Difference between revisions of "Documentation:Android"

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== Feature Overview ==
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{| border="1" cellpadding="2" class="wikitable" style="border: 1px solid dark green; text-align: center; width: 100%; margin: 1em auto 1em auto"
 +
! scope="col" width="150px" | Feature
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 1.0
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 1.6
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 2.0
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 2.5
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 3.0
 +
! scope="col" width="100px" | Version 3.1
 +
|-
 +
| Opening Network Streams || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| UPnP discovery and streaming || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Plex server discovery and streaming || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Password-protected Plex shares || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Downloads from UPnP multimedia servers || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| FTP discovery, streaming || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Store FTP server bookmarks || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Audio Playback via Connector Cables || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
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| Video Playback via Connector Cables || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Subtitles playback || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Subtitles Font Customization || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Closed Caption playback || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}  || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Teletext subtitles playback || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Multi-track audio handling || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Video Filtering incl. Screen Brightness || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Video Cropping and Aspect Ratio variation || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Deinterlacing || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback Speed control || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Audio/Subtitles delay control || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Repeated playback || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Gestures based playback control || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback of Audio-only media (mp3, m4a, flac, …) || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Audio Playback in Background || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Video Playback in Background || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback timer || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Chapter & title selection || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| 10-band equalizer || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback UI Lock || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Smart Media Library sorting for audio albums and TV shows || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Media Library Search || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Passcode Lock || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Voice search support || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Voice actions support || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Organize media in folders || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Use folders as playlists || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Loop playlists || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback control through headphones or lock screen || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Mediasession support (Wear, TV, etc…) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Partial}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Playback is paused when headphones are unplugged || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| WiFi upload and HTTP downloads in background || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Support for password protected HTTP streams || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Sharing files with further apps || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Custom vlc:// protocol || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Support for x-callback-url || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android TV || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Picture-in-Picture || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| ChromeOS support || {{No}} || {{ARC}} || {{ARC}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android Auto || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| 360° videos || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Chromecast || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android 2.1 support || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android 2.2 support || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android 2.3 support || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{No}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android 6 (Runtime permissions) || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|-
 +
| Android 8 support || {{No}} || {{No}} || {{No}}  || {{Partial}} || {{Partial}} || {{Yes}}
 +
|}
  
 
== Installation ==
 
== Installation ==

Revision as of 13:31, 6 April 2018

------ Work in progress ------

Here is the documentation of the Android port of VLC media player.

Preliminary Notes

VLC for Android is a little different from VLC on desktops. In some ways, you can do more; in other ways, you can do less. VLC for Android only does media playback. Active streaming or file / stream to file conversations are not supported for usability and performance reasons. This walk-through does only include screenshots of a phone interface for size reasons. However, all features are also available on tablets with a similar appearance.


Feature Overview

Feature Version 1.0 Version 1.6 Version 2.0 Version 2.5 Version 3.0 Version 3.1
Opening Network Streams No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
UPnP discovery and streaming No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Plex server discovery and streaming No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Password-protected Plex shares No No No No No No
Downloads from UPnP multimedia servers No No No No No No
FTP discovery, streaming No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Store FTP server bookmarks No No No Yes Yes Yes
Audio Playback via Connector Cables Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Video Playback via Connector Cables Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Subtitles playback Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Subtitles Font Customization No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Closed Caption playback Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Teletext subtitles playback No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Multi-track audio handling No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Video Filtering incl. Screen Brightness No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Video Cropping and Aspect Ratio variation Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Deinterlacing Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Playback Speed control Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Audio/Subtitles delay control No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Repeated playback Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Gestures based playback control Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Playback of Audio-only media (mp3, m4a, flac, …) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Audio Playback in Background Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Video Playback in Background Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Playback timer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Chapter & title selection No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
10-band equalizer Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Playback UI Lock Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Smart Media Library sorting for audio albums and TV shows Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Media Library Search No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Passcode Lock No No No No No No
Voice search support No No No Yes Yes Yes
Voice actions support No No No No No No
Organize media in folders No No No No No No
Use folders as playlists No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Loop playlists Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Playback control through headphones or lock screen Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Mediasession support (Wear, TV, etc…) No No Partial Yes Yes Yes
Playback is paused when headphones are unplugged Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
WiFi upload and HTTP downloads in background No No No No No No
Support for password protected HTTP streams No No No No No No
Sharing files with further apps No No No No No No
Custom vlc:// protocol No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Support for x-callback-url No No No No No Yes
Android TV No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Picture-in-Picture No No No Yes Yes Yes
ChromeOS support No ARC ARC Yes Yes Yes
Android Auto No No No Yes No Yes
360° videos No No No Yes Yes Yes
Chromecast No No No No Yes Yes
Android 2.1 support Yes Yes No No No No
Android 2.2 support Yes Yes Yes No No No
Android 2.3 support Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Android 6 (Runtime permissions) No No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Android 8 support No No No Partial Partial Yes

Installation

There are many ways to install VLC on Android. This may be because you have a non-ARMv7 or x86 processor or do not wish to use the Play Store for whatever reason.

From the Play Store (recommended)

The normal way, for ARMv7 (and above) and x86 processors only. Don't know your processor? Don't worry, if you can download it, you have a compatible ARMv7 or an x86 processor.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc


From the F-Droid Repository

The F-Droid repository (https://f-droid.org) is a completely FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) equivalent to the Google Play Store. The F-Droid Repository and all apps within it are provided completely free of charge and licensed under open source licenses. The F-Droid repository can be downloaded directly from their website. The "Unknown Sources" setting must be turned on for Android devices (typically located in Settings -> Security) in order to install repositories other than the Google Play Store.

From VideoLAN

If you can't download from the Play Store or just want to install the VLC .apk by yourself, follow these steps:

  1. Go to Android Settings → Security → Device Administration → Enable 'Unknown Sources'
  2. Go to our download server, preferably from your device: http://get.videolan.org/vlc-android/2.0.6/
  3. Choose your processor architecture (ARMv7 or Intel x86) and grab the .apk file.
  4. Click on the .apk you just downloaded and install it.

Don't really know your processor architecture? Try both... it's not very clever, but it's harmless.

None of the two work? It is possible that you have an older processor with the ARMv6 architecture. The solution for now is to install a Nightly Build release. See below.

Still doesn't work? Really? Well, then you must have an exotic processor... Contact us, on the Android forum or directly at videolan.mobile@gmail.com.

Be a Beta tester or try a Beta release

You want want to know the future of VLC for Android? You want to help us and/or test if your issue is already fixed for the next release ?

Be a Beta tester

Just follow this link Be a Beta tester

Soon, Beta release will automatically install on our device.

Try a Beta release

You don't want to be a Beta Tester but just try a Beta ? Follow these steps :

  1. Go to Android Settings → Security → Device Administration → Enable 'Unknown Sources'
  2. Go to our server, preferably from your device, : http://get.videolan.org/testing/android/2.1.13/
  3. Choose your processor architecture (ARMv7, ARMv8, x86...)
    Don't really know your processor architecture? Try both... it's not very clever, but it's harmless
  4. Download the chosen .apk on your device
  5. Click on the .apk you just download and install it.



Install a Nightly Build

You fear nothing and want our very last works on VLC ? Or you have an ARMv6 Processor and want VLC? Follow these steps:

  1. Go to Android Settings → Security → Device Administration → Enable 'Unknown Sources'
  2. Go to our server, preferably from your device: http://nightlies.videolan.org/
  3. Choose your processor architecture (ARMv7, ARMv8, x86...)
  4. Grab the latest .apk
  5. Click on the .apk you just download and install it.

You may experience some weird issues but generally, it works fine. If not, please try an older nightly release, and contact us.


Interface

At first start, VLC scans all your device to find all your media files. This is the main interface after the scan :

Android Main.jpg
Caption 1.png Show Menu
Caption 2.png Video view
Caption 3.png Audio view
Caption 4.png Directory view
Caption 5.png History view
Caption 6.png Video browser view
Caption 7.png Search a specific media
Caption 8.png Open network MRL
Caption 9.png Load last playlist
Caption 10.png More actions :
  • Sort by name or length
  • Refresh your media library
  • Equalizer
  • Preferences
  • About VLC



Playing Video

Video browser view

This view displays all your videos present in your device, or in the directories you have specified (see Preferences). To play one, just click on it, like the video Caption 1.png.

Note the difference with the video Caption 2.png which is a group of videos : VLC automatically groups your videos with the 4 same starting letters.

Android VideoBrowser.jpg
Caption 1.png A Video
Caption 2.png A group of videos.



Video playback interface

Android VideoPlayer Interface.jpg
Caption 1.png Video title
Caption 2.png Battery and time
Caption 3.png Play / Pause
Caption 4.png Aspect ratio
Caption 5.png Audio tracks
Caption 6.png Subtitles tracks
Caption 7.png Video menu (for DVD iso)
Caption 8.png Lock screen
Caption 9.png Elapsed time
Caption 10.png Seek bar
Caption 11.png Total time / Remaining time
Caption 12.png Advanced Options
  • Playback Speed
  • Sleep timer
  • Jump to specific time
  • Add subtitle

Some precisions:

  • You can change audio and/or subtitle track if there are any. If not, these icons won't be displayed.
  • The Video Menu icon is only displayed for iso video (a DVD iso for example)



Video playback gesture

Android VideoPlayer Gesture.jpg
Caption 1.png Adjust Brightness
Caption 2.png Adjust Volume
Caption 3.png Quick search



Playing Audio

TODO

  • You can change the time display to remaining time (e.g. -1:30 for 1:30 minutes remaining) in the audio player by tapping on the current time label in the left.

Settings

See Also

AndroidFAQ
Android Checklist
Android Player Intents
Android Report bugs

Retrieved from "https://wiki.videolan.org/index.php?title=Documentation:Android&oldid=56382"