VLC for Android is not a pretty application.
It doesn’t follow the fluid design trends of Google’s Material You. It doesn’t have the glass morphism or jumpy animations that dominate the best apps of 2025 lists.
It looks like older desktop software dragged onto a smartphone screen.
One of the best video players on Android looks like Windows 7, and that’s exactly why I trust it with my entire media library.
Native media players struggle with basic codec support
I’m stuck on a flight. I have ten hours to kill, and a smartphone full of movie files that I spent half the night transferring from my Chromebook.
I open the stock video player on a device that costs more than my first car, and I get a blank screen and an error saying the codec is not supported.
Stock media players only contain codecs that are officially licensed by the manufacturer. It concerns cents per device, but on a large scale those cents amount to tens of millions.
Brands have been cutting licenses based on the assumption that users will mainly stream via pre-licensed services such as Netflix or YouTube.
Apps like VLC and MX Player don’t play by the same rules as the built-in player.
They use the phone’s CPU to decode video in software, skipping all the licensing nonsense. Therefore, they can open files that your stock player refuses to touch.
VLC ignores modern design trends and focuses on functionality
Video good
VLC is the ultimate ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ app, but at this point it’s starting to look prehistoric.
It is in total contrast to the Material You philosophy that Google promotes.
When you put it next to something like Next Player, which is built on Material 3, the cracks really start to show.
That said, I think the lack of beauty is a defense mechanism against the kind of bloat that kills other apps.
When developers obsess over form, function usually takes a hit.
VLC is a tool for people who want a player that can handle any file, not for people who need a play button with a perfect 200ms animation curve.
The only legitimate criticism I can give is the lack of visual contrast.
The yellow-orange color representing VLC’s branding blends into the background. This makes it difficult to find important icons or read information.
However, after the video starts, the ugly interface is replaced with something almost perfect. You know that one.
Slide your thumb up the left side of the screen to increase the brightness. Slide up to the right to turn on the volume. Drag horizontally to move through the timeline.
The Fall of MX Player and the State of Other Media Players
Third party video players ran on Android because the native players were terrible, and honestly not much has changed.
VLC was part of that era, but MX Player was at the top. It was fast and packed with features.
Then the ads appeared. Now using the free version feels like a punishment.
You’ll be bombarded with ads while browsing your files, ads when you pause a video, and ads leaking into the notification panel.
Scroll through the Play Store reviews and you’ll see the same complaints over and over again. The Play Store is full of video players plagued by the same problems.
VideoLAN maintains integrity without chasing advertising revenue
Unsplash / Mackenzie Marco
While many once-great video players fell under the pressure of monetization, VLC never went down that path.
It is a FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) project maintained by VideoLAN, and not a company looking for ad impressions or engagement metrics.
There’s no marketing department, no shady patterns, and no incentive to squeeze value out of your viewing habits. It plays your files, respects your device and stays out of the way.
This is why, even if it looks a bit old-fashioned, it continues to gain trust long after its competitors have lost theirs.
It would be unfair to pretend that VLC is the only “good” app left in the Play Store. There are plenty of solid open source video players that deserve credit.
Still, I use VLC by default because it is reliable. It is known. It’s been there for years on both PC and Android for me.
The orange cone remains my trusted media player
We are surrounded by beautiful but useless apps that look like a million bucks but crash as soon as they see an MKV file or require a login to view a local folder.
VLC is one of the few video players I trust because it treats me like a person and not a data point to be collected.
While the orange cone is an eyesore, you’ll appreciate that design once VLC opens a file that broke every other player.
VLC for Android
Video good
VIDEO PLAYERS
Price: free
4.1
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