Consider using an alternative video player app for iPhone or iPad to enhance your viewing experience.
Are you a fan of watching videos on your iOS device? If so, relying on the default video player app may not be enough, as it may not be capable of supporting certain video formats or codecs you want to play. Additionally, it may not include some of the features or functions you desire, such as network streaming, customizing subtitles, or gesture controls.
Consider using third-party video player apps on iOS for better functionality and flexibility. They allow you to play videos in different formats, access videos from various sources and devices, and customize playback settings. Here are the top 10 video player apps for iPhone and iPad, with pros and cons, pricing, and availability.
How do we choose the Best Video Player Apps for iOS?
Before diving into our top picks, we must understand the criteria we used to evaluate these video player apps. To make our selections, we considered:
- Playback Features: A good video player should offer a range of playback features, including support for various video formats, adjustable playback speed, and the ability to fine-tune audio and video settings.
- Supported Formats: To ensure compatibility with most media files, we looked for apps that support various video formats, including popular ones like MKV, MP4, and AVI.
- User Interface: An intuitive and user-friendly interface is a must. We favor apps with well-designed interfaces that make navigating through your media library easy.
- Subtitle Support: Subtitle support is crucial for those who watch foreign-language films or have hearing impairments. We’ve recommended apps that excel in this aspect, allowing you to customize subtitles.
- Network Streaming: Network streaming is a game-changer if you want to access your media from different devices. LC and nPlayer Plus, in particular, shine in this department.
- Cloud Integration: If you’re constantly on the move, apps that seamlessly integrate with cloud services ensure your media is always accessible.
PlayerXtreme
PlayerXtreme Media Player is one of the most popular and versatile video player apps for iOS devices. It supports almost all video formats and codecs, including MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, and more. You can also play videos from different network devices and cloud services without conversion, such as NAS, SMB, FTP, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc.
This app has various useful features, including streaming videos to your TV or other devices through AirPlay or Chromecast. Using gesture controls, you can easily adjust the volume, brightness, playback speed, and seek position. Additionally, you can protect your videos and folders with a password. Real-time subtitles from OpenSubtitles.org are available in multiple languages, and there are also video enhancement options to adjust contrast, saturation, hue, and more. The premium version costs $6.99 to unlock all features.
OPlayer Lite
OPlayer Lite is a feature-rich video player app specially optimized for iPhone screens. It can play most video formats and codecs without conversion, such as MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, etc. The powerful playback engine handles large files and high resolutions and enhances the video quality by adjusting the aspect ratio, resolution, brightness, contrast, etc.
One better feature is the background playback, allowing you to watch videos while using other apps or locking your screen. With TV-out support, you can connect your iPad to a TV or projector through HDMI or VGA. Transfer files via Wi-Fi or USB to import or export videos from your computer or other devices. In addition to adjusting subtitle settings to change font size, color, position, and encoding, the app lets you customize the appearance with multiple themes and skins. AirPlay and Chromecast are both supported. Unfortunately, the free version has limited features, including ads, a watermark, and a 3-minute limit for certain formats.
KMPlayer
KMPlayer is another robust and reliable video player app for iOS devices. It can play high-resolution videos up to 4K and 8K with smooth performance and minimal battery consumption. It also supports various video formats and codecs, such as MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, etc.
You can use the mirror mode to flip the video horizontally or vertically. Also, you have the speed control option to adjust the playback speed from 0.1x up to 4x. Moreover, the night mode feature can reduce eye strain in dark environments. The application also supports cloud storage, allowing you to access videos from Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and more. Lastly, gesture controls can be adjusted to the volume, brightness, playback speed, and other options.
Infuse
Infuse 7 is a premium video player app that can play movies and TV shows with stunning picture quality and sound effects from various sources. It can automatically fetch metadata, artwork, and subtitles for your videos from online databases, such as IMDb, TheMovieDB, and TheTVDB. It can also sync your library across your devices via iCloud or Trakt, which also allows you to keep track of your progress and ratings for movies and TV shows.
The app also works with AirPlay 2 and HomePod to stream audio and videos to your speakers or other devices easily. Users can download videos for offline playback and enjoy Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos support. The app offers a subscription-based pricing plan starting at $0.99 per month or $9.99 per year.
VLC media player
VLC For Mobile is one of the most popular and reliable video player apps for iOS devices. It is a free and open-source app that can play almost any video file format without conversion, such as MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, etc. It can also play videos from network streams, web servers, FTP servers, cloud services, etc.
This app offers a variety of useful features, such as network streaming for playing videos from online sources or local network devices. It also includes media library organization, allowing you to browse and manage your videos by folders, playlists, or thumbnails. Additionally, the app offers audio boosting to increase the volume up to 200% and multi-track audio switching to choose different audio tracks or languages for your videos. With Chromecast support, you can easily cast videos on your TV or other devices. However, some users may find the lack of customization options for the interface and playback settings to be a drawback.
8Player
8Player is a versatile media player that can play videos, music, photos, and podcasts from various sources. It supports various video formats and codecs and DLNA/UPnP compatibility, which means you can access media files from other devices on the same network, such as computers, smart TVs, game consoles, etc.
This app offers a range of useful features, including support for FTP/SMB clients to transfer files between your iOS device and other devices via Wi-Fi or cellular network. It also integrates a web browser to browse and play videos from online websites or web servers. Gesture controls allow you to adjust volume, brightness, playback speed, and more.
On the positive side, its multifunctionality allows you to play different types of media files in one app. It also offers user-generated playlists, which means you can create and save your own playlists for videos, music, or podcasts. Moreover, it supports AirPlay and Chromecast. On the downside, some users may find the interface outdated. Additionally, you’ll need to pay $5.99 for the premium version to remove ads and unlock all features.
nPlayer Lite
nPlayer Lite is a feature-rich video player app that can play different video formats with the support of network streaming. This app offers a range of features, including streaming videos via AirPlay, Chromecast, or DLNA to your TV or other devices. You can also adjust the font size, color, position, and encoding of subtitles, as well as the aspect ratio, zoom, and audio delay settings.
There are several advantages to using this app, such as hardware acceleration that improves video quality and performance, support for 4K videos and Dolby audio, and multiple language and subtitle options. However, the free version of the app has some limitations, including ads, a watermark, and a 10-minute limit for some formats.
GPlayer
GPlayer is an exciting video player app that can play videos in multiple windows and allow users to share and comment on them. It also supports group play, so you can invite your friends to watch videos and chat with them in real time. The floating window of the app allows you to resize and move videos around your screen, while gesture controls make adjusting volume, brightness, and playback speed easy. You can also edit your videos with tools to trim, crop, rotate, and add filters. Additionally, the app integrates with popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
On the plus side, the app has unique functionality that lets you play videos in multiple windows and share them with friends. You can customize the interface with different themes and skins, and the app supports AirPlay and Chromecast. However, there are some cons to consider. The app has limited format support for certain video formats and codecs, and some users have reported crashes and glitches.
AVPlayer
AVPlayer is a straightforward and efficient video player app that can play videos without lag or stuttering. In addition to popular video formats, the app can play videos from your camera roll or iTunes library. The folder management option is handy for categorizing videos by genre or category. It also includes a screen lock function to prevent accidental touches or gestures during playback and aspect ratio adjustment to fit videos to your screen size and orientation.
AVPlayer supports subtitles in various formats and languages. It also has easy navigation and customization options for app settings and preferences and supports AirPlay and TV-out. However, the app lacks network streaming or cloud storage support. AVPlayer is available for $2.99 on the AppStore and comes without any ads or in-app purchases.
CnX Player
CnX Player is a robust and advanced video player app that can play 4K videos with HDR quality and 10-bit color depth. It supports various video formats and codecs, such as MKV, AVI, MP4, WMV, FLV, MOV, 3GP, etc., along with video casting for streaming videos to your TV or other devices via AirPlay, Chromecast, or DLNA.
The hardware decoding improves video quality and saves battery, video compression to save storage space, and brightness control to adjust video brightness independently. Battery Saver mode can also extend your device’s battery life by reducing video brightness and resolution. The app supports multiple languages and subtitles. You can upgrade to the premium version for $14.99 to access all features.
We hope this article has helped you find the best video player app for your iOS device. If you have tried any apps from the list or have your preferences or feedback, please let us know in the comments below. Happy watching!
Where is MCPlayer? I use it most of all as it has Dolby and Chromecast.