What's new on VLC for Android 3.5
Published: 2022-07-20 05:12:49

Here is the complete changelog for this 5th update of VLC 3.

## New features

#### New widgets

The widgets have been completely reworked. 

They came in different flavors depending on their sizes.

![Small widget layouts](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/wl8y9wq24bjr73iqz21c.png)
![Large widget layout](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/zzwg8syfqwtkx24j3z8r.png)

They also are now heavily customizable.

![Widget customization](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vqtq6hbcmbzkt54f4k1y.png)
 

And they support Material You (or the artwork palette) colors.
  
![Material You widget colors animation](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/kjav5s331vxevshalkqi.gif)
 
You can also create home screen shortcuts directly from your medias.

![Add a track shortcut to your home screen](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/68mei23hvsfnz78bjvj2.png)


#### Reworked audio list, album view and about screen

A lot of polish has been applied to numerous screens, notably audio the album screen that now displays more information.

![Album screen](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/9cyivacwsyjrfybvzdnx.png)
 
The about screen is also clearer.

![About screen](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/pdlobgbtnq5rv7clryki.png)
 
#### Player customization

You can now fully customize the player experience by picking the features you need and customizing your seek delays.

![Controls settings are available in the video player advanced options](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/201t1ns7jmv4buhxd86m.png)

![Control settings for the video player](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/vh6e103yxb4f1snf2gu1.png)
  

#### Improved tablet and foldable devices support

The app has now a dedicated navigation for large screens.

![Large screen navigation](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/bk9kmhuebft3b7p7wdh8.png)

The video player also detects your device's form factor and adapts to it.

{% embed https://twitter.com/VLC_Android/status/1549656923024367616  %}

The video size is now changed when you fold your device and takes your notch into account. You can also opt out of these size changes.

#### Network indexation

You can now index files from samba shares. 

![The medialibrary indexed folders now shows network sahres](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/50kfvnehfa40cvr45tm6.png)

When doing so, you will get your network files in the video and audio screens of the app.

![Network medias are added to the video list with a network badge](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/jq4xvvr4ki7x7r0c570z.png)

## Improvements

#### Improved accessibility

A lot of work as been done to make the app usable for visually impaired people. A special thanks goes to the [Valentin Haüy](https://www.avh.asso.fr/fr) association for helping us with this!

#### Video player performances

It is now using less resources and improve the experience on lower end (or older) devices.

#### Permission explanations

Android has yet again changed the way file permission work, and we had to adapt to these changes. The welcome screen now better explains exactly the different permission levels are and what you will be able to do (or not).

![Welcome screen permission explanations](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/trakgj8v6w3wxrao2iew.png)
 

- No permission: You won't be able to auto-discover your media. You will be able to only play streams or network media
- Standard Android permission: You will only be able to auto-discover standard media files
- Manage all files: You will be able to auto-discover all your files to play all types of media even weird ones, or compressed files

#### Under the hood

A lot of work has also been done to improve VLC's stability and to fix bad behaviors.