VLC Media Player is universal and is available for Android TVs. Besides being freely available for desktops/laptops (PC/Windows, Mac and Linux) and Mobile Devices (Android, iPhone/iPad and Windows Mobile), it can be installed on our big screens. That is if our big screens is powered by Android TV or if we have an Android TV Box like the Xiaomi Mi TV Box S. It is officially available at the Google Play Store for Android TV. This version of the Play Store holds a fewer number of apps designed specially for smart Android televisions. The app is also called VLC for Android and is similar to the Android Phone version. Installing VLC Media Player on your Android TV is as easy as locating the app on the Play Store and hitting install.
This post will be a visual guide to install and use VLC Media Player on your Android TV.
Installing VLC Media Player
- From your home screen, locate Google Play Store and click on it with your remote.
- Search for VLC in the Play Store for Android TV and click on it.
- Hit Install on the app listing page.
- Once the app installation is complete, you can open it. It can also be accessed from the All Apps section.
Using the VLC for Android App
The first time you run the app, give it the necessary permissions to access your storage media.
Now, you can access Video, Audio, Browsing and Other sections from the Left. Video and Audio is to access your local media and media from the library.
Browsing allows you to access folders—Internal memory, USB storage, Local memory and Streaming devices.
Locate a media file and tap on it to open it with the app. When any media is open, hit the down button to bring up the navigation. Scroll through it using the left/right arrows once the timeline is highlighted. Pressing left/right buttons will skip 10 seconds forward or backward.
Press on the up button to bring up the settings. From Other > Settings, we can access all the necessary settings. The settings are quite similar to the one that you see in smartphones.
We can choose the media library folders, auto re-scan, video options, playback history settings, and extra settings related to Interface, Video, Subtitles, Audio and Advanced. Check out our complete guide for Android’s VLC to know every detail about these settings.
View Comments (19)
Is it possible to change the aspect ratio on the android TV app. It seems to be stretching the image to 16:9 and cant seem to keep video in its original size.
How do you play IPTV on this thing? I added a M3U8 playlist to streams but nothing happens.
How to connect from Android phone to tv with local network
so how do you do this to a tv out of range of the router that can not be moved. there a way to install via apk or using a external hardrive?
For that you would have to send an APK file to the TV using an SDCard that Android TV can access.
How do I play entire folders of pictures & videos with VLC Android TV ? I know how to do it on a smartphone but it does not seem to work the same with the TV version of VLC, which would be pretty handy to make passive slideshows !
I installed VLC on my SONY Bravia, and there is no option to delete or rename files.
Can you help activate it please.
Vlc for Android on a smartphone has playback speed settings while playing audio and video, VLC for Android on an Android TV does not have settings while playing audio (it does for playing video). Is there a way to change playback speeds for audio on VLC for android on an android TV? (using Google Chromecast witih Google TV). I have a bluetooth keyboard connected so hotkeys should work if there are such things...
Everything about the VLC on my Sony Smart TV is OK but... after watching a movie (from my hdd connected to a modem) then getting out of the program, the movie file is renamed for something like "368.mkv' or "449.mkv".
Next time if I want to watch it again or finish it or my wife wants to watch it, it couldn't be found by its name (the title).
It is there but under the new 3 digit name so I have to remember that to be able to find it. How can I solve this?
is it possible to play a complete map with music via smart tv? as of now i can only select 1 song. i cannot select a map to play
Hi just a bought a new Kogan (Samsung) smart tv, and my tv remote works perfectly except on vlc, I do not know if this is problem with vlc or the Tv. But my remote barely works once I enter the app. I have to click a button 10-20 times for it to work. Very frustrating when I have to enter text. I don’t think it’s a problem with the remote because it seems to work just fine on every other app.