VLC beta update brings picture-in-picture mode to Chrome OS

Kyle Bradshaw | Jan 24 2020 - 11:11 am PT

Regardless of whether you’re on a desktop or mobile device, one of the best free video players on the market is VLC. Today, a beta update to VLC for Android has brought support for Chrome OS’s new picture-in-picture video player.

Last year, Chrome OS, starting with version 78, gained the ability to support the picture-in-picture mode of Android apps like YouTube, letting their content display in the corner, over the rest of your apps.

Today, a new beta update has rolled out for the VLC app, and the changelog very clearly calls out new support for Chrome OS’s picture-in-picture mode. Having installed the update on my Chromebook, I was very quickly able to load up a video and pin VLC to the corner of my display.

To use VLC’s picture-in-picture on Chrome OS, first you’ll need to sign up for beta updates from the Play Store. This can be done either on the web or direct from VLC’s Play Store listing. Next, make sure you’ve installed the latest beta update, currently version 3.2.7.

The next time you watch a video in VLC, simply open the meatball (three dots) menu and choose “Pop-Up player.” Your video will now appear in the bottom-right corner, and can be resized or dragged around freely to suit your needs, exactly like the YouTube app’s picture-in-picture experience.

Interestingly, VLC also has a dedicated Chrome OS app, available via the Chrome Web Store. Today’s Chrome OS specific change to the Android app may be an indicator of VLC’s Chrome OS development moving fully to the Android/Play Store version.