If you want to watch a movie or video saved on your Mac using your iOS device, you can choose to transfer or stream the media file from Mac to iPhone. There are many file transfer apps can help you share files between mobile and computer, such as SHAREit file transfer, Zapya file sharing, etc. They are free and very easy to use, capable of copying large media files between various devices in your local network very quickly. Mobile devices typically lack storage. Thus it may not be a good option to save big media files on the phone.
The VLC player has been an indispensable tool for many PC and Mac users for years. The minimalist program from the VideoLAN company enables you to play almost every video and audio format. The minimalist program from the VideoLAN company enables you to play almost every video and audio format.
In this article, we will show you how to stream media files, music and movies, saved on your Mac to iPhone using the free media player, VLC Player. No third-party software needed on the Mac. You can simply go to turn on the File Sharing from System Preferences on Mac to turn your Mac into a SMB file server.
Enable File Sharing on Mac
Open the Apple menu and select System Preferences. Click to the Sharing pane. Place a check in the box next to File Sharing. Click Options… in the Sharing pane, click to enable ‘Share files and folders using SMB‘, then select the user account and type in its password to authenticate.
- VideoLAN, the organization behind the open-source cross-platform VLC media player, is geared to launch VLC 2.0—a total rewrite of the program with new capabilities and an all-new user interface on.
- Elmedia Player is a competitive VLC alternative for Mac with the ability to stream video and music from AirPlay devices and to download online media from popular hosting websites. Of course you get to really understand things through comparison, and that's why we ran a comparison test on two most powerful media players - VLC and Elmedia Player.
iPhone to play music and movies saved on Mac
Get the VLC media player from App Store onto your iPhone. It allows users to remote play videos and music from network devices. Run the player, tap on its icon at the top left corner to open the side menu. Choose Local Network. VLC should automatically detect your Mac SMB File Server. Tap on your Mac name to open the Connect to Server screen.
You need to type in port number 22, Mac username and its password. Then touch the Save button to save the login info for easier access in the future. Your Mac SMB server will be listed at the lower section. Choose the Mac SMB server, then tap Connect button to brows to your Mac music library, video album, find and play your movies, and music on Mac using VLC player on iPhone.
Mac to iPhone iPad movie, music streaming alternatives
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Devices and Mac OS X version
VLC media player requires Mac OS X 10.7.5 or later. It runs on any Mac with a 64-bit Intel processor or an Apple Silicon chip. Previous devices are supported by older releases.
Note that the first generation of Intel-based Macs equipped with Core Solo or Core Duo processors is no longer supported. Please use version 2.0.10 linked below.
If you need help in finding the correct package matching your Mac's processor architecture, please see this official support document by Apple.
Web browser plugin for Mac OS X
Support for NPAPI plugins was removed from all modern web browsers, so VLC's plugin is no longer maintained. The last version is 3.0.4 and can be found here. It will not receive any further updates.
Older versions of Mac OS X and VLC media player
We provide older releases for users who wish to deploy our software on legacy releases of Mac OS X. You can find recommendations for the respective operating system version below. Note that support ended for all releases listed below and hence they won't receive any further updates.
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Use VLC 2.2.8. Get it here.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Use VLC 2.0.10. Get it for PowerPC or 32bit Intel.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
Mac OS X 10.4.7 or later is required
Free Vlc For Mac
Use VLC 0.9.10. Get it for PowerPC or Intel.
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
QuickTime 6.5.2 or later is required
Use VLC 0.8.6i. Get it for PowerPC.
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar
Use VLC 0.8.4a. Get it for PowerPC.
Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah and 10.1 Puma
Vlc Player For Mac Reddit Mac
Use VLC 0.7.0. Get it for PowerPC.