Michal Ždanský VideoLAN has released a new version of its media player for iOS that, among other things, also brings an iOS 7-style look update. This is not necessarily a cause for rejoicing, as, like other apps before it, it has lost a bit of its charm and not gained as much in beauty. The changes are immediately visible on the main screen. This now consists of a matrix of video previews on the iPad or banners on the iPhone displaying the video title, footage and resolution.
A nice new feature is that based on the title, VLC can recognize individual series series and groups them into a group that works much like a folder. In order for the application to correctly detect series, it is necessary to have file names in the format "Title 01×01" or "Title s01e01". VLC has also reserved its own menu item for series, so you can quickly filter them out from other videos.
Another big news is the integration of Google Drive, which follows the already present Dropbox. Connecting to the service requires one-time authentication, i.e. entering an email and password, and Google Drive is then present as another menu item. The app doesn't bother much with hierarchy and will only offer a list of all the videos and audio files it finds on the service, forget about sorting by folders. Videos can then be downloaded to the application from the cloud and only then played. On the other hand, Dropbox got the ability to stream without the need to download, but this function does not work very reliably and downloading the video is still a better option.
According to VideoLAN, Wi-Fi transmission has also been completely rewritten. To what result, it is not stated, however, the transfer speed is between 1-1,5 MB/s, so still not very fast, and a better alternative is to upload videos to the application via iTunes. There are also new multi-touch gestures, they are not described anywhere, so users will have to figure them out themselves. But for example, tap with two fingers to pause playback, and pull down with two fingers to close the video.
VLC has supported a large number of non-native formats for a long time, in the update more were added, this time for streaming. On blog VLC specifically mentioned m3u streams. In the update we also find other minor improvements such as the option to save bookmarks for FTP servers, and finally there is support for the Czech language, which the desktop version has been enjoying for a long time. VLC for iOS is a free download on the App Store, and despite its minor bugs and flaws, it's one of the best video playback apps out there right now.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/vlc-for-ios/id650377962?mt=8″]
If it plays mp3/flac, after playing one track it cannot continue to the next one, the next track must be switched manually. I don't understand whose idea it was.
http://n-player.net/ to the rescue