How to control VLC from your Android

For a few days, I have been using an old netbook as a multimedia center. I connected it to my TV via HDMI and it works like a charm. The most common use I make of it is for watching HD movies. However, one of the things that was a bit annoying for me was having to open VLC every time and having to open the movie, hit play, etc.

All of this can be done remotely through an Android device and Android Remote for VLC.

Steps to follow

1. Install Android Remote for VLC on your Android device.

2. On the netbook, open VLC using the following command:

vlc --extraintf = luahttp --fullscreen --qt-start-minimized

This allows VLC to be controlled over the network (wifi).

I converted that line into a script and added it to the list of applications that run at startup.

It is possible to achieve the same result from the VLC graphical interface:

i. Open VLC and then Tools> Preferences> Show Settings and check the option All .

ii. Interface> Main interfaces and select options Development e Lua performer.

VLC: web interface

Note: DO NOT select the option that says Remote Control. Apparently, this option is kept for the purpose of supporting older programs.

3. For VLC to accept remote control, you must add the IP of your Android device to the list of supported IPs.

Open a terminal and run:

sudo nano /usr/share/vlc/lua/http/.hosts

Add the IP of your Android device and save the changes.

Note: to discover the IP of your Android device, you can open Terminal Emulator and type netcfg.

5. Finally, run the Android VLC Remote app on your Android device and make sure it detects the VLC server (in my case, the netbook) well.

Not only will you be able to play, pause, raise / lower the volume, etc. In addition, you will be able to choose the file to play and change the playlist, all from the comfort of your sofa.

Remote for VLC in action

Remote for VLC in action


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  1.   slayerkorn said

    The tips were very good, I had no idea that you could do that, and much that I occupy the VLC and when I have to pause, I always stop to where the team is and pause it, xd now I will enjoy the movies and pause without stopping xD

    1.    let's use linux said

      That's right .. 🙂

  2.   pavloco said

    It's excellent. It's just what I was looking for. thank you.

    1.    let's use linux said

      You're welcome, champion!
      Hug and enjoy ..

  3.   Mauricio said

    Now I see, because it did not show me anything on the screen. I needed to put lua on it.
    Before it only worked for me with the web.

    Here I leave these rules with DROP policy, in case someone has a firewall and is interested. Replace the IP_PHONE variable with that of your phone. Replace IP_EXTER with the ip of the computer.

    iptables -A INPUT -p udp -s $ IP_PHONE –sport 5353 -j ACCEPT
    iptables -A OUTPUT -p udp –dport 5353 -j ACCEPT
    iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s $ IP_PHONE –sport 1024: 65535 -d $ IP_EXTER –dport 8080 -m conntrack –ctstate NEW -j ACCEPT
    iptables -A OUTPUT -p tcp -s $ IP_EXTER –sport 8080 -d $ IP_PHONE –dport 1024: 65535 -j ACCEPT

    1.    let's use linux said

      Yes, it also has to be LUA activated
      Good contribution from IPTABLES
      Hug! Paul.

  4.   Raphael Castro said

    @off topic
    A question…. someone knows what happens to GUTL, that I can't connect to the site.

    I'd appreciate knowing something, thank you.

  5.   eliotime3000 said

    Excellent contribution.

  6.   xykyz said

    I can only say…. thanks! Very useful 🙂

    1.    let's use linux said

      You're welcome! I hope it is useful to you.
      Hug! Paul.

  7.   Miguel-Palacio said

    Excellent! 😀

    I'll try it later. I was like Slayerkorn, I had to get out of bed every time to pause the playback. Thank you!

    1.    let's use linux said

      Ha! That's a thing of the past… 🙂

  8.   Seba said

    Thank you very much, great for watching movies.

    1.    let's use linux said

      … And to listen to music, too.

  9.   pixie said

    Very good post I did not know that this could be done
    Greetings from Mexico

  10.   msx said

    XBMC: www.xbmc.org
    XBMC for Android: https://play.google.com/store/search?q=xbmc

  11.   jaime gamez said

    the android does not recognize the ip, maybe I did not know how to add the ip in the vlc
    What is the correct way to modify the .host file? Which of all the addresses that the netcfg command launches?

    1.    Mauricio said

      Uncomment the line where it says:

      # private addresses
      # fc00 :: / 7
      # fec0 :: / 10
      # 10.0.0.0 / 8
      172.16.0.0/12
      # 192.168.0.0 / 16
      # 169.254.0.0 / 16

      And leave, the one that uses your network. You keep it and with that, in theory it has to work.
      In my case, it is network 172.xxx/12

      Greetings.

      1.    jaime gamez said

        it already works for me !!
        thanks, it's great.

  12.   dhunter said

    What I always use is SSHMote with mplayer, you control with gestures on the screen without looking.

    1.    msx said

      mplayer2 rules 🙂

    2.    let's use linux said

      Good data ... I'll keep it in mind ... will it work with SMPlayer?

  13.   cookie said

    Well, well, well ... now I just need to have an Android.

    1.    let's use linux said

      Haha!

  14.   himekisan said

    I don't know if it happens to someone else but when I activate the lua interpreter, the player does not open anymore

    1.    Sayo said

      The same thing happened to me, VLC doesn't open anymore. Some way to go back all if you can't open VLC.

    2.    Sayo said

      please help, I uninstalled VLC and reinstalled it and it still can't open. Please help.
      Thank you

      1.    let's use linux said

        Is LUA enabled?

        1.    Sayo said

          Both options are enabled, graphically, as is in the post.
          Now I want to disable it but since I can't enter the program I can't do anything.

          1.    let's use linux said

            See if you can run VLC after modifying the VLC configuration file:
            $ (HOME) /. Config / vlc / vlcrc
            Another good idea is to run vlc from a terminal to see what error message it throws and from there find a solution.
            Hug! Paul.

    3.    Sayo said

      I pass you the error thrown from terminal
      VLC media player 2.0.8 Twoflower (revision 2.0.8a-0-g68cf50b)
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: This is the `dummy 'VLC Lua interface module.
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: Please specify a VLC Lua interface to load with the –lua-intf option.
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: VLC Lua interface modules include: `cli 'and` http'.
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: For example: vlc -I luaintf –lua-intf cli
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: You can also use the alternate syntax: vlc -I "luaintf {intf = cli}"
      [0x11109c8] [dummy] lua interface error: See share / lua / intf / README.txt for more information about lua interface modules.
      [0x11bab58] [http] lua interface: Lua HTTP interface
      [0x10e1048] main libvlc: Run vlc with the default interface. Use "cvlc" to use vlc without interface.

      And from the configuration file the part of lua
      [lua] # Lua interpreter
      # Lua interface (string)
      # lua-intf = dummy
      # Lua interface configuration (string)
      # lua-config =

      # Extra interface modules (string)
      extraintf = lua: http

      I commented "#" the two lines above and now it works.
      I use VLC 2.0.8 with ubuntu 12.4.3 yes
      Any ideas to fix it, available for testing.

      1.    let's use linux said

        great! Thanks for the contribution!

  15.   Javier said

    Interesting. I will try it.

    It doesn't have much to do with the subject, but do you know how to play the videos in a row in VLC for Android? I mean, how to make the videos automatically play one after the other in VLC for Android? ... it may be something easy but I don't know how to do it ...!?

    1.    let's use linux said

      No, no idea ...: S

  16.   ivan said

    Hello, I would like to know how you put it to start with the machine:

    vlc –extraintf = luahttp –fullscreen –qt-start-minimized

  17.   Jesus Duque Sanz said

    If something goes wrong with Lua, and you're screwing around trying to get VLC to open, and it doesn't ... Then, at least you can start all over again:

    $ vlc --reset-config