I lastly discovered a VLC substitute that doesn’t appear to be it’s from 2002

For a few years, VLC has been the go-to program for anybody searching for a free and open-source (FOSS) Home windows media participant with broad file format and codec compatibility. The applying is full-featured, dependable, and freed from litter and bloat. With this in thoughts, it has definitely earned its popularity because the “get it carried out” media participant that’ll efficiently play again any and all video file varieties, regardless of how obscure.

That being mentioned, VLC is not excellent. The VideoLAN-developed PC app could be versatile and performant, however its person interface leaves one thing to be desired. The app’s principal UI follows legacy Win32 design sensibilities, making for a visible expertise that appears prefer it’s plucked straight out of the early 2000s era of computing.

In my quest to establish a VLC substitute that matches in with the fashionable Home windows 11 design language, I stumbled upon Screenbox: a VLC-esque app that boasts each magnificence and brawn in a single bundle. The app makes full use of Fluent Design ideas, with a hearty serving to of the context-aware Mica material, a sensibly laid out Settings web page, help for darkish mode, and an intuitive navigational paradigm that depends on the tried-and-true hamburger menu.

Screenbox, which is offered to obtain totally free from the Microsoft Retailer, is a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app. By choosing this specific app framework, the developer can leverage expanded UI flexibility, making for a scalable expertise that may be resized into a really small window, or blown up onto a TV display screen to be used on the Xbox.

Notable options inside Screenbox embody picture-in-picture mode, help for Chromecast, window resize hotkeys, quantity and searching for gesture controls, and the power to avoid wasting any video body as a picture. Importantly, these options are all applied in a user-friendly method, which is one thing that may’t be mentioned about VLC with its clunky menu bar system and applet panels.

Most significantly of all, Screenbox is light-weight and highly effective. The app is compact, stutter-free, and stuffed with help for varied lesser-used media file varieties and codecs. There’s even a VLC command-line argument function on deck, permitting energy customers to leverage extra superior playback capabilities.

My solely actual gripes with Screenbox are that it does not embody an on-board audio equalizer, and that its UI is not practically as modular or customizable as that of VLC’s. I might additionally like to see the developer add in some further audio visuals to this system out of the field (a retro-inspired Home windows Media Participant visualization could be nostalgic bliss). Fortunately, it is simple sufficient to import further visuals from different sources.

Screenbox is like VLC, solely prettier

I want VLC adopted Microsoft’s Fluent Design UI ideas

VLC is an absolute staple of the PC ecosystem, and I am glad to see it is continued relevance within the Home windows 11 period. I am a fan of the app’s no-nonsense method to interface design, however I can not assist however really feel that an aesthetic overhaul is lengthy overdue for the venerable media participant.

Some will scoff at my criticism of VLC’s UI design, pushing again with the argument {that a} media participant should prioritize operate over type, and leanness over ostentatiousness. Whereas I definitely respect this viewpoint, I can not assist however really feel a fan of well-crafted and visually pleasing app designs, of which VLC is poor.

Screenbox, then, is the fashionable antidote to my VLC vitreal. The app is open-source, free to obtain and set up, and devoid of ads. On the entire, it manages to strike a wonderful steadiness between aesthetics and performance, with a modernized design that’s heat and welcoming, and with spectacular file compatibility. Screenbox is visually placing, however its magnificence is way from skin-deep.