Android app of the day: Video collections and playback with MoboPlayer

If you are downloading the app on your smartphone it will automatically download a Codec Plugin for your device for better video clarity.

MoboPlayer is free on the Android Market and it needs Android version 1.6 or above.

When you open the app for the first time it will ask you to choose a media directory to pull your video files from. You can select multiple media directories. Once you select the directories click ‘Confirm’ and your video files will be listed on MoboPlayer.

If you only want to add a few select files, as opposed to complete directories, open the folder and long press on the files you want to add. From the options click ‘Add to play list’ and it will show you the ‘Play list’ window.

You can either add the video file to an existing ‘Play list’ or ‘Create a new one’.

When you finished selecting the directory you will see a thumbnail of the video has been created on the app home page.

Click on the last option (the dots) along the bottom menu bar to reveal more menu items (like ‘Background’, ‘PlayList’ and ‘Setting’).

When you click ‘PlayList’ it will list the Play lists you have set up.

Click on a list to see the files inside.

‘Background’ is where you can change the color of the app’s background.

The ‘Settings’ provides an array of functions categorized in to six sections: About, File List, Playback, Style of
Subtitle, Media Library and Version update.

‘About’ (as usual) gives you the info about the app and some help tips.

‘File List’ covers Display style, Choose the media directory, whether to show media files only, etc.

‘Playback’ is to adjust the settings of the video like volume, Gesture sensitivity, Screen Rotation, etc.

‘Style of Subtitles’ is where you can decide on the text size, color and character set for subtitles. If you don’t want to show subtitles deselect ‘Show Subtitle’.

‘Media Library’ is where you can clear your media files or library.

Back to the home page again, click the third option in the menu to sort the files as per their path, , name, size, format, resolution, etc.

While playing, long press on a video to make it full screen or press the first icon on the menu along the bottom. 

Double click on the center of the screen to play or pause.

Sliding up and down the left side of the screen adjusts brightness while the right side adjusts volume. If you slide along the top of the screen it adjusts the play time of the video.

MoboPlayer’s interface is very much like a music player in the design and features it provides. With some simple touches you can customize the player and manage your videos. As it does support almost all file formats, it’s one of the best choices for organizing and watching videos on Android devices.