.
The audio and subtitle sync interface has been revamped in the release. The "sound heard" and "sound spotted" options help adjust the syncing, and the delay buttons help you fine tune the aligning of the tracks with the video stream.
Other new features in VLC 3.3 for Android
- The AB repeat feature is now easier to use (to repeat videos or part of them).
- Browsing screens support list views in the new release which is useful on widescreen devices (e.g. Android TV).
- DVD and Blu-Rays that are played have their play positions saved automatically.
- Media Sharing options to share media with friends.
- Real-time video stats when playing videos.
- Some settings where moved to the corresponding screens, e.g. option to change the vide mode of audio files.
- The audio player displays a queue's overall progress.
- The app icon has been redesigned.
- Dark mode uses a complete black theme.
- New option to donate money to the project.
Additional information is available here.
Now You: Which media player do you use on Android, and why? (via Techdows)
Best video player on phone, second to none. Sadly MPV for Android is horible. The second best is what’s on Samsung phones – it is imho what MPV should be like.
We use VLC for everything except netflix, we use Edge for that. The kids are the ones that use VLC on thier (airplane mode) phones all the time. We’ll see how the like thier stuff being changed for no reason.
Me, if it works, don’t fix it.
VLC for Android is great.
Unlike desktop the interface is modern and fits the material design.
Free with no ads like other media players (for example mxplayer).
To be fair you’re watching video not the interface
Yeah, who cares if a lady has a face like a horse. It’s still a lady, with all the lady bits.
VLC is the easiest player ever, very interesting review, thanks @Martin. :]
MX Player Pro is still the best media player for Android.
>paid
>ads
>closed source
>”best”
I’m sure you are not posting this from a Windows machine and have not used paid office packages or any other type of closed source software.
It’s not like you have the skills to audit it.
Personally use 2 PAID apps xvideo player and ovideo player. Not touching that crap called VLC after I saw how horrible and laggy the windows version has always been..
KMplayer and then moved to potplayer when shit turned bad
I don’t watch videos on my phone much except when someone sends me something really cool, really over exposed and really blurry that’s really important to watch NOW! Not even sure what my phone’s video player is but it gets out of the way well.
Zero tolerance for ads; anything with ads of any kind is nuked.
PotPlayer is still my #1 after using MPC for years. Can’t get MadVR to work reliably in either of today’s MPC’s, works fine in PP.
SMPlayer seems OK; the kiddie interface can be changed into something more reasonable. It’s a GUI for mpv, now that MPlayer is dead.
Been looking at some paid players; Zoom and JRiver. No objection to paying for a good interface and good output. Video quality is often overlooked, all players definitely aren’t equal, some stink regardless of filters and renderer.
VLC? Tried the Windows version two or three times; never remained installed for more than a few hours, the interface makes little sense, stuff everywhere. This new Android version seems much better.
I use MPV for the most part. It’s more barebones, but it’s also lighter. There’s also a MPV build that supports youtube-dl on their Github repo.
I didn’t like the UI for VLC on Android before, but it looks like they’ve made some steps to improve it. Might give it a try down the road.
Simple Gallery Pro from GitHub plays my videos and shows my pictures on Android. I have no use for VLC on my phone. On a computer I almost could consider VLC if the interface was the same as on Android. Until that day comes I keep using PotPlayer with the Zoon skin.
I don’t have the audio/sub sync button! Using VLC 3.3.1 on Amazon FireStick.