VLC Player for iOS Devices

For those of you who might not be familiar with VLC Player, it’s one of the greatest media players on the face of the planet. VLC is famous for playing virtually any audio or video file type. Apple has never liked MKV, AVI, some FLV and the now rarely seen WMV files. VLC handles these files like a champ.

VideoLAN just released a brand new VLC app for your iPhone or iPad. Apparently there is a beta version for Android but it’s not available in the US yet. Once you download the VLC app (available for free at the iTunes store) you will need to download some movie files. There are a few ways to do this.

1) The traditional method– plugging in and downloading videos via iTunes.

2) Sign into Dropbox on your device and download using the VLC app. I did this easily, the only issue being with the Dropbox file size limitations.

3) Connect your computer and your iOS device on the same Wi-Fi network, turn on VLC’s Wi-Fi Upload feature, and enter the IP address into the browser on your computer. That will present you with a fantastic GUI that will let you drag and drop your media onto your device. MAGIC! I was able to upload large movie files in under 10 minutes from my computer’s hard drive. You should set your iOS device Auto lock to “Never;” otherwise the transfer will cancel when the device goes to sleep.

Rumor has it that if you have an Apple TV, you can mirror your screen running VLC with AirPlay! The only bad thing I’ve read about the app is that it won’t play audio only files. This issue will be resolved in the update. So there.