VLC 4.0 comes this year with a new interface for the popular video player

Version 4.0 of VLC, the popular cross-platform media playback software, is scheduled for release in the coming months, Protocol reports. The big new feature is a redesigned interface, which Jean-Baptiste Kempf, president of the VideoLAN foundation, hopes will look “a little more modern”. Protocol also reports that the team is working on integrating more online content into the software, as well as a new way to run VLC on a web page. It also has an IMDb competitor in the works.

VLC’s developer VideoLAN gave the world a look at what this new interface could look like in February 2019 at the FOSDEM conference. Screenshots released at the time show an interface that replaces the player’s dated light-gray color scheme in favor of a design with transparent interface elements and modern-looking icons. “Don’t worry,” Kempf jokes while presenting the images, “You can still use a command line.”

Image: VideoLAN / FOSDEM

Image: VideoLAN / FOSDEM

In addition to VLC 4.0, the VideoLAN team is also working to bring more online content into the software, with extensions to offer third-party videos. Offering free ad-supported videos in the future, similar to how Plex handles its own streaming service, is another possibility. The team is not only bringing online content into VLC, but is also developing a new version of the software that is easier to run within a web page using Webassembly and JavaScript instead of the old browser plugin. Kempf says you can play “any type of movie right in your web browser” when it’s done.

Perhaps most intriguing is the Moviepedia Project, as it is known internally. It is an attempt to build an IMDb-style database for movies, which can be edited and maintained by users.

There is no set release date for when VLC 4.0 could arrive, but you can read more about VideoLAN’s planned features for release in the 2019 presentation (or watch a recording here).