Best Free Media Player For Mac
There are a lot of video players out there, but you probably only need one. You might even be able to make do with the one that comes pre-installed with macOS.
But if you are searching for an alternative, there are a few top quality free options that have everything looking for. These apps let you play just about any format you come across, build playlists, grab subtitles, convert files, and even stream from a variety of sources.
The best media player for Windows is probably unknown PotPlayer program, developed by the same author KMPlayer.PotPlayer is the powerful multimedia player having good features and also easy to use with high-quality video and audio. Best Media Player for Mac Audio & Video › Players Best Media Player by BestMediaPlayer.com is a free to use application that was designed to help you open all sorts of media files (video and audio). Macgo Free Mac Media Player is the best all-in-one free media player for Mac OS X in the world. It can play HD movies on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch for free. It can support all media formats. Elmedia Video Player 7.0 - Free video player. Download the latest versions of the best Mac apps at safe and trusted MacUpdate Download, install, or update Elmedia Video Player for Mac from MacUpdate. VLC media player is available for free as an open source media player and it works like a cross platform type multimedia player. It follows standardised streaming protocols and can play almost all multimedia files. FLV Player offers a simple solution. Here, we have collected top 10 best free FLV players for PC. 10 Free Best FLV Player for Windows 10, Windows 7 64 bit and 32 bit and Mac 1. VLC media player. VLC media player is the best free flv player windows 10 and versatile media player in any video format. Movie player software is a must-have for Windows 8 and 10 users, since neither of them come with a free native media player. Some of the software applications we reviewed have Windows 8 touchscreen compatibility for the interface, blending seamlessly with your computer system and letting you watch all your favorite movies.
The Best Video Players
These are the first apps you should download if you’re after a rock-solid tool for video playback and other media. They’re all free, and they should play most formats you come across. It doesn’t hurt to have all three at your disposal, just in case.
VLC Media Player
Is VLC the best media player on the planet6 More VLC Media Player Features You Must Try6 More VLC Media Player Features You Must TryVLC is a media player more powerful than you might realize. Are you using it to its full potential? Here are some pointers.Read More? Possibly. It plays just about everything you throw at it, whether it’s a file, a stream, or a disc image of a DVD or BluRay. Compressed files are decoded using GPU, which takes the strain off your CPU so you can efficiently watch video while performing other tasks.
VLC also includes plenty of advanced features, like the ability to stream to devices across a network or transcode video files to other formats. You can fine-tune your playback using video controls, adjust the speed, correct out-of-sync subtitlesHow to Fix Out-of-Sync Subtitles in VLC Media PlayerHow to Fix Out-of-Sync Subtitles in VLC Media PlayerIt's easy to increase or decrease subtitle delays in VLC Media Player, which can fix subtitles that aren't synchronized properly.Read More or audio tracks, take snapshots, and mess around with video effects if you’re so inclined.
Best for: VLC plays it all and can handle most common video playback tasks. It’s lightweight, and comes with a few advanced features like network streaming and powerful playback controls.
mpv
There used to be a bit of debate over which media player reigned supreme: VLC or Mplayer. The Mac fork of Mplayer, known as MplayerX, recently had malware bundled with its installer5 Easy Ways to Infect Your Mac With Malware5 Easy Ways to Infect Your Mac With MalwareYou might think it's pretty difficult to infect your Mac with malware, but there are always exceptions. Here are five ways you can get your computer dirty.Read More. Another fork known as Mplayer for Mac Extended has since been discontinued, as has the other alternative mplayer2. Fortunately the open source project mpv makes a great replacement.
Based on a fork of the original Mplayer and defunct mplayer2, mpv provides a great alternative to VLC in a sleek package. Open source and completely free, the app includes OpenGL-powered video output, GPU video decoding, and simplified command-line options for power users. There’s technically no “official” graphical user interface, so on-screen controls are a little sparse, as mpv is easy to embed into other applications.
Best for: Lightweight video playback of a vast number of formats, with OpenGL support. The only real alternative to VLC you’ll ever need.
QuickTime Player
I know what you’re thinking, QuickTime might not count as a “universal” video player on the basis that it’s an Apple first party app and lacks the codec support of VLC or mpv. That may be true, but in the right circumstances it’s a surprisingly competent player and comes with a few handy features that are worth keeping in mind.
In addition to playing videos, QuickTime Player can also convert them to formats that are perfect for your portable devices. It’s the quickest free way to make screen recordings on your Mac, and you can even record iOS devices by connecting your iPhoneHow to Record Your iPhone ScreenHow to Record Your iPhone ScreenHere's how to screen record on iPhone with the built-in screen recording tool, as well as some great third-party apps.Read More or similar via Lightning cable.
Best for: Watching videos when you have nothing else installed, recording your screen or iOS devices. Find it in the Applications folder of any Mac or launch it quickly with Spotlight7 Good Habits Every Mac User Should Get Used To7 Good Habits Every Mac User Should Get Used ToToday we're going to share our favourite good Mac habits, while desperately trying to forget the bad ones.Read More.
Also Consider
The players listed above are the cream of the crop, but if you’re dissatisfied you might want to check these out next. Despite being capable players, there are slight issues with all of them as noted in the descriptions below.
DivX
DivX made its name with a simple video codec, and the company’s freemium player is the only on this list which isn’t open source. Fortunately it does pretty much everything the average user would need. The company doesn’t state exactly what codecs the player is compatible with, but it will likely play most files you throw at it.
In addition to playing video the free DivX player also functions as a media server for DLNA-compatible uPnP devices6 UPnP/DLNA Servers for Streaming Media to Your Devices6 UPnP/DLNA Servers for Streaming Media to Your DevicesUPnP devices are able to see and communicate with one another, and one of the best uses for this technology to stream media around the house.Read More, a media converter, and Chromecast-compatible streaming source. You’ll also find the other standard options for playback including playlists, support for multiple audio streams, the ability to resume playback on re-opening a file, and 4K support.
Despite not being a first choice, playback was smooth on even high bitrate 1080p files.
Drawbacks: The free version is limited and includes adverts. It also doesn’t appear to be optimized for Retina displays, despite seemingly still being under development.
Downloading process will begin in your BitTorrent client. You may choose the best torrent client from the list above. • When the download process is 100% completed, enjoy! Before placing those BitTorrent client names, we have evaluated a lot of BitTorrent clients based on their traffic, reviews, built interface and ease of use. Best bittorrent sites for mac.
Miro
Just like UMPlayer Miro is free, open source, and promises to play a whole host of video formats. It’s also got some interesting extra features like support for converting and syncing with Android and Kindle devices. This converter can also be used to export videos to other formats, including those suitable for (presumably older) iOS devices.
The app favors a unified approach to media consumption. There’s support for streaming services like YouTube and Internet Archive in the app (it’s just a browser window), and you can even buy music within the app. It can also double up as a podcast player and torrenting app, but you probably won’t want to use it for either.
Drawbacks: Works with macOS Sierra, but it hasn’t had an update since 2012. Larger files can cause playback issues. The website also bugs you to donate money on downloading, which is odd considering development seems to have ceased. Not optimized for Retina displays.
Windows Media Player Mac Free
UMPlayer
UMPlayer is another free, cross-platform, and open source approach (noticing a pattern yet?) which comes with over 270 video and audio codecs for playing just about everything. That includes a wide array of compressed formats, DVD images, Windows files like .WMV and .WMA, and even YouTube videos.
The app also includes a few niche features like the ability to find and download subtitles for the current file, re-sync subtitles and audio, and a skinnable interface. This particular fork of Mplayer may look a bit dated, but it’ll do in a pinch.
Drawbacks: Though it still works on modern operating systems like macOS Sierra, UMPlayer hasn’t had an update since 2010. Larger files can cause playback issues. It’s not optimized for Retina displays either.
Which Video Player Do You Prefer?
Vlc Media Player
Whether it’s one of the large projects I’ve listed above or a small obscure fork of Mplayer, everyone has an opinion of what the best video player is. So let us know which you prefer in the comments below.
Tell us what your favorite video player for Mac is, and we might just add it to the list.
Image credit: video tape B-Format (DRs Kulturarvsprojekt)
Original article by Steve Campbell.
Explore more about: macOS Sierra, Media Player, QuickTime, Video, VLC Media Player.
Movist the best video player
I totally miss MPlayer OSX Extended (http://www.mplayerosx.ch/) on the list! It's simple, great and is able to create a playlist just like VLC.
I totally miss MPlayer OSX Extended (http://www.mplayerosx.ch/) on the list! It's simple, great and is able to create a playlist just like VLC.
I kind of like Movist..
Yeah I'll also cast a vote for MplayerX. Excellent and fast mediaplayer with lots of features and keyboard shortcuts! Always first priority :)
The windows media player components are just the flip4mac application. Microsoft stopped wmp support for Mac OS X years ago. I doubt the old windows media player for mac will run on a new mac.
Mplayer didn´t work well on the mac ever.
There´s a new built 'mplayer osx extended' that is slightly better.But the best video player for Mac still is VLC and nothing else.
I use VLC.. Best and even better than Perian+QT!
VLC is my go-to video program. It's hard to beat.
Well, the benefit of Perian is that it adds support to QuickTime which is the Go-To-Tool for everything Multimedia in OSX.
This means all those files will perfectly play in QuickLook, Cover Flow, etc…Personally I switched to Perian a while ago (because I love the clean QuickTime look) and for everything else it's MPlayerX
Perian + QuickTime is just perfect
Thanks for sharing. I'll have to check that one out!
MplayerX is also GREAT! I use it every day!
Nice! Thanks for the recommendation!
it is crappier than smplayer
VLC has held the media player crown for years, even before graduating from its beta phase in 2009. The free, open-source software is capable of playing just about any media format you can imagine, including Internet radio, and a large number of both video and audio streaming protocols. Although the default interface is plain and sleek, stuffed with various playback icons wrapped in a gun-gray design, the software also features an assortment of customization options for quickly swapping viewing modes, and tweaking the toolbar with additional controls.
Best Free Audio Media Player
If you are into streaming or downloading video, you’ll love the intuitive video effects for interactive zooming, video capturing, blurring, and mirroring images, among others. There’s not much VLC can’t handle for casual audio and video playback or conversion.
Media Player For Mac Free
VLC Media Player is the way to go when looking for a program offering robust file compatibility, versatile playback, and frequent stability updates. The robust community of active users and programmers, known collectively as the VideoLAN Organization, is an added plus, along with the diverse network for extensions and available skins for Windows.