Updated VLC app for Android now brings picture-in-picture support, local network streaming

VLC Media Player made a name for itself by being the most versatile media player available on the desktop. With its ability to play pretty much any audio and video file you could throw at it--and given its compelling (free) price--it’s little surprise it’s the de facto player of choice for millions of users.

Then it made its way to Android and continued with its run. Now, with version 2.0 rolling out on the Google Play Store, there are numerous goodies that only improve to the experience. Key among these is the ability to play a video picture-in-picture style, so you can catch that episode of Game of Thrones while getting up to speed on Facebook.

Interestingly, picture-in-picture appears to be the flavour of the day, with the feature being announced in the upcoming Android N, and also in the newest Netflix iPad app. Among the other new features in VLC 2.0 are:

- A new, simplified user interface

- The ability to stream files from your local network using protocols like DNLA/UPnP, FTP, NFS and Windows Share

- Creating video playlists

- Viewing video playback history (which can optionally be disabled for privacy)

- The ability to download subtitles from OpenSubtitles

- Codec efficiency improvements for faster decoding and playback of all video types

Head over to the Google Play Store where the VLC 2.0 update is rolling out.