You can now play virtually all of your media on the new Apple TV as the hotly awaited and long promised VLC, deemed the most used player across the globe, has finally arrived.
VideoLAN announced in a blog post the availability of its VLC Media Player for the Apple TV, which comes with handy features for Apple's media streaming device.
The open source project claims the new Apple TV version of the app is a "full port of VLC media player combined with platform specific features."
"VLC for Apple TV integrates with a plethora of devices and services on your local network and includes a custom way of casting files directly to the TV from your other computers using a web browser," says VideoLAN.
At the moment, though, VideoLAN is beta testing Apple TV support for cloud services, such as OneDrive, Box and Dropbox, through the TestFlight platform.
Here's a list of new features which have been integrated into the app for tvOS.
Content Discovery
With the use of the SMB, UPnP media server, FTP and PLEX protocols, the app automatically discovers video files stored on your local network. You can browse the videos by means of the remote or the clicker and pick one you want to play. On top of that, you can add subtitles during playback. Subtitles can be sourced from OpenSubtitles.org.
Saved Logins
You can safely save your login credentials on your Apple TV. These credentials can be synchronized with your iPhone or iPad for easy access.
Remote Playback
On your computer's web browser, you can key in the IP address displayed by the app on the Apple TV. When an interface appears, you will then drag and drop a video file you wish to remotely play on your TV. What's more, you will be allowed to drag and drop multiple files to queue them.
These files will be stored locally on your Apple TV as long as its internal storage does not hit the limits.
The web interface can also be used to play, pause and seek video files.
"For playback of a network stream URL on your TV, just paste it to the field and push return," explains VideoLAN.
Playback
The team specifically notes that the app is increasingly used for watching documentations and educational talks. As such, it is incorporating this functionality of the app, particularly support for custom playback speed.
Of course, the app supports basic play, pause and seek.
In the meantime, the VLC for Chrome OS was launched in December last year.
