To enjoy an all-round entertainment experience, you need the best video player apps for iPad to watch it. Here’s our handpicked list of the best video players for the iPad you can use to streamline your entertainment experience.
Back in the day when the Apple iPad first came out, it was one of a kind smart device that allowed a whole lot more multimedia entertainment than any other tablet out there. The inclusion of YouTube right out of the box, and the ability to sync videos from iTunes to the iPad made it a fantastic media device, and it continues to be so. With the Retina HD display pushing every pixel to the visual limits, and plenty of hardware support to play every video format out there, you still need a dependable video player app for iPad to get your entertainment geared up.
While being an Apple user almost always feels like a class apart, the iPad does take the back seat when it comes to multimedia playback. The built-in Videos (or Apple TV app in some regions) is good at playing standard video formats, but does not nearly enables playback of all others out there, with absolutely no advanced streaming and FTP video support. To get these premium features and up the ante of your portable entertainment system, you need some of the best video player apps for Apple iPad.
Best video players for Apple iPad
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VLC for Mobile
VLC Media Player has been ruling over to be one of the best desktop media players for years as open-source software. And the VLC for Mobile brings desktop-class network streaming, including HLS, MMS, or RTSP rite through the iOS VLC app and support for PLEX servers and Apple AirPlay. For video and audio formats, the media player supports most of the video formats you will need for local device playback.
Playback from Wi-Fi media libraries and downloads from Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Drive, OneDrive, and Box.com is also supported. For local device playback, VLC for mobile comes with 64-bit support and a full array of video scrubbing, gesture volume controls, powerful synchronized audio and subtitles with embedded subtitles, or the option to download from the web features.
Pros:
- Ad-free experience.
- The Open-Source nature of the app allows users to download app add ons such as VLC Stream.
- Supports both the Apple AirPlay and Chromecast streaming technology.
- The app provides many contents accessing features from the cloud as well as local device playback.
- The media player can be locked with touch-id.
Cons:
- Partitioning local and cloud media content is not as clutter-free as other media player options.
- At times, the media player fails to download metadata for the alum cover, if that’s a concern for some.
Plex Media Server
Plex Media Server aims to gather all of our daily online content consumption needs such as free on-demand movies and TV series, news, podcasts, and curate our own personal library server of media, photos, music, videos, and movies all through easy to navigate interface and streamlined easy server set up through the desktop application.
The Plex Media Server is an ideal solution for iPad owners who are stuck with base entry storage options and want to offload their personal content to a desktop or hard drive and access and stream them later from their iPad or a larger screen through Apple AirPlay.
Pros:
- The server application is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux OS.
- Free on-demand content.
- The media server can be accessed through most of the mobile OS as well as home streaming devices such as Nvidia Shield. Roku and gaming consoles.
- Ad-free experience.
- Easy to setup.
Cons:
- To access Plex Library, the desktop needs to be turned on all the time to play content.
- It relies on an internet connection.
Infuse 6
If you are looking for adding media to your iPad for watching them later on the go, the Infuse 6 features a full suite of wireless transferring of videos, movies, and media through over Wi-Fi protocols such as transfer files over browser, AirDrop, FTP, iTunes Sync, File Sharing, Apps, Network Share, Direct URL, Cloud Files, and External Folder. The Infuse app also supports Plex Media servers.
As for media consumption and easy sorting media through dedicated filters, the app supports all the major file formats and even Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, robust media controls, zoom with advanced video upscaling for home theater projectors connected through Lighting to HDMI connector, and even supports access to media from AirStash, and SanDisk Connect for Wi-Fi enabled storage devices.
Pros:
- Stable support for all high-quality media codecs.
- In-built Stat track for synced audio subtitles.
- Ideal for home projection with HDMI passthrough.
- Wireless upload to the device.
- Clean and organized UI interface.
Cons:
- 4K and Cloud streaming are available under premium features.
- Metadata issues.
MX Video Player
If you are on a hunt for an alternative for the native Gallery app on your iPad, the MX Video Player is one of the best options around on the App Store. The MX Video Player allows you to view videos and photos of your phone and gives you powerful media controls.
And of course, the app supports most of the widely supported movie file formats and robust media controls. The app also features easy drag and drop file transfer through iTunes and Apple AirPlay for the big screen. There is a video capture feature so that you can create small clips of your favorite movie moments and save them to your phone gallery and share them with your friends.
Pros:
- Easy navigation through phone, audio, and library media.
- All features are free to use with occasional ads.
- Supports a mini player.
- Folders can be created with a password lock.
- The app can be password lock.
Cons:
- The MX Video Player does not come with Cloud Streaming Options and access to media servers.
- Does not support Apple AirPlay and Chromecast.
nPlayer Lite
When it comes to arranging, uploading, accessing local device media, server media, and surfing the web through a web browser in a one-in-all app, the nPlayer Lite Media app is one of the best apps around for movie buffs.
Ideal for those who want to access their personal as well as server curated movies through robust streaming technologies and content on the go or cast them on a large screen through Chromecast. The app supports all the file codecs, powerful media controls that are smooth to operate, and excellent subtitle support with tweaking options such as font, text color, shadow, and more.
Pros:
- The app supports Picture-in-Picture mode.
- Videos and media can be imported from cloud services.
- nPlayer Lite supports hardware acceleration and video upscaling for low-resolution videos.
- Built-in browser for surfing the net.
- Built-in download manager.
Cons:
- Ads are placed when viewing media and ad banners.
- It does not support Chromecast streaming.
PlayerXtreme
The app store is a free market. And suppose you are looking for an alternative for Plex Media Server and do not need free on-demand content. In that case, the PlayerXtreme Media Server is one of the best alternatives on the app store for accessing your media on an iPad through a curated server on a desktop or external storage device.
The PlayerXtreme Media Server app allows users to access media through multiple devices, local device and plays through most of the video file formats and codecs rite to your iPad, and even downloads metadata for art covers and description automatically. As for the media player experience and features, the app does not despair features from the desktop app to the mobile app. The media player has all the functions, and subtitle customization features you will need.
Pros:
- The PlayerXtreme media player comes with intuitive touch gestures and controls for media control.
- Robust suite of options for server media streaming and uploading media from cloud storage to iPad.
- Dedicated sorting filters for the library, iPad, and Network library.
- Password and security options.
- Drag and drop files from the browser.
Cons:
- Subtitle and Closed Caption option settings need a pay version.
- Does not support Picture-in-Picture mode.
KM Player
If you are looking for a more extra set of video playback features such as video mirror mode and A-B Repeat for educative videos, the KM Player offers such features and more. The KM Player is one of the best media players blurring the line between a quality local media player for the iPad as well as accessing cloud server network, cloud storage and file storage, Chromecast support, and playing YouTube URL under one app umbrella.
KM Player boasts of supporting all of the video and music file codecs and even supporting high-quality video playback with 4K, UHD, and Full HD resolutions. And with the Subtitles settings, you can either access embedded or download subtitles from the web.
Pros:
- The app syncs through local media and images for easy access with filtered folders.
- It features easy to use interface for accessing Network servers and upload media through cloud storage to the iPad.
- Ad-free.
- Supports two levels of Picture-in-Picture mode for video playback.
- Easy touch gestures for media control.
Cons:
- The app does not support Apple Airplay and Chromecast streaming.
OPlayer Lite
You might think VLC and VLC for Mobile are the only two media players stuck around since the idea of a third-party media player on iOS devices. But, the OPlayer Lite has been alive and kicking on the App Store for more than eight years and upgrading with adding new features over time. The OPlayer Lite comes with all the wireless importing of media through Wi-Fi means, accessing cloud servers and cloud files through cloud storage services.
It supports all the video file formats and also comes with advanced subtitle features with synced audio. The app comes with some interesting privacy settings as well, such as a touch-id fingerprint lock. The app comes with A-B Repeater, gesture media controls, picture-in-picture mode, add a playlist, and more for media player features.
Pros:
- Supports access files via FTP, and SAMBA wireless.
- Supports most of the video playback codecs and file formats.
Cons:
- The Oplayer Lite has limited support for high-quality video support, and some file formats may not work.
Final words
Apart from being able to play multiple video formats, what makes a video player app worthy of attention is the user interface. Since the iPadOS is all about simplicity, you don’t want a cluttered media library which is a nightmare to manage, and hence every selection in the list above has been selectively chosen to provide you a great media streaming experience. Apart from the clean user interface, features for subtitles, playback controls, the ability to launch content directly from the cloud storage, and FTP connection to the home network are some nifty features to look out for.
Besides picking these power-packed media players to complete your portable video entertainment experience, you may also convert videos in the formats compatible with iPads with desktop video converter tools.
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