IINA
The mpv engine wrapped in a macOS app that actually looks and behaves like a macOS app.
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1 more ways to get IINA
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install --cask iina
About IINA
IINA takes mpv, which decodes almost anything, and builds a native interface around it: picture-in-picture, Force Touch, Touch Bar support, gesture controls, and a separate music mode for audio files. It targets macOS 11 and later and follows the platform's conventions rather than fighting them.
Subtitles are searched online and matched against local files automatically, video thumbnails preview the timeline, and playback history is unlimited. Advanced users can still drop in mpv configuration files and Lua scripts.
Strengths
- mpv decoding with a genuinely native macOS interface
- Picture-in-picture, gestures, Touch Bar and a standalone music mode
- Online subtitle search with local subtitle matching
- mpv config files and Lua scripts still work underneath
Limitations
- macOS 11 or newer only
- Nightly builds exist but the project warns they may be unusable
- Fewer settings surfaced than mpv exposes on the command line
- Releases are occasional; 1.4.4 dates from June 2026
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source under the GPL 3.0.
- License
- GPL-3.0
- Developer
- iina
- Platforms
- macOS
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Works offline
- Yes
- Best suited for
- Playing video on a Mac without VLC's interface or mpv's config file
- Categories
- Media players
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Selected from the TechWalrus downloads catalog (Media); facts checked against the developer's own pages, 2 sources on file.
Alternatives to IINA
Compare allSoftware that can replace IINA for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
VLC media player
A free player that opens almost any video or audio file, disc or stream without installing a codec pack.
VLC runs on macOS plus Windows, Linux, Android and iOS and plays a wide range of codecs out of the box, but its interface is functional rather than modern.
mpv
A minimal, scriptable media player with high quality video output and no real interface to get in the way.
mpv is the engine IINA wraps, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and exposes more settings, but has no real graphical interface beyond an on-screen controller.
SMPlayer
A front end for mpv and MPlayer that remembers where you stopped in every file you have ever opened.
SMPlayer is a front end for mpv and MPlayer on macOS, Windows and Linux that remembers position per file, with a dated Qt interface instead of a native one.
Infuse
Apple-platform video player that connects to Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and network shares.
Infuse runs on macOS and iOS and connects to Plex, Jellyfin, Emby and network shares, but it is closed source with most features behind a Pro subscription.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Syncplay
Keep video playback synchronized across a group.
Jellyfin Media Player
A desktop client for Jellyfin built on libmpv, with hardware decoding and audio passthrough so fewer files need transcoding.
