VLC is a free cross-platform multimedia player that plays almost any kind of video format. This famous media player has versions available for Windows, Mac, Linux and Smartphones. VLC is perhaps one of the most widely used media players alongside the Windows Media Player.

Recently, a version of VLC for released for Android. This pre-Alpha version has been developed by a member of CyanogenMod team “CVPCS” who has built a Pre-Alpha package for Android users.

Android users have perhaps been waiting for this release for as long as they can remember, but now it has finally become a reality. Before we get too excited it is worth pointing out that pre-Alpha means that this VLC build is still quite raw and may not function as well as you like. Currently there are two versions available for download, one for NEON capable devices, and the other for NONEON based devices. Users can find the download link and instructions at the end of this post. I will keep my readers updated as newer builds become available.

As mentioned above there are two builds available of VLC for Android, known as NEON and NONEON. The difference is in the processor type. This so because VLC for Android makes use of the NDK (Native Development Kit), therefore, it will only work on specific processor classes. In other words, the same build will not work across all devices.

VLC Downloading Instructions:

To check if your device supports NEON or the NONEON build, you will have to use ADB to locate a file called cpuinfo under /proc. If word Neon is present in the file under Features then you can download the NEON build. Otherwise, download the NONEON build.

Make sure that you have enabled Unknown sources from Settings > Applications before downloading VLC. This is to make sure that you are able to install the .apk files.

Download VLC NEON [Direct Download]

Download VLC NONEON [Direct Download]

VLC For Android [Home Page]

Developer’s Website