VLC for Android is one of the branches of the popular cross-platform media player that is available for free. The latest one branded with the version number 3.0.* was introduced in Android along with other popular platforms like Windows, Mac, and iOS. This introductory guide is here to answer the questions that you might have on installing VLC, running it and performing basic as well as some advanced functions in the Android app.
About VLC for Android
VLC For Android publicly started with a beta project and now, they have launched a full-fledged app that is supported wholly by the VideoLAN team. They claim it to be the best open source video and music player that is fast and user-friendly. This port for Android can play any video and audio stored on your phone, tablet or any other device powered by Android. Apart from local storage, it can also access network streams, network shares, and DVD ISOs.
The video player is packed with features that allow it to play every known format. You can easily play popular formats MKV, MP4, MOV, AVI, and Ogg. Even the lesser known formats are handled smoothly by the player. The audio player has everything it needs to be branded a great music player—equalizer, filters and a complete database to manage your audio files. Other dashing features that need to be mentioned are Chromecast support, playlists, the audio control widget, auto-rotation, support for audio headsets and cover art, adjustment of aspect-ratio and gestures for brightness, seeking and volume adjustments.
To top it all up, it’s not only a free app but it’s also free of any advertisement. It doesn’t even display a tiny ad. Other popular universal media players that we know show ads but this one is a megastar. Their team of passionate volunteers is there to keep it ad-free and they publish the source code out to the public. What more can we ask for?
Downloading and Installing VLC in Android
If you’re on Android, you get VLC from the Play Store. Just search the play store or click here to go there directly. Once you hit the install button, your smart device will download the necessary app files and install the app automatically. After that, you can easily access the player from the app drawer (and even the home screen). Tap on the cone icon and you are good to go.
Using VLC in Android
When you launch the app, it will scan for all the media files on your phone/tablet and display it on the dashboard. You can navigate through your media files using the simple tap, hold and drag gesture; the method you use to scroll on your phone. On the top, you will see (1) Hamburger menu, (2) Search, (3) Repeat/Resume last playlist, (4) More options ⋮ under which there are the (i) sort and (ii) refresh features.
Playing media files is easy. Just tap on the files displayed in the player (under video or audio found at the hamburger menu ☰). You can also directly open a media file from any other file manager. You will have the option of opening it with VLC for Android. You can set it so that those media files are always opened by VLC. There won’t be any issue with the file format and you will be able to play anything.
You may like:
The Video Player Interface
Open up a video and you will access the interface. There will be several buttons on the screen and gestures will also be displayed for a short while. You can use them for easy watching and navigation.
Lock button: Lock the screen so that you can watch the video in peace. Accidentally tapping on the screen will do nothing.
Subtitles button: Choose an audio track, audio delay, subtitle file or download the subtitles for it automatically.
Downloading Subtitles Automatically
If you are watching, let’s say a movie and you want the subtitles for it automatically then you can click the subtitles button on the player and hit on Download subtitles. It will do the job automatically (if there exists a subtitle for that video). The same option is also available from the dashboard when you press the three dots option button beside a video file.
Basic Media Controls: The next three buttons are for navigating previous and next tracks and the play/pause button is in the middle.
Options button: It is the one with the three horizontal dots. Various options are displayed on the screen—timer settings, playback speed, jump to time, equalizer, play as audio (hide video), Pop-Up player, repeat mode, A-B repeat and Save Playlist options are all in here. This is an important button in the player itself.
Resize button: The final button. It allows you to choose the dimensions of the video and how it fills up your phone screen.
Gestures
There are three gestures in total. They are performed when videos are playing.
Brightness: Touch the left side of your screen and drag your finger up and down to increase and decrease the brightness respectively.
Volume: Similar to brightness, tough and drag your finger on the right side of your screen to adjust volume.
Seek: Hold your finger on the screen and drag it left or right to seek toward that direction when any media file is playing. Forward and rewind your video on the fly.
The Audio Player Interface
The audio player interface is as simple as it gets. Open up an MP3 file and you will know how easy it is to navigate through it using the player. The basic controls of playing/pausing and previous and next tracks are right there in the bottom. Choose to repeat the entire playlist, the current playing track or disable repeating using the bottom right option.
On the top you will find options related to searching the playlist, displaying album art and accessing additional options. Additional options button is the one with the three buttons. Tap on it and you can select the sleep timer, playback speed, jump to time, equalizer, A-B repeat and Save Playlist to save the current queue as a playlist.
Hamburger Menu ☰
It’s the menu with the three lines located on the top right of the app. You might have noticed the same format in several other Android applications. Under it, you will find the following options:
- Video: Loads up the video player and displays a list of videos on your device. Just tap on a video file and it begins to play immediately.
- Audio: Access the audio player. You will find tabs to sort songs by artists, albums, songs, and genres. Tap on a song under artist, album or genre and it will play immediately. There are also options to append it to the end of the current playlist, add it as the next song to be played or create a new playlist with the file.
- Playlist: A unified playlist feature. The list can now contain any type of media files–audio and video.
- Directories: A handy file manager to navigate through the folders in search of media files. You can play everything inside a folder from here.
- Local Network: Access shared folders and media under those share folders on your local network. You can hit the plus icon to access files from protocols like FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SMB, and NFS. The server address, username, folder path and port are required for access.
- Stream: Enter an HTTP:// address to stream the file to your player directly.
- History: It is the playback history. It should be enabled first for the option to appear.
- Settings: A whole host of options to customize your player. You can choose your media library folder from there and edit critical options like interface, video settings, subtitles, audio, and casting.
- About: View the about page for the player and the license information as well.
Important Settings
Under the hamburger menu, the settings menu is where you can to go if you want to access options to customize your player. Let’s discuss those settings in detail.
Settings > Media Library
- Media Library folders: Under Media Library, you can check all the folders to include when VLC searches for media files. You can tap on a folder to view the subfolders. Check or uncheck folders from the list as per your desire.
- Auto rescan: Leave this option on. It means that the player is always looking for new media files. Once they are detected, they will be added to the player.
Settings > Video
- Background/PiP mode: Choose what happens when your player is in the background as videos are being played. You can choose to stop, play video in the background or use the advanced Picture-in-picture mode.
- Hardware Acceleration: We let the app decide it with the automatic option. You can set it to disabled, decoding acceleration or full acceleration to let the hardware (phone or tablet) do media decoding.
- Video screen orientation: It basically is the option to orient your screen (landscape or portrait). You can lock them, choose a single orientation or let the sensor decide with the automatic option selected.
Settings – History
Playback history: Set this option on to keep your media playing history. Uncheck to disable logging of what you played.
Settings – Extra settings > Interface
- Day/Night mode: A dark theme for low-light situations and power saving.
- Android TV interface: Make the user interface more like Android TV.
- Save Playback Speed: Keep the playback speed that you set, saved.
- Set locale: Choose a locale.
- Resume playback after a call: Pause or resume the media while in a call.
- Show all files in browser: Displays non-media files in the browser helping you access your entire file database just like a file manager.
- Blurred cover background: Blur the audio player’s cover in the background.
- Secondary display – Prefer clone: Duplicate the video on the mobile instead of displaying just controls when using Chromecast or any secondary display.
Settings – Extra settings > Video
- Group Videos: Keep the videos with the first letters same, together.
- Show screen video marker: Identify videos if they are played until the end.
- No grid in portrait mode: Switch between listing the videos or displaying them in a grid when the phone is held horizontally.
- Save brightness level for video: Remember how bright the screen was when playing video.
- Save audio delay: Remember audio delay settings for each video.
- Fast seek: Keep it checked to be able to seek within a video file that is currently playing.
- Videos transition: Video title change when switching videos will include a transition effect.
- Use custom Picture-in-Picture popup: A resizable popup will be activated for videos.
- Audio-boost: Volume will be able to go above 100% to 200%. Might not be friendly for your speakers.
- Video playlist mode: All the videos you have will be played sequentially.
- Volume gesture: Enable up and down dragging to increase and decrease the volume.
- Brightness gesture: Enable the gestures to help you dim or lighten your phone.
- Ask confirmation to resume: Do you want to continue playing from the last location? Then check this option ON.
- Double tap to seek: If you double tap on the screen, your video will be forwarded by 10 seconds.
- Seek buttons: You will have the rewind and forward buttons on the video player.
Settings – Extra settings > Subtitles
Formatting options for subtitles and on-screen text.
- Autoload subtitles: Search the internet for the movies’ subtitles to be loaded automatically.
- Subtitle Size: Choose between small, normal, big and huge.
- Subtitles Color: Choose White, Gray, Pink, Blue, Yellow or Green as your subtitle color.
- Subtitle Background: Display a background behind your subtitle text so that they are easily legible.
- Bold Subtitle: Make them stand out.
- Subtitle text encoding: Choose an encoding like UTF-8.
Settings – Extra settings > Audio
- Stop on application swipe: Stops audio or video playback when VLC app is swiped and closed. Otherwise, it would play in the background and controls will be there in the notification bar.
- Digital audio output (passthrough): Disable or enable the audio digital output.
- Show all artists: Display all artists in the listing, even those which aren’t on any albums.
- Media cover on Lockscreen: Display the media art on the lock screen when an audio track is playing.
- Save repeat mode: Keep the repeat mode on that was set.
- Audio title alignment: Align the audio title to left, right or display it moving as a marquee.
- Remove control shortcuts: Applicable when your headset is connected. You can double press play to go to the next track. Long press on your headset to go to the previous track.
- Detect headset: Know when the headset is connected/disconnected.
- Resume on headset insertion: When a headset is removed pause the file. When it is inserted back, resume the media playback.
- Audio output: Choose between AudioTrack and OpenSL ES.
Settings – Extra settings > Casting
- Wireless casting: Enable or disable wireless casting with the slider.
- Audio Passthrough: Give the control of audio rendering to your TV.
- Conversion quality: Choose between lowest, low, medium and high for the quality that is cast.
Settings – Extra settings > Advanced
- Show hidden files: Display hidden files in the inbuilt file browser.
- Network caching value: Enter the value in milliseconds for the amount of song that is downloaded so that you don’t have to wait for it to buffer.
- Dump media database: Copy the database of your media to the internal storage.
- Clear media database: Go to the Android options for the player from where you can clear cache and data that the app uses.
- Clear playback history: Remove everything from your playback history.
- Quit and restart application: Restart VLC.
- Time stretching audio: Allows changing the speed of the audio without changing the pitch.
- OpenGL ES2 usage: For 360 videos. Let the app decide this one.
- Force video chroma: Choose one with the best performance.
- Deblocking filter settings: Advanced users can switch the deblocking options for improving video quality.
- Frame skip: Frames will be skipped when decoding videos.
- Verbose: Keep the logcat.
- Debug logs: Useful for developers to view the logs.
- Custom libVLC options: Enter a value here.
Final Words
As you can see through the explanations above how powerful the player is and the options it has to give you full control. From playing files of any format to gestures to changing how the player behaves, VLC has an option for it. A normal user might not require them but it’s good to know that so many features are configurable.
For normal users, just downloading/installing the app, and using it to play every file that there is, is more than enough. We’re hoping you find this VLC guide for Android useful.
Hello, how can I add a group of files or folders to a playlist? So far I could find only how to add files one by one, which is crazy if I have hundreds of files… Something like we have in Windows, using CTRL+A, Shift and CTRL keys. Thank yoy!
I’m trying to transfer files between my iOS devices (iPod, iPad, iPhone) to VLC on an Android device (it’s a Samsung A71, my first phone since I sold my old one to someone in my family). In iOS VLC, there’s an option to transfer via file sharing, but I can’t get the Android version to connect to the iOS version, even if I put in the link it gives in the iOS version. Any help in transfering the files without requiring the use of a PC would be appreciated.
Airdrop only works for Apple devices so it won’t support Android. You can either use the cloud like Dropbox, or email them to yourself, or use an app like Send Anywhere (File Transfer) which is available for both Android and iOS.
Except I’m not using “Airdrop”. I’m using the system built in to iOS’ version of VLC. The one where you push a button to turn on network sharing. For airdrop, you need to have bluetooth on, for the built in VLC sharing, you don’t. Still, that may help… if all the files go to VLC, which I have a feeling they won’t.
I want to change the vlc video resolution in other to save internet data but I am unable to.
Do we have the shortcuts and hotkeys of VLC for Android?
Playing Operations
SPACE : Play and Pause a file
N : Next Track
P : Previous Track
Quick Forward and Backward
SHIFT + RIGHT ARROW : 3 seconds forward
SHIFT + LEFT ARROW : 3 seconds backward
ALT + RIGHT ARROW : 10 seconds forward
ALT + LEFT ARROW : 10 seconds backward
Do these functions working on VLC for Android?
Thanks in advance
I have tried several remotes through an OTG connection, but all failed.
VLC Android doesn’t have shortcuts like VLC desktop. We can use gestures to somewhat control some features like brightness, seek in the currently playing video and changing the volume. However, we don’t have gestures to do precisely what you are asking for.
I need to use a multimedia remote to control the playback. However, it seems that no one is working after i have tried several wireless USB remotes. Could you please let me know what is the key which I need to send to the VLC for Android, so it can Play and Pause a file?
Which key can do 3 seconds backward?
Can some one please tell me what keys can be used for Quick Forward and Backward/Quick Forward and Backward to manipulative the VLC for Android by a USB keyboard or a remote?
If you can show me the whole operation key table (mapping), it is appreciated.
Thanks.
I’m sorry, I couldn’t find any keyboard shortcuts for VLC for Android or VLC for Android TV.
By the way, do you know when we click/touch on the <3 button, what key is sent to the VLC for Android to process in the background?
Is it LEFT, SHIFT LEFT or ALT LEFT?
Do we have a table for this kind of key mapping? Thanks.
Could you please provide shortcuts/hotkeys for the app, so that we may use a USB keyboard or a USB remote to play with the a.b repeat feature without focusing on the tiny screen(phone)? It can be a great presentation tool with the shortcuts/hotkeys. Thanks.
Can i adjust subtitle speed with two buttons, by external keyboard .If not can i expect it in update?
When I play, it automatically played at point stop before. How can I play song at begin ? Thank you. (Sorry for my English)
Anyone know how to remove or change the large orange button on the bottom left of the screen? Mine will only display the crossed arrows meaning select random track, and I can’t change it or move it. I hit it by accident while selecting tracks all the time. I thought it was able to be set to random, replay, next track, etc. Also no matter what I do if I select a track when it’s over vlc just stops playing anything it won’t play the next track in line. Any help would be appreciated.
I have several groups that have albums titled “Greatest Hits”. Some of these show up in the artists listing of albums. Many of them are not listed for the artist but are grouped under an artist listing for various artists as an album called greatest hits will all of them mixed together. Even though the album name may be the same, the correct and only artist is listed for the individual songs. Why are some listed with the actual artists and others not? How can this be corrected?
Hello, I installed VLC on my Android tablet. I have a computer on my network with a DVD reader.
My goal is to be able to run the DVD video content from my tablet.
I can well access to the network directory trough VLC, and see the VIDEO_TS folder, including all files.
But, I Don’t know how to run those.
On the desktop VLC program, we need to do “open folder…”. Is this option also existing for the VLC Android App?
Thank you very much,
Click on Menu > Local Network to access shared files on your home network.
Why can’t anyone give me the URL for vlc? I simply want it on my filelinked page
Something like this -> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.videolan.vlc
Hello,
Thank you very much for your answer.
I can indeed reach my shared DVD device as you suggested. I can see the content of my Dvd. However, I have Audio_ts and Video_ts folders here. I don’t know how to run them to watch the movie.
Thank you again,
How can I enable VLC media player control bar on my Google pixel 2 notification bar? It’s not showing in notification panel and I cannot find any option to enable it…..
You might have disabled the notification privilege that VLC had. To enable it go to Android’s Settings > Notifications > VLC and check whether the Allow notifications slider is enabled.
Mine has the same problem whereas i have enabled notifications in the settings.. please help..
Can I convert wav and wma to mp3 using the Android version of VLC?
The Android version cannot do file conversions.
Is there a way to adjust the volume of a stream without having to mess with the equalizer?
Change your mobile volume, maybe?
I’ve a question about this videoplayer. I use this app on a android tv player in a store for place marketing stuff. When I turned off the tv, de video that was played will automatically on pause. How can I fix it that when I turned off the tv that the video doesn’t go on pause?
VLC on Android. Stream video from an IP camera using . Works the first time. But won’t work after that when started from either playlist or history; have to enter the whole address again. Different IP camera works fine every time, . Bug?
the “stream” command on the “hamburger” menu doesn’t seem to have a specific “rtmp:” command to stream to an RTMP server on your PC….it just lists “http://”….dunno if i can stream a live stream a 1080p video across an ad hoc wireless localhost connection to my laptop which has an rtmp server set up on it ( i’m using the built in rtmp server in the nginx app for Windows 10 )
How to use custom libVLC options? Can’t seem to find anything about it, I’ve used mpv tho, I know about mpv commands, but can’t figure out about custom libVLC options.
I play MP3’s with album art embedded in each file. WiIl VLC for Android display the art instead of the “road cone” logo (which is all I ever see)?
Hi. I’m using VLC Android on my phone, essentially as an iPod, playing songs on random. I’ve seen a number of mentions of normalizing the playback volume on the PC versions. Is there any way to do that with the Android/mobile version?
How do I share the videos I have on VLC either via whatsapp or transferring it from my phone to PC? I have a lot of videos that I have taken and I would like to store them elsewhere, besides just on my phone. Please help
Use a file browser to upload them to cloud services like Dropbox.
How can I download a m3u file on this VLC version? I have it installed in my Android Player.
As far as I know, M3U doesn’t work on VLC.
Can you PLEASE, I beg you, put a guide to what the icons mean in vlx for Android. There are three icons in the audio playing portion of of this app the indicate some level of replaying or looping or something. But no where in the instruxtions does it say what each one means. Please tell us!
Oh, you mean the looping option.
whenever i play an mkv video on my tv on vlc it freezes but keeps playing audio, any fix for that?
May be convert it to a different format?
How do I convert mkv files to mp4 using VCL for Android app?
You can’t convert videos using VLC for Android.
Can I play a VTS folder like I can with VLC in Win 10? In Win 10 I right click the VTS and can play the folder. I want to do that with the app
try dragging it to the app?
I am using VLC with an Android TV box, I am not sure I can do that, but I’ll try!
Local Network: I’d like to stop the access I’ve once given to shared folders on my local network. How do I erase the info regarding server address, username, folder path and port that VLC seems to have saved somewhere? Thanks!
The only solution I can think of is clearing the cache or even data which is like reinstalling VLC all over again.
Hello, I am using VLC android in Nvidia Shield tv pro 2019. The file browser inside VLC shows icon mode with file names truncated. How can I get VLC to display files in details mode with the full file name?
I do not think that there is an option to do it.
Hi, is this still the case? I am experiencing the same issue where the file names are truncated. Any plan to allow an option to have the folders and files in list view so it can show the full folder/file name?
Are the video effects such as ‘mirror’ that are available on the desktop version of VLC also available on the android version? If not, are there any plans to add them? That would be excellent!
They are not available on the Android version.
I just install VLC. I downloaded many music folders with mp3 files. Under directory, when I select a folder and click on a track, I want it to continue playing until the end of the folder. I don’t see where this can be setup. I don’t want to use playlists which would be way too much work since I have 1000s of files.
I forgot to mention the folders have many files so where ever I start, I want to list to all the tracks that follow.
Sorry, I meant, I want to listen to all the tracks that follow.
Yeah, it seems that playlists are the only way right now.
Is it possible to get the anaglyphic 3d option on VLC for android? I just installed it on a box that works under android that is connected to my HD projector. VLC is working fine but I couldn’t find the option for 3D settings.
Cheers
Will VLC read and display Metadata embedded within the MP4 video file? I have not seen this question asked.
Yes, it should.
Hi I have 3 IP cameras which I would to like to view using vlc player. Is it possible to run 3 instances of vlc on android so that I can view all the 3 cameras simultaneously.
Try third-party apps like “Parallel Space” in Android that allows you to run multiple instances of apps in Android.
hi, can i use vlc stream (android version) to listen or show a video/song on vlc pc version ? if yes please show me how. thank you.
You can try the Stream option from the Menu.
Hi, have an issue during playback, file plays, but jump to time is not working, left/right tap fro move 10 second does not work, movie time show 0:00.
Does it happen on all the video files or just this one?
With the all, currently somehow start working.
Can skins work with vlc android?
Not right now
When I use VLC on my iphone they have an option where I can have a personalized link so that I can transfer files from my computer to my iphone. I’m not sure where it’s located when I used my andriod. Please help
I don’t think you’d need that with Android. Android doesn’t require special apps to transfer files. You can just browse the folders once you connect it with your computer.
Would be great to have a bluetooth auto play feature, similar to the exsiting one for the headsets.
Playback start when bluetooth connect, stop when disconnect. Perfect for in car audio.
Thanks!
From the Menu Settings > Audio you can check Resume on headset insertion option.
Actually, I’m trying to figure out how to stop that from happening. Every time my Android phone connects to my care via Bluetooth, the VLC audio player begins. I do not want that to happen automatically. Any pearls of wisdom on how to stop that auto-start upon Bluetooth connect?
I am having trouble with VLC playing back files recorded on my dashcams. The sound ‘pulses’ constantly. It doesn’t do this with any of my other videos. Other video players I’ve tried play them with normal sound..
Please disregard. I have given up on VLC and deleted it.
What do you use? I’m having problems saving or sending pictures and images via Android with the VCL app.
VLC Android player for Samsung phone. How do I stop it playing continuous video files? I want it to stop at the end of any current video file being played.
Turn off the repeat button on the right of the controls in the Audio player.
I want to have the Android time and perhaps the battery level info on the top all the time while using the VLC media player on my Pixel XL with Android OS 9. Also, I would like to have the media interface (like time stamp, other controls) show permanently rather than having to touch the screen every time. I looked around a number of times and also my phone to see if I can do them but no luck.
Thank you
So, you’re telling me that VLC goes full screen? It is normal when videos are played.
How (on the android version) do you get it to simply play an album in track order rather than the loony alphabetical order it keeps defaulting to!!
Unless you manually tap and drag the songs around in the album playback screen (not the original album listing screen), there is no way to automatically sort songs by track number in the app.
Hi. Can I add album art to the VLC Android app directly? Sometimes it has discovered an audiobook’s cover, but not for most though they each have their covers in similarly placed folders?
VLC will only grab it through the metatags or ID3 of the audio files.
You can get VLC to play audio files stored on your device by renaming the files, adding a track number just after the artist name.
EXAMPLE:
Marvin Gaye 1 – What’s Going On
Marvin Gaye 2 – What’s Happening Brother
Marvin Gaye 3 – Flyin’ High (In The Friendly Sky)
As far as I know all players play files in alphabetical order by default so this works with all players. You can also group files by genre by adding a category at the beginning of each file name. Below are the eight categories I use.
EXAMPLE:
Dance – T-Pain – I’m Sprung
Easy Listening – Vanessa Williams – Save The Best For Last
Funk – Rick James – Cold Blooded
Hip Hop, Rap – Nas – Nasty (Live)
Jazz, New Age – Najee – Can’t Hide Love
Motown, Old School – Marvin Gaye 1 – What’s Going On
R&B, Soul – Earth Wind & Fire – That’s The Way Of The World (Live)
Rock, Pop – Peter Frampton – Baby I Love Your Way (Live)
Give it a try, works great for me in all players including car in-dash units.
Vince McCoy
How do you send videos to whatsapp from vlc
Well, I do not think that VLC has the share feature. So, we should actually locate the video file in the local or external storage and share it to whatsapp.
We have a tablet we use VLC on to play movies for our children in the car. VLC used to automatically resume playing from where it stopped when we would lock the screen while the video was playing and then come back later and unlock it. Now it requires us to push the play button to resume playback. Not a huge deal when we’re putting the kids in the car, but makes things a little tougher if my wife is trying to resume playback after a nap while we’re driving down the road since the screen isn’t facing us in the front seat.
Also, with the playlist mode it used to start at the beginning of the next file rather than where the video last left off. Now, if the kids finish one movie but were half way through the next it throws them into the middle of it. It’s nice to be able to resume where they left off if we’re choosing the file directly, but in playlist mode we’d rather it start the next file at the beginning. We’ve also noticed several times where the current video doesn’t actually finish before the next one starts.
Do you know any way to get VLC for Android functioning like it used to? So far I haven’t been able to find any settings that make it work like it used to for us. Thank you!
I do not think so. I checked it and the changes that you mentioned is there. But there’s no way to revert it through the settings.
I just downloaded VLC on my Lenovo Chromebook. Is there a way to make new folders? I do not want all my videos showing up right away when the Videos tab is opened. Can I make a new folder in VLC and hide some away?
Go to ☰ > Settings > Extra Settings – Videos > Group videos. You will find the options there. Full information in this post.
Recent upgrade to v3.1.6 is causing me a problem. When I listen to podcasts I often want to skip a section. I have been doing this using the progress bar at the bottom of the screen. I turn to landscape mode to get a longer bar and therefore a finer resolution on where I wind up after tapping it. Version 3.1.6 has decided to put the playlist on half the screen in landscape mode, shortening the progress bar. I have hunted a lot but can not find a way to turn off this playlist. Can it be done? If not, could it be added to a future rev?
Yes, I see that the playlist covers the right half of the screen. I too cannot find any option to hide it.
Same, is very annoying. Can’t tap anywhere to +/-10s either
Hello, Please help, How can I change the setting that the VLC automatically launch and playing music when bluetooth device connecting to my phone? I can’t find it in the settings… Thanks!
Go to ☰ > Settings > Audio > Headset and uncheck Detect Headset and Resume on headset insertion
The menu options imply there is casting options, but I can find a way to get it connected to my smart TV. Anyone know how to do this?
Hello,
I cant get VLC to find video files when it auto scans.Also, media art does not match audio file for either book or album.
Thank you
VLC is not playing nicely with my Chromecast Audio renderer. When I select a webradio stream from a VLC playlist and direct it to Chromecast Audio (“music speaker”) it connects with a success tone, but there’s no music and sometimes VLC says the stream “cannot be played”. Yet when I disconnect the renderer the stream starts playing on my phone. One time a stream did play with Chromecast but it took about 30 seconds and I wasn’t able to connect again. The Chromecast info display/volume control does not indicate by name that VLC is connected like it does for Spotify and other apps that work flawlessly in my setup.
I’d love to get VLC to work because it’s the only Android app I’ve found that displays song titles and artists in a webradio stream. Thanks for any and all help.
Hmmm.
Seems something has changed in a newer update.
I use VLC on my phone to play music videos, and I used to be able to shuffle them, but now when I open the menu with equalpize/repeat/shuffle etc, and I tap shuffle, it just removes the crossed arrows and doesnt highligth them in yellow to indicate it is on.
Bit annoying at least for me.
Hey John, I’ve been trying to figure out where in VLC one goes to get it to shuffle randomly through a folder of music tracks. Can you explain where that is? I don’t see an option under the hamburger menu or the three dots.
A couple of things I would like to be able to do. (1) Adjust the font size of movie titles in the UI. (2) I have jpeg images for every movie title and would like to display these instead of the generic movie folder.
is there a way to turn off the seeking time when you fast forward the movie? for example when i fast forward the movie to like 1:20 then on the middle of the screen it says 1:20 in a rectangular box. is there a way to fast forward or rewind without that rectangular box that shows how much i have rewinded or fast forwarded?
I can’t seem to find anything in the settings that will turn that Toast message off.
Inside directories, you cannot play *.VOB as VLC states the directory is empty.
You can play these from the video menu, but not the directory menu.
The issue here is in the video menu, the VOB are all grouped in the video grouping.
And as all Vobs are the same file name they are hard to find.
This could be fixed, if they were found in the directory section under there folder name.
Or if we had the play DVD option same as windows desktop.
VLC for Android plays a short static burst at the start of opening some mkv files and will hitch before playing it. Reproduced on 3 devices; a nvidia shield (Android 7), nokia 9 (Android Pie) and Samsung Galaxy S5e (Android Pie).
The common denominator seems to be that the files have opus audio tracks, but the files play normally in Windows and on Android using alternative players. Have tried disabling hw acceleration to no effect.
Hi there. I’m using the app on an android ad display. Is there any way to set up a video or piece of media to auto play once the app has started? Basically I need a video or pic to display once the app has kicked in. Thanks
I don’t think so.
album artwork is very low-res (pixely, not blurry) since the last update. If I click the three dots by a track, then “Information”, it displays the album art fine. And album art displays on the lock screen fine too. Just within the folder, it’s pixely?!
Does it happen for all the album arts or for just a handful of albums?
Is there some way to stop VLC from trying to generate thumbnails for videos while browsing for files?
Everything was fine in the last version (3.0.6?) but the new version (3.1.0) generates thumbnails regardless of what settings I try to change. I already tried putting blank files named “.nomedia” and “.thumbnails” in my media directories.
My Android App just upgraded to 3.1.1. The 3-dot menu no longer has the access to the EQ settings and I can’t find them anywhere. Is this a bug? I have been using VLC for years and really like the EQ.
The equalizer is still there for the audio and video player. In the audio player, use the three vertical dots option that is available on the absolute top-right in the expanded audio player interface. For the video player interface, use the three horizontal dots in the player’s interface near the bottom.
Thanks for replying.
I see only one 3-dot menu in the upper right of the audio interface (Hamburger->Audio). When I select it, I get “Last Playlist”, “Sort By”, and “Refresh”, but there is no Equalizer like there used to be.
I have a Moto G5 Plus running Android 8.1.0.
For me, I open up a song and then drag the entire player from the bottom of the screen. Then there are two of those three dots options button on the top-right area. Use the one that is on the absolute top-right. Screenshot below:
Hi … thanks, that worked! Now, I would say that’s kind of a hidden place for it. I think it belongs under Hamburger -> Audio -> Options where it used to be. At least I can find it again.
If I may, I have a suggestion for the EQ. I use my own EQ curve and have saved the DB values so that I can duplicate them on a dew device.
I find that moving the EQ band sliders up and down within 0.1 DB is difficult. I always overshoot. It would be great if the EQ bands had an up/down arrow with 0.1 db resolution, or if there was a Setting where you could just enter the numbers corresponding to the bands. Just something to think about in new releases.
Also, I REALLY like the new navigation trail when using ‘Directories’ mode. It used to be that there was no way to go up a level without exiting the App.
THANK YOU! I have been banging my head on this one….to the point of looking for other players! Why did they make it so hard to find???
Yep, some things are like that.
Hi, forgive my ignorance but i have vlc for android 3.1.4. I have some videos that i would like to do a bit of editing on but i cannot find the editing controls. Does vlc for android not have any? Thanks in advance…
Yep, Android version of VLC doesn’t have any editing feature.
Can VLC autoplay the last playlist used on startup?
I do not think so.
Yes if using bluetooth or play button on headphones.
How to play random music ?
Get the little menu to appear at the bottom, with the play/pause/forward etc and touch the crossed arrows. // arrows repeats the same song
When i add subtitles to video how do i share the video or get it in my camera roll with the subtitles.. i want to share the video.. please help
If I use VLC Android to listen to audio over bluetooth, the next time my phone connects to the same bluetooth device, VLC auto-launches and starts playing. This happens even if I force quit VLC. The only way I’ve found to prevent this is to use another audio app (eg. Spotify) after using VLC. Is there a way to prohibit this behavior?
I want to record a network stream onto my Samsung 8 phone. Is it possible?
Android’s VLC app doesn’t allow us to record stuff.
Why?
Because it is a multimedia player and not a recorder, not yet.
After you have entered a stream URL, (e.g. http://123 …), how do you save it so you can play that stream again without having to reenter the URL?
I have a Suzuki energy smart tv. I have downloaded the VLC program via the playstore to run videos from either a disc on key or external hard drive. However I am now experiencing the following problem- the movie is running out of sync- meaning the picture, the audio and the subtitles are all running at a different speed. Makes it rather difficult to watch a film. Looking for suggestions/solution to this problem. Thank you.
I recently installed the app and I’m having trouble adjusting to it so I have a few questions. I’m having problems with track list because whenever I hit play all on a song it just goes to the first song on the track list and not the one I actually want to listen to, is there any way to fix that? Also is it possible to have the songs in my playlists be organized alphabetically? And is there a way to look at my recently downloaded files?
i would like to create a large playlist of specific era’s of music. How can i add 30 or more songs to a list at once. Thanks for your help.
You would require an external app to edit your ID3 tags instead.
If they belong to a same album and have the same album tags then you can add multiple songs at once. Otherwise, adding one by one is our only option.
Hi, I have VLC on my Firestick, but it keeps stretching the video. I can change the aspect ratio to 4:3, 16:9 stretch, fit etc, but it aways stretches it! It doesn’t happen with any other app e.g. ES media player, or Kodi. I have checked the settings and there is nothing to stop it stretching the vid/resizing it automatically
I’m having the same issue on my firestick, did you find a solution?
No, no solution has been found. I think I’ll switch to another player
Is there any way to change the size of the video thumbnails, or better still arrange by details, etc. ? or am I just not looking hard enough. ?.
VLC is getting there.
Sorting by date would be simply amazing for my life lol
Is there a way to lock the control buttons? Now they disappear after a few seconds.
It is only possible to lock the screen controls so that nothing happens when you tap on the display.
Hi, how can edit the name of “Unknown Artist” in my audio files? Can’t find an option to do that. Must be possible!!
Your audio files have “Unknown Artist” when they are displayed because the ID3 tags of the MP3 files are not complete. You should find an ID3 tag editor app and input the artist and other details by yourself on those files with missing tags.
Hi VLC, how can I make VLC stop making freaking “Folder” for my MP4 videos … I just want to see them Alphabetically. I have read & read and nothing. I have added the movies to SD Card and I am using it in Samsung Android Tablet. Thanks!
Maybe you can try the grouping methods listed in this post: https://www.vlchelp.com/grouping-listing-video-orientation-android/
Hi I love VLC but I have a slight problem when playing MP3 and audio files where the music stops for a brief second then continues. It does it on my android and pc, can you tell me what I am doing wrong please chris
Is it for all the MP3 files or just a particular song? Also, does this issue come up in the middle of a song or when transitioning between one song to another?
I am using VLC on my Android tab for learning a language which uses MP4 videos. I pause and think then start the video again. After a couple of seconds the Pause menu dissapears automatically. Is there a way to keep the Pause menu visible all the time?
TIA
Glyn
I don’t think that there is an option for that.
Yes, how do we get the VLC Play/Stop/Pause Contols on our Android Screen, when playing Videos on our ChromeCast connected TV ???
(VLC controls simply goes away on the phone during VLC/ChromeCast Video Playback on TV!)
Anyone can help ?
Thx!
How to turn off VLC Media Player? I love this media player but I never discovered the official, proper way to turn the player off completely while it is playing. This is how I do it on my LG G5 with Android 8.0 Oreo:
First, as my three main Android controls are hidden during playback, I swipe up from the bottom of the screen to show them. Next, I press the square ‘Recent Screens’ button and, finally, I press the ‘x’ on the VLC app.
This seems to shut down the media player completely on my phone. If there’s another and better way, I’d love to know it.
When I play a 3D movie using theAndroid version I get two screens. Is there a way to crop one out?
Not in Android. Not yet. Only the desktop’s classic player can do that.
Please add anaglyph with ability to set the depth (to the desktop and Android versions) when VLC playing SBS.
My sorting Options isn’t working, I can only sort it by Name Ascending or Descending, Can sort of by DATE which is Really REALLY helpful for me, and it’s what I want.
How to change User interfase language?
While you can go to Menu > Settings > Interface > Locale to change the language, it doesn’t seem to do anything as of now. But once multi-language support is in full effect, you should be able to use the same option to change VLC for Android’s interface language.
How to download a files from local network to android? The VLC for iphone application has this feature, on the android I can not find it
VLC for Android: Love this player, but how do you turn the darn thing off?
Turn off? Exit the app, perhaps.
What’s the darn thing please
Is it possible to add custom path to USB? I need subtitles and it would be much more convenient to be able to watch videos directly from USB flash drive than copy a video and subtitles to my phone every time I watch sth.
Well, USB and phones. I am not sure how they work. But if you directly connect your USB to your phone using some medium, you may be able to browse to your desired subtitles and media.
Is it possible to copy a video file directly from VLC android to a pen drive via an OTG adapter?
You wouldn’t require VLC android for copying/pasting.
how to display songs by filename and not their meta tags?
You can group them as per your preference. It is explained in this article: https://www.vlchelp.com/grouping-listing-video-orientation-android/
Is there a way to loop a video play on android app? I want to display a video that is a set of images in my store. Thanks
Use the repeat mode that is accessible after you press on the three dots/ellipses. If it is activated a “1” should display in the middle of the arrows and your present video should repeat indefinitely.
Two main issues with playlists:
1. Is it possible to reorder the tracks in a playlist, it seems that they are ordered in the sequence they are added and can’t be moved around.
2. VLC will often lose the contents of the playlist, or will lose all of the tracks I added except those that were added much later.
In setting up Local Network folders, I can’t set a SFTP port with more than 2 digits. I run SSH at home on port 443 (in order to connect to my home from work, through my company’s firewall which is pretty locked down but has 443 open). In VLC Local Network folders, setting up SFTP with standard port 22 works and is saved with the shortcut, port 99 works, but when I enter port 443 the previewed complete server path erases the “:443”. It’s odd – as I type ’44’ the preview shows ‘sftp://[email protected]:44″ but when I enter the 3rd digit ‘3’, the preview erases the ‘:443’ and reverts to simply ‘sftp://[email protected]’ . This is on VLC 3.0.13 on Android 8.0 (Samsung Galaxy S7 on Verizon).
Any thoughts?
How do i navigate the past the menu screen when viewing a dvd iso?
Once the video is open, Press on the second button from the interface and choose the Audio track option. It should allow you to select another audio track if the video has another audio track available it itself. You can’t choose an external audio track though.
Hi feel like I’ve read everything I can and still can’t get the VLC to stream on my Android phone. My big problem in the hamburger drop down on every picture/explanation I have found, there is the “Stream” tab but when I open the app I do not have the same choice of tabs. I have uninstalled and reinstalled. So does anyone know how to add the stream tab or has had similar problem? Any help would be appreciated.
The new updates should help you out.
Why does the Android version of vlc player not have the record facility?
I think it is probably because they developed it as a video/audio player without the media editing features for Android.
how to play video with separated audio file (X0X.mkv with X0X.dts) in VLC android 3.2.12version, would you help me?
How do I get VLC to play audio when the screen is locked/off? Audio plays for 15 seconds and then shuts off. Pressing the power button immediately starts playback. Video is set to playback on the background but that doesn’t seem to have any effect on the audio.
During VLC Cromecast Video PlayBack, I don’t get any “Controls” (Buttons) to e.g. “Pause/Stop/Play” etc. – the actual Movie – Only the (Big / Orange) VLC-Logo is shown on my “Galaxy S7 Edge” Phone Screen playing the movie on my TV!
So it’s a little tricky to manage my VLC Player in this VLC CromeCast PlayBack Situation 🙁
Therefore, what can I possibly do, to get my VLC PlayBack Control.Buttons on the phone-screen during CromeCast Video PlayBack on my TV!?
Pls help – Thanks!
i want help…. my vlc just play the songs which are in sd card .. so how can i change storage path to internal memory
Go to Menu > Settings > Media Library Folders and select your SD card and unselect everything else.
I gather VLC stores playlists in an internal database. How can I backup the database?
Where is the database stored?
Thank you in advance for your help
In /data/data/org.videolan.vlc/app_db/vlc_media.db
Why is there nothing in the ~root internal~/data/ directory except .push_deviceid and a bunch of them that are pre-made but never seen at ~~/Android/data/org.videolan.vlc/lua/playlist/ ?
Has this directory changed somehow? Are these “hidden” hidden files? app_db folder doesnt show up under android/data/org.videolan.vlc
I want to “import” a vlc_media.db i saved before resetting my phone. Thanks for the help
In my phone, the vlc_media.db file is located in root > sdcard. It is basically the root folder where other folders like DCIM and Download exists.
Can I put a playlist from VLC to be a shortcut icon on the home screen of my android phone (OS Oreo 8.1)?
If yes..how to do it?
Ty
I don’t think so. You only can add the player as a widget on the home screen.
I use vlc on Windows daily… But on Android.. can you also save your files with the eq settings? I record the drums and use pro audio software.. but sometimes that little bit extra from vlc compressor and eq on Windows make it just right.. or.. do I have to find a screen recorder and internal audio recorder (they all disappeared??? Even my way studio used to do it. But not anymore???)
It is not possible to edit the audio in VLC for Android. All you have is the equalizer and compressor for playback
i have installed VLC app on my Android Smart TV
when ever i increase the volume the screen appears
So, Is there a way to hide the volume increasing screen?
Thanks
I don’t think so.
The desktop version has in Tools>Preferences? Subtitles and OSD option to stop showing the video title when the video starts to play. Can you please let me know if it is available in the App version too?
I do not think that the same menu layout is available for the app. It has a different way to load up the subtitles.
thanks for the feedback, but we want the title name not to show when the video is played in a loop.It can be disabled in the desktop version through Tools> Preferences> Subtitles and OSD and disable the show title at the start option.
Is this option available on the app version?
Want this too… any solutions yet? Using a projector with android tv and want a loop without the file names showing…
Please…. I want this also!! I am using it to play looped videos in a cosplay prop and it sucks to see the video name come up every time it switches.
Please! I am using VLC on a small Android tablet to loop videos for a cosplay prop and every new video pops up the video title! Just an option to shut that off would totally solve all my issues!
Hey, thanks for the Android port, its an excellent tool. I often use it on my Samsung tablet to Cast content off the local network. Every 30 minutes or so it loses connectivity, either to the Chromecast or the network drive, not clear which. Any idea what can be could be causing this, and what I could do about it? VLC isn’t crashing, although it obviously stops playing the content.
Hi. I have a Samsung phone and I have been able to install VLC with no problem. My wife has just acquired an Huawei phone and when I tried to install VLC via Google Play I kept getting directed to what I think are “clone” versions, it won’t take me to a VideoLAN version.
Help?
Yes and it is because VLC has blacklisted Huwawei phones from installing the app. They are looking for a way around though.
Installed w/o a hitch on my Huwawei Honor 6.
Hello, i would like to reorder my playlist. Some of the tracks i want to move-up. For example when i add a song into the playlist it will go to the bottom of the list. Now i don’t like this. I want to bring it to first.
Yes, I can’t seem to find the option to re-order playlist anywhere. They should come with future upgrades.
Hello. Any chance of getting visualizations in the Android version?
is it possible to loop a portion of a video on an android device, similar to the looping function on the desktop version?
No.
How does the A-B repeat work?
Let’s say you are in a video at the 10 seconds mark. When you go to the options and click on the A-B repeat option, it will mark the 10-second point as A. Again, let the video play to the 20 seconds mark (or navigate to it directly). Press the same A-B option and you have marked the point B. So, A = 10 seconds and B = 20 seconds point. Now when you let the A-B play, it will repeat from the 10 seconds points in the video to 20 seconds continuously.
Hi!
Can u tell if it is possible to click the image during stream? I need to save it in my phone’s gallery.
Thx
Take a screenshot. Usually, it’s the volume up button and your power button pressed at the same time.
OK. So is it possible to record video in a stream?
I don’t think so.
There is no option for play next and previous in my vlc player . Is it will enable by any setting.
I think, only the audio player has those buttons.
It seems that whenever I play a video file, the repeat mode is enabled by default. I combed through all the settings and there is no way to change this behavior in the VLC Android app. I want the app to return to list of videos after I’m done playing a video, by default, instead of having to disable repeat mode manually every time, which gets tedious after a while. Please help. Using a One plus 3T with all latest app and OS/system updates.
Maybe you can try the “Save repeat mode” option available under Settings > Audio?
Thanks for the reply. I had that option ticked because I like to play my playlists in a loop, but apparently it is also affecting the behavior of videos. You are right, turning it off did turn off auto repeat in videos, but this behavior of audio playlist settings affecting single video playback seems more like a design flaw than a feature. Now I’ll have to restart my playlists manually every time…Oh well…
I urgently need to bookmark some of my audio tracks on Windows then listen to them on Android.
Do you think is it possible?
If not, would you suggest other app?
If you remember the time frame of your audio, you can use the “Jump to time” feature to go to the exact minutes and seconds of your audio tracks.
Thanks but no way, bookmarks can recall, can be saved, attached to a file and jump to all the moments in all files i need to.
No one is willing to implement this simple – compared to other – yet efficient and i think most wanted code to the app?
Is there a way to let the developers know what’s required?
You will find the necessary information here: https://www.videolan.org/contact.html
I listen to audio books all the time, a large book could be in 4 parts, each 12 hours long. Is there any way to set a ‘bookmark’ manually now and then, as I have occasionally pressed something, lost my place, then it is a nightmare to tap through the recording to try to locate where I was up to. Appreciate any help on this. Thanks
In Android, use the “Jump to Time” feature to go to the exact time that you want to (instead of tapping through).
Hi,
I’m using the latest VLC version (3.0.10) on my Android (5.1.1) smartphone (Wiko Rainbow Jam 4G).
Album art as lockscreen doesn’t seem to work. Almost all my albums have art attached (individually tagged to each mp3 file) and it is correctly displayed as the playlist background when my screen is not locked and I’m inside the app.
Tried uninstalling/reinstalling the app, removed all my media files from my SD card and put them back on, didn’t change anything.
On a side note, is there any way to save the playlist files somewhere so as not to lose them when reinstalling (or even updating) the app?
Thanks
Make sure that album art feature is enabled. Go to ☰ > Settings > Extra settings > Audio and check ☑Media cover on lockscreen option.
using a galaxy S4 with S/D card, have the VLC app on the card, but can’t get app to find the music folder. settings, media library folders, have the card selected, but inside, none of the folders are selectable.
See applications in menu titled “Folder”
How to add mp3 that is currently playing into one of my playlist in Android VLC?
When I click 3 dots next to currently playing song, it shows menu that has options: remove, set as ringtone.
I wish there would be 3rd option says Add to playlist.
thanks
Seems like it’s not possible from those three dots. But the one on the top that brings the on screen options, that can be used to create a new playlist. But it’ll create a playlist with all the songs in the current queue. Press the three dots on the top and hit the save icon.
What does enable fast week option do and mean?
Those two buttons that allow you to go a couple of seconds forward or backward.
Why can I NOT remove or rename a playlist in VLC? It makes me want to change apps.
How do you play 3d movies on VLC via android tablet?
What happens when you play it? I don’t think it is built for that.
My version is 3.0.5, Android on Chromebook. Just got the app today. Many features you mention do not show up. The VLC app is missing lots of things. I will keep trying.
Is it support vulkan automatically or openGL ES2 by default?
Hi, Im trying to cast with 5.1 audio, what settings do i need to do this
There isn’t a separate setting for that.
Extra settings -> advanced -> clear media database should ONLY clear media database and should not take us to android app to reset the app in whole.