In a world where streaming platforms often come with hefty price tags, the free and versatile VLC media player has achieved a monumental milestone: it has crossed 7 billion downloads across all platforms.

The president and lead developer of VLC, Jean-Baptiste Kempf, shared this news in an email update. This impressive figure was reached almost 18 months after the app surpassed 6 billion downloads in January 2025. VLC's success is a testament to its utility and the growing awareness of open-source software.

Recently, VideoLAN has been working on expanding VLC's capabilities. They have ported the media player to Amazon's new Vega OS for TVs and are also focusing on supporting all other platforms and codecs. This update aims to make VLC even more versatile, potentially setting the stage for easier media consumption across various devices.

Furthermore, there have been whispers of upcoming features, including AI-powered translation and subtitles. Last year, VideoLAN hinted at the possibility of using local models for these features, but it remains unclear if they were ever officially released. Regardless, the continued development and expansion of VLC underscore its importance in the media landscape.