IINA - The Best Free Player for MacOS

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Why IINA

Extensive support for a wide range of video formats

Provides plug-in subtitles and simple subtitle adjustment options.

Simple and clean look, no distracting ads

Open source and free

What is IINA?

IINA is a native open source video player designed for the Mac. It can play virtually any type of video file, thanks to its strong multi-format support, and it's not just limited to local files, but also has integrated tools that allow you to transfer online videos from the web and play them in the player for a seamless transition. It also works with cloud storage services, making it easy and efficient to play video files from cloud drives, making IINA the perfect choice for Mac users because of its versatility and ease of use.

What IINA can do

Play video, audio, and pictures.

Playback settings

Plug-in subtitles

Play online videos

Picture-in-Picture

MPV profile and scripting system for advanced users

How to use IINA

Similarly to the player that comes with your operating system, you can easily start IINA by clicking on a video file (which opens on IINA by default) or by right-clicking and choosing how to open it. once inside IINA, you will probably feel a warm sense of déjà vu. There is no doubt that the clean look of the playback interface and the minimalist control panel make IINA similar to the QuickTime player that comes with the system: fresh, redundant and free of advertisements.

Being based on an mpv player, IINA can play almost any media file format, not just video, but also audio and pictures. This comprehensive file support allows IINA to excel in handling multimedia files, providing users with a more convenient and unified experience.

Playback settings

IINA covers a wide range of useful functions, such as picture-in-picture, multiplier playback, cropping, rotating, color grading, external subtitles, HDR support, and more, to meet your needs.

For macOS-native Picture-in-Picture, just click the corresponding icon in the control bar to hover a local video over the screen, making it easy and enjoyable to take notes in class or relax at work, and written in Swift, IINA is designed specifically for macOS, optimizing compatibility with the system, especially in the implementation of the Picture-in-Picture feature.

IINA is also optimized for Apple devices and official peripherals, such as fast-forward, fast-reverse and volume adjustment via trackpad or mouse swipe.

IINA also offers 16x acceleration and 1/4x slow playback to meet the needs of different scenarios. In addition to multiplier playback, IINA offers features such as cropping, aspect ratio adjustment, brightness and contrast adjustment, and personalized color tone settings. You can even customize the video and audio parameters to make the viewing experience more personal.

In IINA 's settings interface, you can further adjust your preferences, including window size, toolbar layout, playback controller position, and more, so you can enjoy a completely personalized playback experience. (Although I've always used the default settings!)

Playing online videos

According to the official website, with the support of youtube-dl and browser plug-ins, IINA can also play online streaming media. However, the threshold for using IINA is a bit high, and the blogger is not interested in it, so I don't know much about it.

My experience with IINA

With its minimalist look and features optimized for macOS, IINA could be the default player on their Mac systems. That way, you won't have to deal with a fragmented experience when watching videos in an unsupported format or with an outdated interface. For those with a sense of individuality, IINA has a wide range of features and open-source features to meet the needs of different scenarios and types of video playback.

BONUS: Setting IINA as the Mac default player

Right-click on a video file -> Details -> Open as -> Select IINA

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Feel free to leave your comments below~!