Apple apps such as QuickTime Player, Photos, and Keynote work with many kinds of audio and video formats. Some apps prefer specific formats, but QuickTime movie files (.mov), most MPEG files (.mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mp3, .mpg), some AVI and WAV files, and many other formats usually work in most apps without additional software.
Older or specialized media formats might not work in your app, because the format requires software designed to support it. If that happens, your app won't open the file or won't play back its audio or video.
Use it as an AVI player for Mac or a viewer for Windows Media Video (WMV) and dozens of other file types, including HTML5 video (WebM, OGV), RM, MTS, H.264 video, and more. Enjoy Music in Your Preferred Format. Windows Media Player is Microsoft's media player tailored for Mac users. It allows you to easily play music and movies in all audio and video formats released before 2005. It allows you to easily play music and movies in all audio and video formats released before 2005.
How to search for an app that works with your file
You might already have an app that supports the format of your file. If you don't know which of your installed apps to try, your Mac might be able to suggest one:
- Control-click (or right-click) the file in the Finder.
- From the shortcut menu that opens, choose Open With. You should see a submenu listing all of the other installed apps that your Mac thinks might be able to open the file.
If none of your installed apps can open the file, search the Internet or Mac App Store for apps that can play or convert the file:
- Include the name of the media format in your search. To find the format, select the file and press Command-I to open an Info window. The format might appear after the label Kind, such as ”Kind: Matroska Video File.”
- Include the filename extension in your search. The extension is the letters shown at the end of the file's name, such as .avi,.wmv, or .mkv.
Learn more
- QuickTime Player (version 10.0 and later) in OS X Mavericks through macOS Mojave converts legacy media files that use certain older or third-party compression formats.
- Learn about incompatible media in Final Cut Pro X and iMovie.
5 best music player apps for Mac
Mac is an OS for creative types. Thus, most musicians use it for its recording software, like Garage Band. However, it’s still a good OS for listening as well. Most people use iTunes. It’s a serviceable audio player with a ton of organizational features. However, it’s also resource intensive and covers more than just music. Some may want something a little more simple or a little more focused on just the music. Unfortunately, iTunes is so ubiquitous on MacOS that competitors aren’t very common. Most lists just list all of the ones that they can find, but many of those aren’t great. We can help with that. Here are the best music player apps for Mac!
Price: Free trial / $99
Amarra is a somewhat popular and powerful music app for Mac. It's mostly for audiophile types with hi-fi music files. It boasts support for things like FLAC, DSD, and MQA. Additionally, it integrates directly with Tidal for higher quality music streaming. The UI is good. It won't surprise you at all, really. You do get presets as well for additional tinkering if you need it. It's a bit resource intensive. However, this is a good app for serious music fans. There is a free trial available. The pro version goes for $99. That kind of price tag makes it apparent that this is for a certain kind of music fan.
Price: Free trial / $74
Audirvana is a powerful music player with a lot of promises. It features a simple, but effective user interface along with optimizations for excessively large library. That also includes newer codecs like MQA and integration with hi-fi streaming services like Tidal. It worked fine during our testing. We didn't run into any bugs. It's probably a little too much for someone isn't an audiophile, though. All those features all cost you. The cost is $74 for the pro version. There is a free trial, though, so you can try it first.
Price: Free / $19.95
Swinsian is a fairly decent music app. It's lighter on resources than most of its competitors. Additionally, it comes with a customizable UI, decent organizational features, a couple of different display modes, a choice between a ten and 31 band equalizer, and support for most types of files. This is a truly excellent music player without a lot of downside. It's even cheaper than most of its competitors. Those looking for something flashy may end up elsewhere, though, and that's perfectly okay.
Price: Free
VLC is a powerful and popular music player. It's open source and completely free with no in-app purchases or ads. It also plays almost any file you can think of. Most use it for video and for various types of streaming. However, it should play whatever music files you have. The UI is basic and it supports the basics like playlists. However, you may want to look elsewhere for serious music organization. Still, it's an excellent free option and it works for video as well.
Price: Free / $4.99 per month / $49.99 per year
VOX is a very flashy and serious music player for Mac. It supports a variety of high resolution file types, including FLAC, ALAC, DSD, PCM, WAV, and most of the basics like MP3, AAC, and others. The UI is sleek and works well for organizing your library. Many of the features are free. There is a subscription service available with extra features. They include unlimited cloud storage space for your music collection and some extra features. This is another excellent music player. However, we only recommend this one for those who also want cloud features. The subscription works cross-platform between the Mac and iOS versions.
If we missed any great music player apps for Mac, tell us about them in the comments! You can also click here to check out more of our best app lists!
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