VLC, the best application for watching videos, would now offer free streaming of films and series

Content consumption has changed a lot in just a few years. Consumers have moved from watching video locally, either with DVDs or video files on the computer, to consuming almost all streaming, whether legal like Netflix, or via pirated IPTV.

This change is noticed, especially in the most popular programs and applications. For example, ten years ago, Having VLC installed on your computer was practically essential; But these days, it’s really no longer necessary for most users, who prefer to use streaming services and websites to watch content.

VLC isn’t one of the most popular media apps on Android or iOS, although it has already gotten over 318 million downloads, and that’s something its developers want to change.

VLC will adapt to streaming

Launched 23 years ago, VLC became famous for being able to play any video. At a time when there were countless different formats and video codec packs were among the most downloaded programs, this seemed like a godsend. It also helped that it is an open source project, because over time it has gained features and compatibility with all types of operating systems.

But that is not enough today. In an interview with Low passJean-Baptiste Kempf, president of Videolan, developer of VLC, abandoned some of the changes that the program will receive to adapt to current consumers, especially younger ones.

The goal is to adapt the program towards content and less towards functions, and several changes are already underway. For example, the development version of VLC version 4 is already experimenting with a new interface, which by default shows the media files we have in the system to read them in one click; although Kempf cautions that these changes probably won’t necessarily come with VLC 4.

At the same time, Kempf anticipated that VLC could go further and offer Stream movies and other content directly through the app

; The idea is that users always have something to see when they open the app, without having to search for files. To do this, VLC would be able to offer access to free services with advertisements such as Pluto TV or Samsung TV, and to other multimedia content with advertisements.

It should be noted that VLC has not officially confirmed any of these changes, and this is only one of the future possibilities of the program; Additionally, any changes would still be made keep video playback localand the development team is looking for a “balance” with streaming content.

In fact, VLC is already capable of streaming content, called “Open Network Location” in the program. In this way, VLC is now able to play IPTV lists of free-to-air channels using this technology.