IINA
A macOS-style video player
open sourceMedia
IINA is a player that looks like part of macOS: built on mpv so it plays everything, but with trackpad gestures, online subtitles, Picture-in-Picture, and dark mode. Supports plugins and streaming URLs. Free and open source.
// Install
Your MacHomebrew in /opt/homebrew
brew install --cask iina// What it is for
- Plays everything QuickTime will not: mkv, any codec, external subtitles
- Built for macOS and looks like a system app rather than a Linux port
- Picture-in-picture, trackpad gestures, and proper dark mode
- Free and open source, on the mpv engine
// Common questions
IINA or VLC?
IINA looks better and integrates with macOS more deeply. VLC wins on tolerating broken files, network streaming, and being everywhere at once. Plenty of people keep both.
Does it use hardware acceleration?
Yes, decoding runs through the Mac video engine, so watching 4K does not drain a laptop the way software decoding does.
