Following a lengthy beta testing period, VideoLAN has announced that its VLC app is now available for the fourth-generation Apple TV on the tvOS App Store.
The app is a full port of the VLC media player and supports virtually all video formats in line with the VLC for iOS app. There are also many tvOS-specific features.
- Content Discovery: The app automatically discovers video files stored on your local network, using the SMB, UPnP media server, FTP and PLEX protocols. You can browse through videos with the Siri Remote and select content for playback. During playback, subtitles can be added from OpenSubtitles.org.
- Saved Logins: Login credentials can be securely stored on the Apple TV and will be synchronized to and from your iPhone and iPad.
- Remote Playback: VLC displays an IP address under the Remote Playback menu on Apple TV. This address can be typed into your computer's web browser, and an interface will pop up allowing you to drag and drop a file to play it on your TV remotely.
You can drag and drop multiple files to queue them. The files will remain available locally on the Apple TV until its internal storage is maxed out. The web interface can be used for remote play, pause and seeking.
For playback of a network stream URL on your TV, just paste it to the field and push return. Once playback concludes, you will find it in the Network Stream view for future use. Like for files, you can send multiple URLs rows in a row and they will be attached to the playback queue.
- Playback: VLC for the Apple TV supports basic play, pause and seek controls. You can navigate the app by chapter and titles or select from multiple audio and subtitles tracks. Other features include custom playback speed and hatchet.is integration for artist imagery and biographies.
VLC is currently beta testing Apple TV support for cloud services Dropbox, OneDrive and Box. The feature will be available in the near future.
Friday October 31, 2025 1:40 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a small but helpful change for iPhones, and it could prevent you from running late to something important.
Specifically, when an alarm goes off in the Clock app, there is a new "slide to stop" control on the screen for turning off the alarm. On previous iOS 26 versions, there is simply a large "stop" button, which could be accidentally tapped.
The new ...
Apple is planning to launch at least 15 new products in 2026, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman outlined what to expect from Apple in 2026 in the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter. He said the company is heading "into one of its most pivotal years in recent memory," with the rollout of major new Apple Intelligence features, intense regulatory pressure on the App Store,...
In his "Power On" newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today provided an update on the status of Apple Intelligence and the plans for it in 2026.
Apple is still planning to roll out its revamped version of Siri around March of next year. The release should be accompanied by the release of a new smart home display product with speaker-base and wall-mount options. A new Apple TV and HomePod...
Friday October 31, 2025 7:32 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has just given a strong indication that it will not be releasing any additional new Macs for the remainder of the year.
Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh dropped the hint during the company's earnings call on Thursday:On Mac, keep in mind, we expect to face a very difficult compare against the M4 MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac launches in the year-ago quarter.Parekh essentially gave a heads up ...
Friday October 31, 2025 8:52 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device.
Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that have been leaked about Apple's foldable iPhone so far.
Ove...
A new Apple TV and HomePod mini could launch as soon as this month, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today suggested.
In today's "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple retail stores are planning an overnight refresh on the evening of November 11, where changes will be made after closing, such as refreshing displays and placing new products for the following day.
The timing of the overnight...
Apple's iPhone 18 Pro models could be available in new rich and warm color option, according to a known leaker.
The Weibo user known as "Instant Digital" today suggested that next-year's iPhone 18 Pro models will be available in at least one of the following color options: Coffee, purple, and burgundy.
The iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 14, and iPhone 14 Pro were all available in ...
Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below.
Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
I still use iTunes and Home Sharing to watch my videos the Apple way. With VideoDrive ('http://www.aroonasoftware.com') all my videos are tagged and imported in iTunes. Great to organise movie and TV shows with it. And incompatible videos are converted in the background with HandBrake so I can also sync them to iOS.
Maybe I'm the only one still using iTunes and probably, PLEX has some great features I'm missing out on, but I like to do it the Apple way as much as possible.
Torrented files/movies/TV shows right? I mean that's why people want Plex and this right? Can I just go ahead and say it?
I don't have a single torrented movie file in my just-sub-terrabyte movie library. All those movies are ripped from DVDs and BluRays (which isn't exactly 100% abiding by EULAs, but IMHO ethically sound). They are then completely tagged and catalogued using Ivy and/or Subler (I've gone back and forth between the two), although of course Plex does a good amount of tag-discovery automatically if they weren't already tagged.
Frankly, streaming from the computer a room away in my house should be a lot higher quality and less laggy than streaming from Apple's servers in the cloud (with Plex in general it is). Combined with wide availability of cheap physical media which can easily be ripped to local storage, and the cheapness of local storage, it is a good way to go. That said, the ripping tools often enough get forced-subtitles wrong (nothing like watching a movie and people start talking in a foreign language and you aren't sure if there are supposed to be subtitles showing what they said...), the ripping/converting process takes a few times as long as the movie to complete, and Plex's interface while fancy and nice is not in the same realm of usability as the native Apple interface.
Do people use Plex to manage their torrented files? I'm sure they do. But don't pretend that the only interest in Plex (and I guess VLC, alhough I find VLC's interface abhorrent personally) is for illegally-obtained content.
