Announcing VLC for Chrome OS

16 December 2015

VLC on ChromeOS

ChromeOS is one of the last Operating Systems where you could not run VLC and play all your media as you wished. :)

Even worse, it was the only significant Desktop Operating Systems that we did not support (so far, VLC exists for Windows, OS X, Linux, BSD, Solaris, OS/2, Haiku/BeOS, ReactOS).

At the same time, VLC for Android is quite popular and is supported on most phones and tablets, and is currently being expanded to Android TVs or other forms of Android.

Today, I’m pleased to tell you that you can use it now! DOWNLOAD!

Chrome-Player.jpg

Android Runtime on Chrome

A few months ago, the Chrome team announced the possibility to run some Android applications on Chrome OS using the new Android Runtime for Chrome. Starting from that moment, we wanted to support this runtime.

Why did we want ARC support?

VLC is mostly a native application on all ​platforms​, using low-level APIs to output video, audio and get access to threads. VLC is using mostly C, C++ and hand-crafted ASM to get the best performance, as required for a realtime application.

Therefore, it’s currently impossible to port VLC to Javascript and other Web technologies (or FirefoxOS). It might be possible in the future, but this is off-topic. :D

Usually, the mobile ports of VLC, like VLC for Android, VLC for iOS or Windows phone, use the native language of the platforms to create the interfaces and the media database.

For ChromeOS, the only solution we saw, before ARC was announced, was using PPAPI, NaCL and Javascript, but that would require to rewrite a complete interface in Javascript and would be a bit problematic for the database. That work would have taken months of work.

Therefore the ARC solution was a blessing, and helped us to recycle 95% of the Android code and optimizations we did in the last months (some are not released yet).

Of course, some work was required, nothing is magical, but way less than other solutions.

Features

VLC on ChromeOS supports:

  • all video files supported in VLC, including MKV and DVD ISOs,
  • all audio files supported in VLC, including FLAC and other weird audio formats,
  • subtitles files, from SRT to SSA and with auto-detection, when possible,
  • a media database like on Android and iOS to select the right medias, and resume playback,
  • playback of streams, local and on the internet, include adaptive streaming like HLS or DASH,
  • we also support playlists, accelerated playback, audio equalizer, audio/video synchronization and hardware accelerated video/audio decoding.

Chrome video listing

Open Source and Free Software

As everything VideoLAN is doing, VLC for ChromeOS is completely free and open source.

We would LOVE help to improve this port! Join the community, fork the code and send patches!

The source code is licensed under the GPL (v2 or later) and is currently distributed as GPLv3, like VLC for Android.

Compatibility

The current version was tested on the 2 ChromeBooks we had access to:

  • a Chromebook Pixel,
  • an HP Chromebook 14.

It is possible that there are issues with other machines, and we ADVISE to use the latest Chrome 48 or the current beta version, to test VLC.

Please report the bugs, if you can!

Nota Bene: ChromeBit

Currently, the Chromebit by ASUS is untested, because it seems to be not available in France yet, and ASUS did not answer to our query to get access to one.

Any testing on this would be welcome!

Nota Bene 2: ARChon

In the same way, ARChon Runtime is currently not supported, because it was not tested at all.

Help on this is welcome too!

Download

You can download it here!

Be careful, it’s just the first release, but for now, Enjoy!

Jean-Baptiste Kempf

Comments

  1. On 3 May 3030, 2:45 by cassaranks

    VLC one of the great media player of our time. I have used it for so many projects. Keep supporting this player it has a great future. Now my studio multi-display will look even greater. what more can I can I say

  2. On 30 May 30300, 5:49 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Peter Payne: please file a bugreport, and we will do it.

  3. On 29 May 29290, 1:59 by Peter Payne

    Love the app, HOWEVER. You guys didn’t put in the +30 seconds/-30 seconds buttons that are totally useful, in apps like Azul.

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  9. On 20 May 20200, 10:18 by Kevin

    Works on Acer C720 but player crashes sometimes when seeking some 720p res videos. Some 720p videos don’t play well and the video freezes with the audio still playing. Appreciate the work nonetheless, hope to see some updates down the road.

  10. On 20 May 20200, 10:09 by Werf Weg is a virgin

    Can confirm it’s working on a Acer C720P, thanks a lot guys!

  11. On 20 May 20200, 10:11 by Anonymous blog

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  14. On 20 May 20200, 2:13 by Guest

    Slower (skips frames) than the native Google player on Acer CB3-111-C8UB (dual-core Intel Celeron N2830) when playing 720p mkvs with hardware acceleration toggled on VLC. Turned it off, and it performed much better. However the files would display a green overlay in the first few seconds. This goes away by seeking manually back to 0:00.

    Going to full screen or resizing the window while a file is playing seems to always crash the player. To get around this, go full screen before opening a file.

    This is just the first official release and I have faith in the VLC team.

  15. On 20 May 20200, 2:03 by Anonymous blog

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  17. On 19 May 19190, 8:16 by Anonymous blog

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  18. On 19 May 19190, 7:46 by Anonymous blog

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  19. On 19 May 19190, 7:45 by Anonymous blog

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  24. On 19 May 19190, 3:38 by Anonymous blog

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  25. On 19 May 19190, 2:17 by Anonymous blog

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  30. On 19 May 19190, 12:23 by carmona

    Just tested on an ASUS C300 Chromebook, working flawlessly =)

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  33. On 19 May 19190, 8:42 by Anonymous blog

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  34. On 19 May 19190, 4:17 by Anonymous blog

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  35. On 19 May 19190, 4:17 by Anonymous blog

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  36. On 18 May 18180, 10:58 by Anonymous blog

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  37. On 18 May 18180, 10:43 by Anonymous blog

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  38. On 18 May 18180, 10:43 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) Quem usa ou já usou Chrome OS sabe como é sofrido tentar tocar qualquer tipo de mídia. Não há um player nativo e a oferta de aplicativos que tentam remediar esse problema é muito baixa (e muitos não (…)

  39. On 18 May 18180, 7:37 by Anonymous blog

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  41. On 18 May 18180, 6:35 by Anonymous blog

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  42. On 18 May 18180, 6:31 by Anonymous blog

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  43. On 18 May 18180, 6:21 by Anonymous blog

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  44. On 18 May 18180, 5:38 by Anonymous blog

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  51. On 18 May 18180, 3:16 by Anonymous blog

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  52. On 18 May 18180, 1:16 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Kostya: ha ha ha :) You troll!

    @mackanory: you should already have the ISO support in!

  53. On 18 May 18180, 1:13 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Hugh: when WebAssembly get threads, yes, that might be possible.

    @Maxence: this is a bit different from the Android version, so you should use that instead :)

    @Jason: please file a bugreport on our bugtracker!

  54. On 18 May 18180, 12:29 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) No es un estreno menor, pues aunque Chrome OS ya dispone de su propio reproductor multimedia, VLC son palabras mayores. Lo son en PC, lo son en el móvil y ahora, esperemos, lo serán también en (…)

  55. On 18 May 18180, 12:27 by Anonymous blog

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  56. On 18 May 18180, 12:14 by mackanory

    Guys,

    Wonderful wonderful job on this - which means that I can use my Chromebook for the kids media playback and get my “proper” laptop back for proper work!

    Incidentally, tested on 2014 Dell Chromebook 11 (with Haswell). Can also test on an Acer C720, will update when I’ve done this.

    Looking forward to testing DVD ISO playback too, which will save me a fair bit of Handbrake re-encoding I thought was on the cards!

    Thanks again!

  57. On 18 May 18180, 11:57 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) No es un estreno menor, pues aunque Chrome OS ya dispone de su propio reproductor multimedia, VLC son palabras mayores. Lo son en PC, lo son en el móvil y ahora, esperemos, lo serán también en (…)

  58. On 18 May 18180, 11:57 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) No es un estreno menor, pues aunque Chrome OS ya dispone de su propio reproductor multimedia, VLC son palabras mayores. Lo son en PC, lo son en el móvil y ahora, esperemos, lo serán también en (…)

  59. On 18 May 18180, 11:27 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) No es un estreno menor, pues aunque Chrome OS ya dispone de su propio reproductor multimedia, VLC son palabras mayores. Lo son en PC, lo son en el móvil y ahora, esperemos, lo serán también en (…)

  60. On 18 May 18180, 11:27 by Anonymous blog

    VLC llega a Chrome OS | Lockear

    (…) No es un estreno menor, pues aunque Chrome OS ya dispone de su propio reproductor multimedia, VLC son palabras mayores. Lo son en PC, lo son en el móvil y ahora, esperemos, lo serán también en (…)

  61. On 18 May 18180, 10:00 by Kostya

    You still haven’t written an explanation why you can’t accept “web workers” instead of POSIX threads for VLC (people will ask anyway even if OS is dead already).

  62. On 18 May 18180, 9:39 by Jason

    Seems to work fine. Handles all video formats thrown at it so far. However can’t seem to get it to recognize external SRT subtitle files. When I go to select the file manually, it shows “SDCard” of which I do not have one installed. As usual, the video and srt file are named the same and located in the same foler. Any suggestions?

  63. On 18 May 18180, 9:12 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) Jeżeli używacie Chromebooka jako maszyny multimedialnej, zdecydowanie powinniście zainteresować się tą aplikacją. VLC dla Chrome OS jest równie potężny, jak na innych platformach. (…)

  64. On 18 May 18180, 8:51 by Anonymous blog

    Dank Android Runtime: VLC Video Player gibt es jetzt auch

    (…) » VLC im Chrome Web Store » Ankündigung von VLC (…)

  65. On 18 May 18180, 8:08 by Anonymous blog

    Technable | Making you Technically Able

    (…) VLC for Chrome OS is available for download for free here. The developers say they tested the app on the Chromebook Pixel and HP Chromebook 14, so other devices may experience issues. The team (…)

  66. On 18 May 18180, 7:23 by Anonymous blog

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  67. On 18 May 18180, 6:40 by Anonymous blog

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  68. On 18 May 18180, 5:46 by KojiroAK

    @1
    actually “VLC” can “BD” on Windows. You just have to know what you “look for”.

    There are legal reasons why it doesn’t work out of the box .

  69. On 18 May 18180, 4:17 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) source: VLC (…)

  70. On 18 May 18180, 2:22 by Anonymous blog

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    (…) VLC for Chrome OS is available for download for free here. The developers say they tested the app on the Chromebook Pixel and HP Chromebook 14, so other devices may experience issues. The team (…)

  71. On 18 May 18180, 2:15 by Anonymous blog

    VLC launches on Chrome OS with support for all sorts of

    (…) VLC for Chrome OS is available for download for free here. The developers say they tested the app on the Chromebook Pixel and HP Chromebook 14, so other devices may experience issues. The team (…)

  72. On 18 May 18180, 2:15 by Anonymous blog

    VLC launches on Chrome OS with support for all sorts of

    (…) VLC for Chrome OS is available for download for free here. The developers say they tested the app on the Chromebook Pixel and HP Chromebook 14, so other devices may experience issues. The team (…)

  73. On 18 May 18180, 2:14 by Maxence

    I’m using android_x86 nightlies with ARC since a some months and it works great on Asus C300. :)
    Just the dark theme can’t be activated.

  74. On 17 May 17170, 11:58 by Hugh Isaacs II

    This is awesome.

    Down the line for a web based version of VLC instead of using NaCL you guys should look at Web Assembly.
    Google, Mozilla, Microsoft and Apple are all behind it, so even though it’d still take months of work to build the cross platform support would make it all worth it.

  75. On 17 May 17170, 10:28 by Anonymous blog

    VLC brings its media playback prowess to Chrome OS, but it’s

    (…)

  76. On 17 May 17170, 10:19 by Reinoud

    Doesn’t work on my Samsung XE-303C12 either. I can install it and I see the icon but when I click on it the apps window disappears and nothing happens.
    I’m currently using version 47.0.2526.106
    Platform 7520.63.0 (Official Build) stable-channel daisy
    Firmware Google_Snow.2695.117.0

  77. On 17 May 17170, 10:03 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Brian: use the fullscreen key!

  78. On 17 May 17170, 9:58 by Brian

    any way to get full screen (or auto hide the top nav bar)…?

  79. On 17 May 17170, 9:49 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Luke: you misunderstood me: you cannot upload an app using ARC on the Chrome store and have it target all the Chrome versions. It’s a limitation of the ChromeStore.

  80. On 17 May 17170, 9:38 by Luke

    Well, actually I’ve been using ARC for the Chrome browser on Windows for over a year now.
    It was installed automatically along with ARC Welder chrome app, which IS available on the Chrome browser. You may want to investigate a little bit into this..
    As a matter of fact, ARC itself was never meant to work on a standalone Chrome browser, but it actually is working. It might have some bugs in it, but nothing major that I have noticed so far.. It really might be worth checking into this.

    ARC Welder: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/…

  81. On 17 May 17170, 9:35 by Anonymous blog

    VLC brings its media playback prowess to Chrome OS, but it’s

    (…)

  82. On 17 May 17170, 9:22 by NeilP

    Doesn’t work on Samsung XE-303C12. Seems to install, icon appears in apps. Clicking icon does nothing… I would help by going in to developer mode, but it’s not my machine. Sorry!

  83. On 17 May 17170, 9:08 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Luke: so far, this is not possible, because there is no ARC on other Chrome. Just on ChromeOS.

  84. On 17 May 17170, 9:07 by Jean-Baptiste Kempf

    @Werf Weg: so nice of you. But, yes, VLC can blu-ray disc, once you remove the DRM. Just buy AnyDVD-HD instead of insulting the developers.

  85. On 17 May 17170, 8:55 by Luke

    This is so awesome! Just few days ago I’ve been looking for some media player that supports mkv which runs on Chrome.. I actually found some thread that discusses the possibility of VLC being ported to Chrome using ARC. I’m so glad it really happened!

    Is there any chance that you will add support for the Chrome browser on other OS, because currently you can only install it on ChromeOS, which is cool, but it will be even more cool if you could install it on all devices which have a Chrome browser and support apps\extensions.. this might be the one and only really cross-platform player.

  86. On 17 May 17170, 7:55 by Werf Weg

    And yet another absurd micro-mini-me technological “feature”.

    But can VLC play a Blu-ray disc (10 years old technology), on Windows (market share 90%)?

    No, VLC can’t. You clowns.