If you are using a Mac or any other Apple device like the iPhone or iPad, you surely have heard about the QuickTime media player or it’s corresponding app. Even when you are a Windows or Android user, it is possible for you to use QuickTime to watch videos or listen to music. It has been quite some time since QuickTime had been exclusively for Apple users.
However versatile and popular the media player may be though, there are still problems regarding certain file formats or codecs. QuickTime, even though it supports most video and audio files, has difficulties opening certain files. But don’t worry, there is still a way how to watch your favorite movie or listen to your favorite sing using the player you have!
Native QuickTime Files
There is one file format that is native to Apple’s QuickTime player: The MOV file.
MOV is a video container format similar to MP4. For QuickTime use one could even say that the two formats are nearly interchangeable even though MP4 is receiving better support by both hardware and software media players.
MOV files are, as stated, container files. This means that they do not only contain video data, but audio data as well. Text data can be included as well, for example for subtitle usage.
Files QuickTime Can Open
Depending on the video and audio codecs used, there is quite a bunch of files you can play, view and open using the QuickTime player. Newer versions of the media player can also edit, save, and share videos and other media formats.
Here’s a list with the most common formats supported by QuickTime:
| Video Files | Audio Files | Image Files |
|
|
|
Play All Video & Audio Files
While QuickTime supports a lot of files, it may still happen that you are unable to open a video or song in the media player. In this case, the file either uses a codec that’s not supported by QuickTime, or the file is in a format that QuickTime does not support.
In that case, you can download add ons for QuickTime the allow you to, for example, play back ASF, Flash Video or OGG files. Or you can download and install another player that supports the file and codec you are using.
Check out this article on Best Open Source Video and Music Players.
But what if you don’t want to download and install a new program just to open a single video? What if you are on mobile and want a quick and space-saving solution?
Convert your files to the QuickTime Format
Video files like FLV, MKV, WEBM or WMV can not be natively opened by QuickTime. If you still want to use QuickTime to view them though, you can convert them to MOV. By converting these files into the MOV format, you do not have to install any other application or program.
Likewise, audio files like FLAC, OGG, OPUS or WMA are not supported by Apple’s media player. For these files, you can either use iTunes or convert them into a format supported by QuickTime using an audio file converter as well.
Using online conversion you save time, space and nerves if you want to quickly convert a file for your QuickTime player. Don’t bother with downloading new players or even more apps to your phone: use what you already have!
Follow us