VLC player hits Android, MBP w/ Retina Display

The world’s most beloved freeware (that plays almost any media format you throw at it) is now available for the Android OS. The Mac OSX version on the other hand, has received some serious optimizations.

VLC 2.0.2 for Mac now supports the Retina Display (HiDPI) on the new 15″ MacBook Pro, this, among a few other refinements include: A new Mac interface, enhancements done to the crop features and the “go automatically to full screen” feature has been brought back. Aspect ratio is also now displayed like it was in the 1.1.x releases.

Here’s excerpt of the complete changelog:

Enabled drag and drop of playlist items between the temporary playlist and the persistent media library
Various video output improvements, notably for crop, zoom, osd and menu support
Enabled import of playlist items taken from the service discovery modules to the media library or the temporary playlist
Added media key support for keyboards by other manufacturers than Apple.
Added HiDPI / Retina Display save UI artwork
Restored the preferences’ fullscreen options, which allows the user to start videos directly in fullscreen mode
Keep Aspect Ratio when resizing is back

To see the full list of changes and bug fixes addressed on the VLC 2.0.2, click here.

As for the ported VLC app for Android. We’ve all been anxiously waiting for VideoLAN to finally help us with our video-playback issues on our Android devices (not that I have any problems with MX Player, I have none), after a lengthy wait for approval, Google has now given VideoLAN the green light to offer the VLC player via the Play Store.

It’s worth noting that the VLC player for Android is currently in BETA version. According to the developers, “It is intended for power users and hackers,” and that “the current version is NOT stable and is slower than the final version”. They’ve even added a pop-up message upon opening the app for the first time: “It might kill your kitten, destroy your house and start the mayan apocalypse. Use it at your own risk. Have Fun! :)”

Well, we don’t know about that but if you’re brave enough to try it out, head on to the Play Store and start downloading!

Note: The current version of VLC player is only compatible with devices that are equipped with an ARMv7 CPU that will support NEON. The developer has promised that other devices will be supported by other versions of the application soon.

To find out more about ARM’s NEON instructions, please click here.

Kevin Go

Kevin is a blogger, avid gamer and always keeps himself updated with the latest trends in technology. He's still a bit shy so no Twitter and Facebook link here.