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11 Best Video Players For iPhone, iPad & iPod touch

There can be no denying the fact that thanks to their high resolution Retina screens, Apple devices can hold their own against any smartphone in terms of display. The screen resolutions and other display aspects just keep getting better and better with each new iDevice release, but what’s the use of having such extraordinary hardware if you can’t play even the most popular video formats on your iPhone? While this could have been a real problem if users had to rely solely on the stock Videos app, thankfully there are a lot of quality video players available on App Store as well as Cydia. Many iOS users might not even be aware that their iPhone can play just about any video file, thanks to some awesomely feature-rich apps.

Best-Video-Players-For-iOS

It’s all about finding the right app for your device, and that’s what we are going to help you with. In what follows, we will take a look at some of the best video players available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Free Apps

OPlayer

OPlayer iPhone Files OPlayer iPhone Settings

Think of any video format, and it’s most likely that OPlayer supports it. The app also supports viewing subtitles for movies and playing audio files. There is an app-specific orientation lock, and any video’s sound will keep playing even when you are on the lock screen or the app is in the background. The app has a web browser of its own that can be used to play streams.

OPlayer iPhone

Pros

  • Easy file transfer (USB, Wi-Fi and web)
  • Subtitles
  • iTunes Backup

Cons

  • Free version shows an annoying ad on top of all videos
  • The playback loses some of its smoothness whenever you touch volume or some other control

Download OPlayer Lite

Download OPlayer ($2.99)

8player

8Player iPhone Home 8Player iPhone List

8Player might not support as many media formats as some of the other entries in this list, but it is certainly among the smoothest apps of its kind. The app plays even 1080p videos without a hiccup on the rather old iPhone 4. There are some pretty interesting interface customization options too, letting users tinker with the looks of the app.

8Player iPhone 8Player Options

Pros

  • Lightweight and smooth
  • Interface customization
  • DLNA support
  • 3G playback

Cons

  • Doesn’t let you keep more than 3 playable videos in the library unless you are a pro user.
  • Navigation is a little confusing

Download 8player Lite

Download 8player ($4.99)

RockPlayer2

RockPlayer2 iPhone Library RockPlayer2 iPhone Settings

This free video player has got just about everything. The interface looks professionally designed, and the playback is smooth for all formats. Most notably, if you want to share the videos from your library, RockPlayer2 is your best bet.

RockPlayer2 iPhone RockPlayer2 iPhone Controls

Pros

  • Support for subtitles and lossless audio
  • A lot of import/export options
  • Customizable gesture controls
  • Auto import for camera roll videos

Cons

  • Audio doesn’t work under lock screen or in the background
  • Choppy playback for 1080p videos

Download RockPlayer2

Read full review

Video Stream

Video Stream iPhone Local Video Stream iPhone Server

Video Stream is not a conventional video player, but the features it offers make it worthy of appearing on this list. You can transfer videos to it via the usual iTunes method, and there is also a desktop server of its own that lets you stream videos of any format from your PC or Mac to your iPhone. The player works pretty well too, offering both landscape and portrait modes, along with support for background and lock screen play.

Video Stream iPhone

Pros

  • Full-screen mode
  • Stream videos from your computer
  • Convert any video to the default .MOV format from within the app

Cons

  • Limit on streaming from desktop in the free version
  • Struggles with some formats and large videos

Download Video Stream Free

Download Video Stream ($2.99)

Paid Apps

Azul

Subtitles are Azul’s specialty, but other areas of the app are pretty decent as well. It handles most popular formats, plays video streams, and even allows you to add bookmarks to particular areas of videos.

Azul Player iPhone

Pros

  • File renaming and sharing options
  • Lets you choose subtitle encoding format
  • Add text notes in videos
  • Email export
  • Audio extraction in iOS 6

Cons

  • Crashes regularly on older devices

Download Azul Media Player

It’s Playing

It's Playing iOS Home It's Playing iOS Info

Despite having a lackluster interface, It’s Playing is the only video player for iOS that lets you tinker with different aspects of a video while it is being played. You can change playback speed, contrast, brightness and color saturation of the video on the go. If you don’t have subtitles, it is not necessary to look for them using a web browser since It’s Playing is capable of fetching subtitles automatically.

It's Playing iOS Player

Pros

  • Video adjustment controls
  • Automatic subtitle fetching
  • Passcode lock for folders
  • Quality level selection for smooth playback

Cons

  • Drab interface
  • Doesn’t play sound when device is muted

Download It’s Playing

GPlayer

GPlayer iOS GPlayer Gestures

For anyone who wants an app that can play most of the popular video formats without requiring extensive configuration and difficult file transfer, GPlayer is the perfect choice. It also supports Wi-Fi file transfer so that users can drag and drop files in their desktop web browser and access them on their phone.

GPlayer Video

Pros

  • Wi-Fi file transfer
  • Password protection
  • Aspect ratio choice within the player

Cons

  • Limited gesture controls
  • MKV playback is not smooth

Download GPlayer

Read full review

CineXPlayer

CineXPlayer iOS Home CineXPlayer iOS Browser

If you compare the number of features available in all iOS video players, CineXPlayer is sure to emerge as the winner. The app supports Dolby sound codecs, can be used to watch videos in 3D, and has a web browser of its own. We would have been tempted to label CineXPlayer the ultimate iOS video player had it supported as many formats as some of the other entries in our list.

CineXPlayer iOS

Pros

  • Dolby Digital Plus (AC-3) support
  • 3D support
  • Download manager for videos and subtitles
  • Dropbox integration

Cons

  • Lack of support for several popular formats including WMV and FLV
  • Video quality could have been better

Download CineXPlayer

GoodPlayer

GoodPlayer iOS Home GoodPlayer iOS Settings

Owners of high-end devices will love GoodPlayer due to its amazingly high quality color rendering. Unfortunately, the app isn’t too smooth and playback of even the most basic formats can be choppy. Though its gesture controls are great for changing track and subtitle files on the go.

GoodPlayer iOS Options

Pros

  • Great for watching videos with subtitles and multiple tracks
  • 24-bit true color
  • Sleep timer

Cons

  • Bad interface
  • Playback can be choppy

Download GoodPlayer

Cydia

RushPlayer+

RushPlayer  iOS Home RushPlayer  iOS Settings RushPlayer  iOS Media

Owners of older jailbroken iDevices must give this app a try. In our experience, it played even 1080p videos without any jitter on our iPhone 4. Unlike other Cydia apps covered here, RushPlayer+ offers Wi-Fi file transfer so you don’t need to have any knowledge of SSH and WinSCP.

RushPlayer  iOS

Pros

  • Super-smooth playback
  • Hardware acceleration
  • File system access
  • Speaker balance

Cons

  • Navigating through file system to find videos can be a bit hectic

VLC Media Player

VLC Media Player iOS VLC Media Player iOS Warning

VLC Player was hugely popular in its tenure in the App Store. Unfortunately, it was pulled from there due to copyright issues, and is now only available in the Cydia store. It is not the most feature-rich app out there, but you will get support for plenty of formats and it is even smart enough to warn users in case their device isn’t capable of playing a file smoothly.

Update: VLC Media Player has returned to the App Store with a bunch of additional features. Read our review of the new VLC for iOS for further details.

VLC Media Player iPhone

Pros

  • Neat interface
  • Compatibility warning for low-end devices

Cons

  • Difficult method for importing videos (via SSH)
  • Laggy on older devices

Here’s a quick feature comparison chart of all the iOS video players discussed above:

So now that you’ve checked out some of the best video players available for iOS, don’t forget to tell us about your favorite one in the comments below.

24 Comments

  1. I think “Foldered” – File Manager & Media Player, should be included in the list. It really is a super cool app.

  2. A bit surprised to see PlayerXtreme not in the list. Its available on all three platforms and works really well.

    • Are you serious? Only one thing I liked about Player Xtreme was fetching subtitles over internet. Rest is crap.

  3. Have a lot of these apps on me iPad, but why is nPlayer not here. By far, my favorite app to use for watching videos.

  4. The iPod Touch is a converged device, and other than a phone, and an open interface to copy stuff, it lacks nothing – music, videos, camera, games, Wi-Fi, third party apps – it’s bristling with features. But these things don’t come cheap. If you want to keep photos and videos of your family on it, or movies, the 4G is ideal. If you want a mobile gaming platform, look no further. If you’re sitting on a first generation iPod Touch, this revision is finally worth the jump, and with 64 GB you’ll be pretty future proof.

  5. I’ve been using Moliplayer and got stucked wit it. It literally plays hd videos more smooth than my windows PC.

  6. Plex – you need the media server. But with the new sync feature it will transcode the video for your device and transfer it over. Or you can stream it if you are going to be at home.

    • AVPlayer HD is my savior. The only thing my mother does on her iPad 1 is to watch film series I download for her. All other apps I tried have issue playing properly. AVPlayer HD was removed from App store for months then come back with AC3 support. I was about to replace the iPad with an Android tablet for a video player alone.

  7. Whenever I sync certain movie files to media players on my iPad eg. GPlayer or EC Player, these players do not support movie files which require AC3 codec and hence the movies play without any audio. Are there any media players in App store which will solve this problem?

    • Only CineXPlayer has the rights to handle that codec (as mentioned in the list). So, that’s the app you need.

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