VPFL

VPFL (Video Player in Flutter for Linux) is a free, open-source desktop video player built with Flutter and powered by media_kit and mpv. It brings together local video playback, subtitles, and a personal video library.

Features

• Playback controls: Play, pause, seek, adjust volume and speed, manage subtitles, and enter fullscreen.
• Local video library: Browse indexed videos and saved folders, and return to recently opened media.
• Resume playback: Pick up unfinished videos from their saved positions when resume is enabled.
• Subtitle support: Select embedded subtitle tracks or load external SRT, ASS, SSA, and WebVTT files.
• Linux desktop integration: Open local files from the desktop, launch a video from the command line, and choose VPFL as the default player for its registered video formats.
• GPU rendering where available: GPU-backed video presentation with a software rendering fallback. Rendering mode is separate from video decoding.
• Open source: Use, inspect, modify, and redistribute VPFL under the Apache License 2.0.

Download and installation

VPFL targets x86_64 Linux. The repository can build native packages for Ubuntu 24.04 / Linux Mint 22.x, Fedora 44, and Arch Linux. See the native package guide for supported targets and installation checks.

Public installer releases are not yet available. Once published, verified packages will be listed on the GitHub Releases page. For now, developers can build and run VPFL from source.

Run from source

You will need a Linux desktop environment, the Flutter SDK with Linux desktop support, a working C/C++ build toolchain, and GTK 3, mpv, and libepoxy development dependencies. CI uses Flutter 3.47.5; use that version for the closest match. On Ubuntu or Linux Mint, install the native dependencies with:

sudo apt install clang cmake ninja-build pkg-config \
  libgtk-3-dev libmpv-dev libepoxy-dev

Clone and run the application:

git clone https://github.com/sudo-muneeb/vpfl.git
cd vpfl
flutter pub get
flutter run -d linux

Open a specific video while developing:

flutter run -d linux --dart-entrypoint-args=/path/to/video.mkv

An installed VPFL executable can be launched with vpfl or vpfl /path/to/video.mkv. For local testing with a separate app profile, use ./scripts/debug-isolated.sh [video-file]; see the script for its options.

Building Linux packages

The repository provides scripts for generating native Linux packages. They have distribution-specific prerequisites; consult the packaging guide before building or installing generated artifacts.

Debian / Ubuntu

./packaging/scripts/package-linux.sh deb

Fedora

./packaging/scripts/package-linux.sh rpm

Arch Linux

./packaging/scripts/package-arch.sh

The Arch script generates the release archive used by the vpfl-bin package build; it does not install the package itself.

Under the hood

VPFL uses Flutter for its desktop interface and media_kit for playback, backed by mpv. Its Linux integration covers rendering, a local media library, desktop file associations, and subtitle controls. The project also has automated playback and packaging checks.

For implementation details, compatibility work, and planned improvements, see the project documentation, CI guide, and development goals.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome, including bug fixes, testing, documentation, packaging, and Linux desktop improvements. Read CONTRIBUTING.md to get started, or open an issue to discuss a problem or suggestion.

License

VPFL is licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Commercial use, modification, and redistribution are permitted under its terms. See NOTICE, third-party notices, and commercial use information for details.

Created and maintained by Sheikh Muneeb Ahmed.

---

Website · GitHub · Issues