VLC 's Beta For Android Is Ready — Unless You're North American

MrSeb writes "The VideoLAN Project has pushed a beta version of VLC for Android to the Google Play Store. The beta brings most of the functionality of VLC for Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X to Android in a native UI in the Android 4.0 Holo style. However, there are a few hitches. The beta release published to the Google Play Store today is only compatible with ARM systems that use the ARMv7 architecture set and support the NEON instruction set. That means that there are several devices — mostly those released before the Samsung Galaxy S in late 2010, and anything powered by Tegra 2 — that cannot run the current beta. Also, apparently due to a lack of North America-specific Android test devices, VLC for Android is currently not available from the US or Canadian Play Store. Both problems should be rectified soon, though." VLC is one of those impressive programs that just works with nearly any input thrown at it, and one of the first things I put on any computer. I hope the Android version retains pitch-controlled variable-speed playback, perhaps my favorite VLC feature, and something I miss on my tablet.

hmmmmm

[nomadic]

Ahhh, VLC. The only free, open source software I've ever seen that was just as good as the hype.

Re:What for

[CanHasDIY]

Of course I could just transcode and avoid the whole VLC / hardware compatibility list whatever.

You could, but why make all that extra work for yourself?

1 - download media file to device
2 - discover it doesn't play on the stock player (*.avi, for example)
3 - copy file from device to computer
4 - fire up transcoding software and wait 10 min - 1hour+ for completion
5 - copy new transcoded file back to device
6 - play file in stock player (maybe, assuming the transcoder didn't mess anything up, you had all the settings perfect, Venus is in alignment, etc.)

--or--

1 - download media file to device
2 - play in VLC


At least, that's how it's worked for me thus far, but of course, YMMV.

Re:Impressive progams?

[chronoglass]

VLC is one of those impressive programs that just works with nearly any input thrown at it, [...].

Or what we, in the Linux community, call "software"*. ^^

* after all required dependancies are hunted down from the ends of the earth and/or compiled from source and installed.

Re:tegra 2

[jedidiah]

Quicktime does a poor job of dealing with random audio and video formats and doesn't have a good package management system to back it up.

That's why VLC is a very popular Mac download.

It covers up both of those faults in MacOS or Windows.

Re:People have brains

[Anonymous Coward]

Gentlemen, I like VLC.

  Gentlemen, I love VLC!

  I like AVI, I like RMVB.

  I like 120fps, I like interlacing.

  I like rainbowing, I like the dot crawl, I like blocking.

  I like the ringing, and I like tinny audio.

  On a computer, a DVD player, a PS3, on a Mac, on an Archos. I truly love each and every kind of artifact man can encode to a file.

  I like the broken ASS support when even the simplest of lines fails to render correctly. When the translatorâ(TM)s notes overlap the main dialogue, it makes my heart dance!

  I like when an encode displays like it is corrupted! It always left a warm feeling in my chest when they would check the CRC, only to find it is correct.

  I like it when #darkhold encoders post on AnimeSuki and rage about the topic at hand. I recall how much it moved me, seeing how epic longposts were made - how they would shun the subject again and again, even though it wouldnâ(TM)t die. And itâ(TM)s painfully exciting when a leecher posts about how great it is in the same thread. And how wonderful it is to have 120fps for a show that is a constant 23.976!

  And that pitiful resistance, encoding to h264, despite it being harder on the CPU. I even remember when Xvid had a 10:1 leecher ratio!

  I like it when the MKV fanboys are thrown into chaos. And when the VFR feature they are supposed to be promoting is violated repeatedly⦠oh how very sad it is.

  I like it when the detail and sharpness in HD encodes are crushed and obliterated! And them being filtered, smearing and ghosting and looking worse than a standard DVD. Gentlemen, what I want is a low bitrate hell.

  Gentlemen, my compatriotsâ¦

  Leechers, you who abuse my XDCC botsâ¦

  Gentlemen, what do you desire? Do you also want eyecancer? Is a return to the age of VCDs what you want?

  Do you yearn for a VHS encode that stretches the very limits of poor quality, the artifacts so intense that it makes Stevie Wonder cringe?

  Very well then, we shall have VLC.