VLCKitSPM

Swift Package Manager wrapper for VLCKit 4.0.0a21.

This package is winding down - VLCKit is getting official SPM support

This wrapper exists for one reason: VideoLAN publishes VLCKit for CocoaPods, but not as a unified XCFramework you can consume with Swift Package Manager. So we built one and hosted it here.

That reason is gone, in two merge requests on 2026-07-20:

• !394 "Packaging: add Swift Package Manager support" added a Package.swift to VLCKit itself, pointing at a VideoLAN-hosted binary target, plus the tooling to build, checksum and publish it. It takes the same approach this package does: one monolithic universal VLCKit.xcframework covering every Apple platform.
• !395 "Distribute 4.0.0a22 via cocoapods and SPM" replaced that manifest's placeholder url and checksum with real values and cut the release. This is the one that made it usable.

It is available now. VideoLAN tagged 4.0.0-a22 carrying that fully populated manifest, with the same platform coverage this package ships.

Use it instead of this package:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://code.videolan.org/videolan/VLCKit.git", exact: "4.0.0-a22")
]

Three things to know when you migrate:

1. The tag naming changed. It is 4.0.0-a22, with a hyphen - unlike 4.0.0a21 and 4.0.0a20. 4.0.0a22 does not exist and returns a 404. Extrapolating the old pattern fetches nothing.
2. The product is named VLCKit, not VLCKitSPM, so your import and your target dependency both change.
3. Minimum deployment targets are lower upstream: iOS 12, macOS 10.13, tvOS 12, watchOS 7.4, visionOS 1.

4.0.0-alpha.21 is the last release published here. It and the earlier tags stay available and existing .package(url:) references keep resolving, so nothing breaks if you are not ready to move. But new work should go to VideoLAN's package: it is upstream-maintained, canonical, and released in lockstep with VLCKit rather than whenever we get around to a rebuild. We would rather point you at the real thing than keep a parallel copy alive.

Features

• VLCKit 4.0.0a21 (July 2026)
• Picture-in-Picture support on iOS and macOS
• Unified framework for all Apple platforms
• Supports iOS, tvOS, macOS, watchOS, and visionOS

Installation

Add to your Package.swift:

dependencies: [
    .package(url: "https://github.com/virtualox/vlckit-spm", from: "4.0.0-alpha.21")
]

Or in Xcode: File → Add Package Dependencies → Enter URL.

Usage

import VLCKitSPM

let player = VLCMediaPlayer()
let media = VLCMedia(url: URL(string: "https://example.com/stream.m3u8")!)
player.media = media
player.play()

Platform Support

Platform	Minimum Version
iOS	13.0
tvOS	13.0
macOS	10.15
watchOS	6.0
visionOS	1.0

What's New in 4.0.0a21

• libVLC updated to c9628afc
• Radio service discovery: stations are now exposed as streams, and results are sorted by votes in descending order

What's New in 4.0

• Added support for Picture-in-Picture playback on iOS and macOS
• Unified VLCKit for all Apple platforms
• Added support for visionOS and watchOS
• Dual subtitle track support
• Complete rewrite of event management
• Full C API exposure

Versions

Package version	VLCKit tag	Released
4.0.0-alpha.21	4.0.0a21	July 2026
4.0.0-alpha.20	4.0.0a20	July 2026
4.0.0-alpha.19	4.0.0a19	April 2026
4.0.0-alpha.18	4.0.0a18	December 2025

About this package

This is a build of the official VideoLAN VLCKit sources at the tag above, packaged as a binary Swift Package because VideoLAN has not published a unified XCFramework of its own. No patches are applied on top of upstream - this is stock VLCKit, built and repackaged, nothing more.

That gap is now closed upstream (see the notice at the top). 4.0.0-alpha.21 is the last release published here - use VideoLAN's own Swift Package at tag 4.0.0-a22 or later.

License

VLCKit is licensed under LGPLv2.1. See COPYING.txt for details.

Credits

• VideoLAN - VLCKit developers
• VirtualOx B.V. - SPM wrapper maintainer