Documentation:Android

------ 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	No	No	No	No	No
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
Action mode	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	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
Sorting	No	No	Partial	Yes	Yes	Yes
360° videos	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
DayNight mode	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Chromecast	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Equalizer custom presets	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Audio boost	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 :

Show Menu Video view Audio view Directory view History view

Video browser view Search a specific media Open network MRL Load last playlist 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 .

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

A Video A group of videos.

Video playback interface

Video title Battery and time Play / Pause Aspect ratio Audio tracks Subtitles tracks

Video menu (for DVD iso) Lock screen Elapsed time Seek bar Total time / Remaining time 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

Adjust Brightness Adjust Volume 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.

See Also

AndroidFAQ
Android Checklist
Android Player Intents
Android Report bugs