VLC for Android – How to Play YouTube and Other Online Videos?

VLC for Android app (also the iPhone app) can open online links containing videos. They can be direct HTTP links to connect to .MP4 videos. Or they can be links to YouTube and other video hosting and sharing websites. Playing YouTube videos works perfectly with VLC for Android. But it is a hit or a miss with other video sites like DailyMotion, Vimeo, and Break. To open such HTTP or other media links, we use the Open MRL feature in the VLC app. This feature is accessible from the menu. Once you click Open MRL, you can input YouTube links or direct links to video hosted at online addresses. This expands the horizon of VLC for Android as a local video/audio player. Meaning, you can open media stored in your phone’s storage as well as online web addresses. It shows how dynamic and feature-rich this free application is.

To open and play YouTube and other online videos with the VLC for Android (VLC for Mobile) app:

Tap on Menu ☰
Select the sub-menu Open MRL
Enter the network URL

Network URLs can be anything like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BEATsAvouU , https://www.yoursite.com/media.mp4 or https://www.domain.com/song.mp3. VLC will automatically cache and play such online URLs.

When you open such web addresses, they are opened in the VLC for Android app. You can play, pause, get subtitles, resize, crop and stretch such videos according to your preference. You might also want to do it because of the user-friendly interface of the mobile application. Overall, it is one of the winning points of VLC for Android and VLC for Mobile app.

Watch YouTube Video