VLC
The universal fallback player, and a surprisingly capable streaming and conversion tool.
What it does
VLC plays local files, optical media, network streams, DVB and RTSP cameras, with codecs bundled rather than relying on the system. Beyond playback it can transcode, stream over HTTP or RTP, and act as a quick IP camera viewer — all from the same binary.
# play an RTSP camera stream
vlc rtsp://192.168.1.50:554/stream1
# headless transcode
cvlc in.avi --sout '#transcode{vcodec=h264,acodec=mp4a}:std{dst=out.mp4}' vlc://quitNotes
Worth having alongside IINA for exactly two reasons: files IINA refuses, and network protocols IINA does not implement. For normal local playback IINA is the nicer app.
Alternative to
| Alternative | Type | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| IINA | Open source | Better-looking and better-behaved for local playback on a Mac |
| mpv | Open source | The same engine family, scriptable, no interface to speak of |
| Infuse | Freemium | The nicest client for a home media library |
Install
brew install --cask vlc