Comparison

VLC Streamer Pro vs Apple TV

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VLC Streamer Pro

Stream movies and TV shows from your computer to your iPhone, iPod, or iPad without conversion. Enjoy your entire movie collection wirelessly within your home network. Supports various formats and resolutions for a seamless viewing experience.

Highlights
  • Stream movies from computer
  • No conversion needed
  • Supports multiple resolutions
  • Customizable gesture controls
  • Airplay and TV Out support
  • Browse local drives and network shares
Features
Read full description

Sit anywhere in your house and watch movies or TV shows on your iPhone, iPod or iPad. VLC Streamer streams movies from your computer to your iDevice. Winner *Best Entertainment App* Chip.de. You can watch anything from your movie collection. No need for complex conversion processes. No need to manually transfer programs to your device. “Can these guys do no wrong? Seriously, if only other app devs knew how to make apps as well as these guys, the world would be a better place. Or at least my device would be less buggy. I was just watching a Full HD copy of Avatar Extended Edition being streamed from my PC on my iPod Touch 2nd Generation and it looked and played amazingly.” - UK Reviewer “…it's as good as having the original VLC player on your iOS device…” - CallingAllGeeks.org “…Setup is a snap and literally takes 2 seconds. You can browse through all your movies from your device and click any one to start playing. It even works if you have the movies stored on a USB drive connected to the host computer.” -The Times of India “Took me seconds to setup to stream from a secondary drive in my home office. Going straight out to get a cable for my TV.” - USA Reviewer “….This sucker can stream off the pc and plays virtually anything you throw at it. Download it now!” - TaxiDriver at Blippy.com There are a huge number of movie formats, and VLC can convert most of them - but it can't convert everything. If you have any doubts, then please try the free version of this application first. • Features include • - Free helper app gets you streaming quickly and allows you to browse local drives, and Windows network shares - Stream over wifi directly from your computer - Support for multiple resolutions and streaming quality levels - Customisable gesture controls - Live streaming of video after a few seconds of processing (assumes a reasonably powered computer) - Airplay support - TV Out support for iPad and iPhone4 - Easy to copy movies directly to your device for watching on the plane or out of the house. - Supports Windows, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 - Supports Mac OS 10.5 and above • System Requirements • - VLC Streamer will not play DRM protected videos. Videos from the iTunes store do include DRM. - VLC Streamer is designed to work on your local network, and the free helper app has to run on your Mac or PC. - Supports Windows, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10. - Supports Mac OS 10.7 Intel and above. • Response to feedback • -If you do have any problems streaming movies, then please just check the help instructions in the app. Feel free to drop me an email (my personal mail is in the app) if you need help. Enjoy!

About

Apple TV

This app is a central hub for exclusive original series, movies, and live sports like Formula 1 and MLB. It also aggregates content from your favorite streaming services, allowing you to buy or rent titles and discover new shows.

Highlights
  • Exclusive Apple Originals
  • Live Formula 1 & MLB
  • Buy or rent movies
  • Aggregate streaming services
  • Personalized recommendations
  • Continue Watching feature
Features
Read full description

Apple TV is the home of exclusive Apple Original shows and movies, Formula 1®, MLS, Friday Night Baseball, thousands of movies to buy or rent, and all the best programming from your favorite streaming services — all in one place. With an Apple TV subscription: • Stream thousands of hours of Apple Originals—thrilling dramas, epic sci-fi, and feel-good comedies, all with no ads—including Ted Lasso, Severance, The Morning Show, Silo, Shrinking, Slow Horses, and F1 The Movie. • Enjoy new releases weekly, with no ads. • Watch every Formula 1 Grand Prix™ live—with all-access coverage for every practice, qualifying, Sprint, and race. • Watch Friday Night Baseball, with live MLB matchups every Friday of the regular season. • Watch every Major League Soccer match live throughout the regular season, the entire playoffs, and Leagues Cup, all with no blackouts. Discover more to watch: • Buy or rent newly released movies, and browse the Apple TV Store with over 100,000 movies and shows—including the largest selection of 4K HDR titles. • Add Apple TV Channels subscriptions and stream seamlessly in the Apple TV app — no additional apps, accounts, or passwords needed. • Connect over 100 video streaming apps to access all your favorite shows and movies in one place. Apple TV app makes all your TV watching easier: • Get personalized recommendations across everything you watch. • With Continue Watching, pick up where you left off across all your subscriptions and devices. • Add to Watchlist to keep track of what you want to watch later. • Browse sports to see live and upcoming matchups, and choose your favorite teams to automatically add games to Continue Watching and receive notifications for close games and more. • Easily find all of your purchased movies and shows in the Library. • Enjoy the best picture and sound quality in Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos when available. • Stream over a Wi-Fi or cellular connection, or download to watch offline. • Find the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, and Mac, as well as smart TVs and streaming devices. Requirements: • iOS devices using iOS 12.3 or later • Some features require internet access over a Wi-Fi or cellular data connection • HDR video playback may not be available for all content or on all devices Apple TV subscription does not include third party-branded subscription services or content available for rental or purchase in the Apple TV app. In select regions, an Apple TV subscription may only be available as part of an iCloud+ subscription. If you subscribe to any Apple TV channels, payment will be charged to your Apple Account at the confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless they are canceled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Simultaneous streams may be limited on a per-subscription basis. The availability of Apple TV features, channels, and related content may vary depending on the country or region from which you attempt to access them. You can manage and cancel your subscriptions by going to your Settings on the Apple TV app after purchase. See https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/en-ww for the Privacy Policy. Apple TV app Terms and Conditions can be found at https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/us/terms.html

Screenshots

VLC Streamer Pro4 screens
Apple TV4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Apple TV at Free against VLC Streamer Pro's $7.99. Apple TV also leads on ratings volume (1.9M vs 742) and iOS requirement (10.2 vs 13.0). VLC Streamer Pro's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (74% vs 43%). On rating, update cadence, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Apple TV is free to download; VLC Streamer Pro costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for VLC Streamer Pro against 4.8 for Apple TV. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Apple TV has 1.9M ratings behind it against 742, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of VLC Streamer Pro's written reviews are positive against 43% of Apple TV's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VLC Streamer Pro ships an update every 3 months, Apple TV every 2 months. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
VLC Streamer Pro versus Apple TV: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVLC Streamer ProApple TV
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (742 ratings)4.8 (1.9M ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews — better43.2% of reviews
Number of ratings7421.9M — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS13.010.2 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB8 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperHobbyist Software LimitedApple

Customer experience

VLC Streamer Pro

All ratings742 ratings
Positive94.6%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.9%
Written reviews411 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral6.8%
Negative19.5%

Apple TV

All ratings1,859,783 ratings
Positive94.9%
Neutral2.2%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews5,558 reviews
Positive43.2%
Neutral8.8%
Negative48.0%

User reviews

VLC Streamer Pro

From 742 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Seamless streaming
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast conversion
  • 👍 Supports many file formats
  • 👍 Convenient remote access

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and connection issues
  • 🐛 Audio sync problems
  • 🐛 Conversion quality issues
  • 🔋 High CPU/battery usage during conversion
  • 🐛 Buggy after updates

Apple TV

From 1.9M App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Decent quality viewing experience
  • 👍 Impressive 4K and audio quality
  • 🤩 Fantastic original content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and unreliable app
  • 🤯 Confusing and unintuitive interface
  • 💰 Misleading pricing and pay-to-watch content
  • 🤔 Lack of user-friendly features
  • 😡 Terrible customer support

Bugs and requests

VLC Streamer Pro

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when selecting PC to connect
  • Keyboard doesn't disappear during search
  • Playback stops unexpectedly
  • Conversion process takes too long

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add playlist support
  • Improve subtitle handling
  • Allow direct streaming without conversion
  • Provide better organization/browsing of media library
  • Implement Chromecast support

Apple TV

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes frequently
  • Playback issues and random freezes
  • Incorrect episode/content display
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save/bookmark content for later
  • Improved content organization and navigation
  • Sync playback progress across devices
  • Chromecast/casting support
  • User profiles and personalized recommendations

In-app purchases

None

VLC Streamer Pro

No in-app purchases

None

Apple TV

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is VLC Streamer Pro free?
VLC Streamer Pro costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Apple TV free?
Apple TV is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VLC Streamer Pro or Apple TV?
Apple TV is rated higher. VLC Streamer Pro averages 4.7 out of 5 from 742 ratings, while Apple TV averages 4.8 from 1.9M ratings.
Do VLC Streamer Pro or Apple TV have ads?
Apple TV shows ads; VLC Streamer Pro does not.
Which is updated more often, VLC Streamer Pro or Apple TV?
VLC Streamer Pro ships an update every 3 months, and Apple TV every 2 months. Most recently, VLC Streamer Pro was updated on September 28, 2026 and Apple TV on September 28, 2026.

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