The beta of VLC 2.1 for Android includes 360 degree video support and more

The volunteer team at VideoLAN have been working diligently on new features for its popular VLC media player for Android since it released the big 2.0 update in mid-2016. Today, it announced that it had launched a beta version of the upcoming 2.1 version, which includes a large number of additions and improvements.

The 2.1 version includes support for playing 360 degree videos, and VLC is working to add support for VR headsets like Google Cardboard. It also adds support for picture-in-picture video for when the app runs on Android TVs.  The media player now includes a blurred version of any current art cover, if available, in the background. Audio play support for Android Auto has been included with this beta release, and there are tons of other smaller additions, UI tweaks and improvements as well. You can check out a full list of all the new features for VLC 2.1 at the blog page of one of its developers, Geoffrey Metais.

You can register to try out the beta version of VLC 2.1 at the link below, and when that is completed you will be able to access the app from the Google Play Store. There’s no word on when the 2.1 update will be released for the stable version of VLC, but we will keep you posted when that version is available.