VLC crosses 7 billion downloads

The non-profit organization VideoLAN announced that its VLC media player has now been downloaded more than 7 billion times across all platforms, a milestone that affects the vast number of users who rely on the free, offline player as an alternative to expensive streaming services. Jean-Baptiste Kempf, the president and lead developer of VLC, shared the update via email. The new figure comes roughly 18 months after the app reached 6 billion downloads in January 2025. For American consumers, this reinforces VLC’s position as a widely used tool for playing local media files without subscription costs.

In the same update, Kempf noted that the team has recently ported VLC to Amazon’s new Vega OS for televisions. This move expands the player’s reach into the smart TV market, where Amazon competes with other operating systems. The company also stated that it continues to work on supporting other platforms and codecs, ensuring broad compatibility with various video and audio formats.

VideoLAN is preparing for the release of VLC 4, the next major version of the player, but Kempf indicated that development is taking time. The company has not provided a specific release date for the update. The ongoing work suggests that the organization is prioritizing stability and feature completeness over a rushed launch.

Last year, VideoLAN teased the possibility of AI-powered translation and subtitles that would run using local models, meaning the processing would occur on the user’s device rather than on remote servers. However, the company has not clarified whether those features have actually been rolled out to the public as of this announcement. The lack of confirmation leaves the status of that project uncertain.

The 7 billion download count cements VLC as one of the most widely distributed software applications in the world, particularly given that it is developed by a non-profit rather than a commercial entity. The player has maintained its popularity by offering playback for nearly every file format without built-in ads or paywalls. As streaming platforms continue to raise prices, the availability of a free, offline player remains a significant option for many users.

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