The legendary media player VLC has completed two decades since its launch and now it is preparing a web version with a new user interface and IMDB-like platform. In these two decades, it has not yet even reached version 4.0 (version 3.0 arrived in 2018), but it is going to do so this year according to the project managers. There are more plans besides launching the new version, as we said there are also thinking to create a database platform for series and movies like IMDB.
VLC is preparing a web version
Over the years this software has accumulated more than 3.5 billion global downloads. It has become practically an essential player because of its great encoding capabilities and support for multimedia files.
The company has big plans for the upcoming months and for the 20th anniversary. We will see the arrival of VLC 4.0 in the near future. This new version brings a slightly more modern interface and it is expected to be available in 2021.
On the other hand, in the current version, it plays local content but it can also play streaming content if we enter a URL. This feature allows us to watch TV online or download videos from YouTube. Now they have plans to integrate libraries and catalogs directly into the player like PLEX or Kodi. They say to implement this feature they are thinking about third-party extensions that will make it possible to import catalogs from other sources and that can be played directly in VLC.
New IMDB from VLC: Project Moviepedia
VLC officials also told that they are preparing a movie database called Project Moviepedia, it would be an IMDB or Letterboxd alternative with a more Wikipedia-style approach where users edit the content.
Finally and perhaps the most interesting announcement of all is the arrival of a VLC web version. Currently, the player must be installed locally like any other app. They say they are working on a version that works with WebAssembly and JavaScript to run VLC inside websites. Considering the great compatibility that this software has with multimedia formats, it will certainly be interesting to have these compatibilities integrated directly into the browser.
VLC has become part of the Internet and the digital world in the last 20 years, so any small change has a much greater impact than it seems. We are looking forward to the web version of the famous media player.
