The main developer behind the Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone versions of the VLC media player has announced new updates for both apps, along with news that VLC is a universal app for both platforms. The app works with Windows 10 as well
In a blog post, VideoLAN developer Thomas Nigro announced the team decided to pause releasing weekly updates for the Windows Phone version of VLC in order to turn it into a universal app. Most of the code is now shared for both apps. Nigro wrote:
"We scale our user interface depending on the size of the screen, hence the responsive design with the help of XAML visual states. The more available space we have, the more we'll put buttons, actions and features accessible right with a single tap or click. Having the same experience on those Windows platforms will get users to familiarize with the interface. This finally allows us to not only code for two platforms, but also fix bugs on both platforms at the same time. This may be the best part for developers."Today we're releasing the first version of VLC as a true Universal Windows app on Windows 8.1. It already has a basic Windows 10 support. That means you can use the app in a window and the content should behave the way you would expect when resizing the window."
Here's a look at what's been added to the new VLC Windows 8.1 universal app, according to Nigro:
- Creating a playlist, editing a playlist (early support though)
- Your videos are displayed in three categories: videos, camera rolls and shows. We automatically detect if a video is an episode of a show.
- You can see the upcoming shows of an artist
- Social sharing (« #NowPlaying Shake It Off – Taylor Swift »)
Nigro said there are now "hundreds of bug fixes" in the new version, adding, "You can finally open a video, or a music file from the Windows Explorer, with the VLC Universal App. Should work fine. If it's not the case, tell us." A couple of features have been temporarily removed, including DLNA support, which is "set to come back as soon as possible" along with "manually changing the album cover. That will be back next week (and will also be available on WP)."
The Windows Phone version got an update today, but it's mostly bug fixes. Nigro stated, "We needed to publish an update so we could monitor how the WP version is evolving, and prepare your devices for a much bigger update that will come in the next couple of month, with Direct3D rendering and hardware decoding."
At the moment, it would appear that the VLC app for Windows 8.1 is not available in the Windows Store but we will update this post when it goes live. Update: The Windows 8.1 app is back in the Windows Store.
Source: Thomas Nigro
