Movist
Chul Joo
Movist is an easy-to-use and powerful movie player for macOS based on QuickTime and FFmpeg. It offers high-quality playback with customizable settings, extensive subtitle support, and a beautiful user interface for an enhanced movie watching experience.
User Sentiments
Top Likes
- Excellent playback quality with QuickTime and FFmpeg support
- Highly customizable subtitle settings
- Clean and beautiful user interface
- Supports various video and audio codecs
- HDR tone mapping for non-HDR screens (Pro)
Top Dislikes
- Price is not free (though affordable)
- Some users reported issues with subtitle display after updates (older reviews)
- Limited AirPlay functionality reported in older reviews
Popular Comments
Mac App Store User - Sajjadtg
2019-08-14
Movist has been the best-in-class video player on Mac for over 10 years now, and I've tried all of them (VLC, iina, iina , Screen, Elmedia, etc -- seriously, all of them). Movist remains the most effective and best supported. Thank you for all the hard work!
Setapp User - Corbett Baratta
2025-01-12
Only app I know that lets you natively watch Dolby Vision content on the Mac, worth it for that alone.
MacUpdate User - ahmedhatata-ah
2020-01-14
5.0
Setapp User - Antonio Barraza
2024-09-02
Loved it and used it a lot. However, external subtitles suddenly stopped working in 2.11.4 so I had to switch to IINA and I don't want to.
MacUpdate User - iLeopard
2021-05-14
It's very much worth the expense.
MacStories - Federico Viticci
2010-02-01
Movist it's a beautiful, minimal player, with great support for codecs and, most of all, huge room for improvement.
Detailed Review
Movist is a popular media player for macOS praised for its ease of use, powerful features, and elegant interface. It supports a wide range of video and audio formats thanks to its dual engine, utilizing both QuickTime and FFmpeg decoders, allowing users to choose the best decoder for each codec. Movist comes in two versions: Movist (standard) available on the Mac App Store and Movist Pro, available directly from the developer and through Setapp. Movist Pro unlocks additional features like network streaming, web video support, and picture-in-picture mode.
Standout Features
- Versatile Decoding: Uses QuickTime and FFmpeg, allowing for optimal playback across various formats and codecs. Users can switch decoders on the fly.
- Extensive Subtitle Support: Highly customizable subtitle display, supporting multiple formats (smi, srt, etc.), simultaneous display of multiple languages, and options for styling and positioning.
- User-Friendly Interface: Clean, intuitive interface with practical controls that appear only when needed, ensuring a focus on the video content. Supports light and dark themes.
- HDR Tone Mapping (Pro): Converts HDR video for viewing on non-HDR displays, preserving color accuracy.
- Network Streaming and Web Video (Pro): Supports streaming from network servers (SMB, FTP, WebDAV) and playing web videos from browsers via extensions.
- Customizable Preferences: Offers numerous settings to customize playback, subtitles, video quality, and apply filters.
Conclusion
Movist is an excellent choice for Mac users seeking a feature-rich yet user-friendly media player. The standard version offers a robust set of features for everyday video playback, while Movist Pro adds advanced functionalities for power users who need network streaming and web video capabilities. While it's a paid application, users generally find it worth the price due to its performance, customization, and consistent updates. For users seeking a free alternative, VLC and IINA are strong contenders, but Movist distinguishes itself with its refined user experience and specialized features like HDR tone mapping and extensive subtitle options.
