Cookie
Eltima IBC uses cookies to personalize your experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy. Click here to learn more.
Elmedia Player: A Top Contender for Mac Media Player of the Year
  • High compatibility with multiple file formats
  • Best experience with wireless streaming
  • Playback and audio control settings are vast
  • Perfect for streaming and downloading from popular video sharing sites
Top choice
Elmedia Player
4.8 Rank based on 131+ users, Reviews(131)
 
Download website version
Best Mac Media Player

Best Media Player Mac Apps: Top 5 Players


We all come back to the age-old question, time and time again: which app is the best media player for Mac? And while the answers and experiences vary, we can tell you one thing. When considering all the points and features of the top apps available to Mac users today, we’ve narrowed it down for you to the top five. These options should make it very clear for you as to which app is the best for you.

1. Arguably the Best Media Player for Mac: Elmedia Player

Elmedia Player tops the list as one of the best media players for Mac, and it should come as no surprise. This lightweight media player is full of pleasant surprises and goodies. One of which starts with the number of file formats supported. This app can handle anything you throw at it, from AVI, FLV, WAV, WMV, MKV, MP4, to MP3 and more. It makes viewing all your favorite content that much easier and accessible. You also get to have full control over all playback options and get the perfect picture for you.

The PRO version offers even more, believe it or not. For only $19.95, you can get full access to even more power and features. For example, upgrade to wireless connective streaming to any Smart TV, Chromecast, or DLNA-enabled devices for the full experience. Or use this media player for Mac to dive deep into video downloading from YouTube, Dailymotion, Vimeo, and more. And tons more options and customization features. There’s just so much you can do with Elmedia Player for Mac.

media player macintosh application

Pros:

  • Tons of file formats supported
  • Wireless streaming and seamless connectivity
  • Advanced playback, audio, and video customization features
  • Playlist creation and subtitle support

Cons:

  • Best use with latest macOS versions
  • Only available for Mac, no Windows support

2. OmniPlayer - Mac Media Player Worth Considering

OmniPlayer is a neat media player you can find on the App Store. It’s lightweight and compact, perfect for portable use on any Mac. It does offer a wide array of quality features and similar offerings of other players like a simple design and navigation set up, subtitle support, 4K quality playback, and much more. It’s definitely worth considering.

Choose the best free media player for Mac

Pros:

  • Easy to use and set up in a flash, beginner-friendly
  • Multiple file formats supported
  • Playlist customization and managing

Cons:

  • Offers limited mobility within the free version of the app, for full potential, you must pay extra

3. IINA - A Mac Media Player that Truly Stands Out

What you’ll find intriguing about this app is much more than just its robust capability as a full media player for Macbook. It stands out particularly because of its strikingly similar Mac-Esque feel throughout the user-interface and design. It seems to have taken inspiration from Apple and resembles a similar feel and supports native macOS features like Touch Bar support, Force Touch, Dark Mode, and more. It makes for quite an enjoyable experience.

One of best multimedia player for Mac

Pros:

  • Very similar native Apple language and design
  • Browser integration feature very useful for quick access

Cons:

  • Heavy usage on CPU, which can lead to slowdowns
  • Can be a little on the buggy side

4. VLC Media Player - The Longest-Standing Media Player for Mac

Who hasn’t heard of this Mac media player before - VLC Media Player? Almost everyone who’s consumed video on their devices has come across this app at one time or another. This is the longest-standing app from this list - and for good reason. It paved the way for a lot of the popular apps you see today. It’s famous for being the most versatile app since it can play any file format, even the most uncommon, obscure ones. It’s completely free as well. Although it does feel outdated in design and user experience, it’s still nothing to turn away from.

Media Player Mac Application

Pros:

  • Completely free and accessible to anyone
  • Supports every file format you can think of
  • Compatible with all kinds of platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, etc.)

Cons:

  • Design is not very user-friendly and can be cumbersome to navigate
  • The highlight is mainly the playback feature, the rest doesn’t really stand out

Related Articles

5. JustPlay - Popular Player Among Mac Users

You may have used JustPlay before. It’s a common app among Mac users because of its compact design and friendly interface. It can pump out serious HD video, up to 8K with ease. Similar to other common players, this app can also support different video and audio formats, deinterlacing feature for smooth playback, and hardware-accelerated decoding for accommodating even the largest of files.

Best Mac Media Player

Pros:

  • Plays video and audio files easily, without additional downloads and codecs needed
  • Hardware-accelerated decoding makes for a smoother experience
  • Up to 8K Ultra HD playback supported

Cons:

  • Video downloading and editing is absent, which is a big letdown
  • Only comes as a paid tool, no free options available

Breakdown of the Features Every Media Player for Mac Needs to Have

Here’s an easy-to-see breakdown of all the key components and features of the best media players for Mac. Double-check and see if the player you’re considering has these features available.

Scroll to view more
Swipe tip
Top features
VideoDuke
Elmedia
Omni
IINA
VLC
JustPlay
Multiple file formats supported
Multiple file formats supported
yes (AVI, FLV, SWF, MP4, WMV, MKV, DAT, DivX, MKV, MP3, WMA, AC2, MKA, OGG, FLAC, AAC, etc.)  
yes ( AVI, MP4, FLV, SWF, WMV, MKV, M4V, AAC, FLAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. )  
yes ( AVI, MP4, FLV, SWF, WMV, MKV, M4V, AAC,FLAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, etc.)  
yes (MKV, MP4, VOB, WMV, MPG AVI, FlAC, AAC, MP3,WMA, etc.)  
yes ( MKV, MP4, FLV, SWF, WMV, AVI, M4V, AAC, FLAC, MP3, WAV, WMA, etc. )  
File format conversion
File format conversion
no  
no  
no  
yes  
no  
Subtitle support and integration
Subtitle support and integration
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  
Hardware-accelerated decoding
Hardware-accelerated decoding
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  
Screen-recording and screenshot capturing
Screen-recording and screenshot capturing
no  
yes (PRO)  
no  
yes  
no  
Playlist integration, managing, and customization
Playlist integration, managing, and customization
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  
yes  

Must-Have Features of the Best Media Player for Mac

  1. It must support multiple file formats. It’s not even to play just a few, or only the popular formats. A solid media player for Mac will be able to accommodate even the most uncommon formats for ultimate versatility.
  2. Compatibility. This means when you upgrade your Mac software, the player must be able to keep up - and not only that, performance shouldn’t be affected with the upgrade. This is key for a complete, worthwhile experience.
  3. Most movies and videos these days are only getting more high-def. So a video player that can play Ultra HD video is a huge plus for the overall enjoyment of users.
  4. First impressions are everything, and with an app that you’ll be interacting with every day, it has to be user-friendly and aesthetically pleasing. It can’t be difficult and confusing to navigate.
  5. Playlist customization and support. Everything is becoming more personal, and users want to build their own personal library of music, video, and other media content. So this is necessary for every Mac media player today.
  6. Free from ads. For the best experiences, users don’t want to be hit with ads all day. There has to be an option to turn off ads or be built into the software from the beginning. No ads.

FAQ

We’ve done our best to illustrate to you the best media player for Mac. And we hope you’ll find the best one to suit your needs. But for any questions you may still have about these players, you can find them down below!

The Mac comes with QuickTime Player by default. It’s not terrible, and for most casual users, it seems to be alright for light tasks. But if consuming media is a priority to you, then QuickTime simply isn’t good enough. That’s why we recommend opting for a more powerful, well-rounded third-party player, instead of QuickTime Player.

Yes, VLC is safe for Mac. Although there were some concerns about its privacy and safety as an open-source platform, the developers were able to quickly take care of any concerns and promise a more secure and safe future for VLC Media Player.

We think the best Mac media player has to be Elmedia Player - hands down. It just covers the whole spectrum of what you’d want in a video player. There’s virtually nothing this app can’t do. We think you should definitely give it a try and see for yourself.

Elmedia Player
Requirements: OS X 10.9+ , 59.66MB free space
Version 7.17(2353) (6 Dec, 2020) Release notes
Category: MultimediaApplication
Free website version
f

Get Elmedia Player - Best Mac Media Player

Download
Purchase