VLC for Android gets the first update in a year

VLC media player, known to most as VLC, is a free open-source media player with streaming media server capabilities that has been around since early 2001 and now can be used on virtually all popular platforms, including Tizen. On the other hand, VLC for Android is quite fresh, since the first stable version landed on Google Play in late 2014. Version 2.0 has been around for more than a year and now we just heard from VLC's developer Geoffrey Métais that version 2.5 is ready to bring a lot of new features.

VLC for Android 2.5 requires Android 2.3 Gingerbread or later. Since Froyo devices cannot access Google Play anymore, this does not come as a surprise. The list of changes that should come with the new version includes the following highlights:

• support for 360-degree videos
• new audio player style (blurred art cover in the background if the cover art is available)
• overall interface changes according to Material design principles
• PiP support for Oreo devices and Nougat-powered Android TVs
• Android Auto compatibility
• Chrome OS support
• Google Now voice search compatibility
• Day/Night mode integration
• audio boost when playing videos
• custom equalizer presets
• save/resume position for audiobooks and podcasts
• support for large aspect ratio handsets (the LG G6 or the Samsung Galaxy S8, for example)

In addition to the above, VLC for Android 2.5 promises to come with multiple bug fixes and minor tweaks, as well as an important change under the hood, namely the switch from the old system that had no proper structure with a cross-platform media library simply known as medialibrary. For the end user, this means improved performance and support for more file formats, as well as better search results.

Sadly, VLC for Android 2.5 still has to reach Google Play. For now, the latest stable version available for download in Google's app marketplace is 2.0.6. VLC for Android has been installed by more than 100,000,000 users so far and has a Google Play rating of 4.4 stars after being reviewed by over 850,000 users.