StickyGonzales/vlc-redesign-juxtopposed v1.4.0

Cone Player 1.4.0

on GitHub

Cone Player 1.4.0 stops updates from deleting your settings, adds seeking with the mouse wheel, and fixes the update notice, show names, Ctrl+Q and the pointer. Cone Player is a media player for Windows based on VLC media player, with Juxtopposed's "VLC Redesign" as its interface. Linux and macOS versions of 1.4.0 come as their own releases.

Cone Player follows the development branch of VLC 4, so a rough edge may still show up now and then. It runs next to an installed VLC with its own settings and data folder and never changes VLC's. Please report problems in Issues.

Fixed and new

Your settings

• Updating no longer deletes your settings. The installer has an option "Delete preferences and cache", unticked by default. Earlier installers remembered it: if it had been ticked once, every later update deleted Cone Player's settings again, so the first-start screens came back and the OpenSubtitles API key, accent color, shows and library choices were gone. If that happened to you with the 1.3.0 update, it won't happen again: from 1.4.0 the option starts unticked on every install, and an update keeps your settings unless you tick it yourself. Lost settings can't be brought back, so please enter your OpenSubtitles API key once more.
• The OpenSubtitles account is saved as you type (Settings > Subtitles > OpenSubtitles): the API key, username and password are on disk the moment you type them, even if Cone Player closes while Settings is open.

Playing

• Seek with the mouse wheel. With the pointer on the timeline, each wheel notch jumps 10 seconds, forward when you scroll up, back when you scroll down. A touchpad's scrolling adds up the same way. Elsewhere on the control bar the wheel still does nothing, and over the video it still changes the volume.
• Volume without the bars when maximized. When Cone Player is maximized or fullscreen ("movie mode"), the Up / Down keys and the mouse wheel over the video change the volume and show only the volume message; the top bar and the control bar stay hidden. In a normal window they show as before, and Ctrl+Up / Ctrl+Down still show them.
• The pointer hides again about 3 seconds after Space resumes playback (it took about 6 seconds). With pinned bars (Settings > Interface), the pointer now stays after a key press too, as it does after a mouse move.
• Ctrl+Q always quits, the same way as the window's close button: playback stops first, then Cone Player closes, which can take up to about 3 seconds. Before, right after Settings had been closed, Ctrl+Q could leave Cone Player running.

Up Next and shows

• Clean show names. A show in a folder named like a download ("Some.Show.S01.1080p.WEBRip.x265-GROUP", "Doctor.Who.2005.1080p.BluRay") is now called "Some Show" or "Doctor Who" on the Up Next card and in the sidebar's Playback tab, instead of the whole folder name. Words like "Season" are only removed before a number, so a show called "Season of the Witch" keeps its name. Your answers for shows you already set up (autoplay, Fixed time, tracks) are kept: they belong to the folder, not to the name.

Update notice

• The update notice works again. Cone Player checks GitHub for a new version on its own, a few seconds after it starts. Only a real answer from GitHub counts: if you're offline at first, it tries again after 6 seconds, 30 seconds and 90 seconds, and on the next start. It checks at most every 6 hours, so a new release shows the same day. Pressing Check now (Settings > General) while it is still retrying keeps those retries going.

Download

Two downloads, both for Windows 10 / 11, 64-bit. Their checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt.

Installer (recommended): coneplayer-1.4.0-win64.exe

1. Run it. The files are not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may warn: choose More info, then Run anyway.
2. Follow the pages. Cone Player installs to C:\Program Files\Cone. Already have an earlier Cone Player installed? The installer upgrades it in place and keeps your settings and library (leave "Delete preferences and cache" unticked).

Portable zip: ConePlayer-1.4.0-win64.zip

1. Unzip it anywhere and run Cone.exe in the ConePlayer-1.4.0 folder. Nothing gets installed.
2. Settings stay in the portable folder next to Cone.exe. Delete that folder to use %APPDATA%\Cone instead (shared with an installed Cone Player).

Tips

• Updating: run the new installer and keep "Upgrade using previous settings": your settings, library and shows stay. Only choose the advanced option and tick "Delete preferences and cache" if you want a clean start.
• Jumping around: the mouse wheel on the timeline moves 10 seconds per notch. On the keyboard: Alt+Left / Right 10 seconds, Ctrl+Left / Right 1 minute, Ctrl+Alt+Left / Right 5 minutes.
• Movie mode: maximize the window or press F for fullscreen, and change the volume with Up / Down or the mouse wheel without bringing up the bars.
• Up Next at the wrong moment? Sidebar > Playback > "Up Next for ": switch to Fixed and type how long before the end the card should show (for example 1:30). Reset goes back to Automatic.
• Subtitles out of sync? Sidebar > Subtitles > Synchronization > Auto-sync; Undo puts them back.
• OpenSubtitles: a free account on opensubtitles.com gives you an API key (your profile > API consumers). Paste it in Settings > Subtitles > OpenSubtitles.
• A different color: Settings > General > Accent color > Custom takes any hex code.

Known issues

• On a few HEVC files with many B-frames, switching the audio track can still stall the video, and quitting can then take 5 seconds before Cone Player ends itself. Settings and the resume position are kept.
• Closing Cone Player sometimes takes up to 5 seconds after its window disappears, until it ends itself. Settings and the resume position are kept.
• Clean show names drop a year at the end of a name: a folder "Class.of.2009" shows as "Class of".
• Auto-sync moves the whole subtitle track by one amount, so it can't fix subtitles that drift apart only after an ad break or a cut scene. With little speech or loud music it may find no match. It works with text subtitles (not DVD or Blu-ray picture subtitles).
• Finding the credits needs a folder of 3 or more episodes on your computer, and takes a minute in the background the first time.
• The Subtitle Duration Factor slider is still hidden: in this VLC 4 engine it made ASS / SSA subtitles disappear.
• New Cone Player texts are in English in every language for now.
• The portable zip doesn't show up in Windows' "Open with" menu. Use the installer for that, or drag files onto Cone Player.
• The Linux version is a beta and the macOS version a preview, each with its own release.

Credits and license

• Design: "VLC Redesign" by Juxtopposed, CC BY 4.0: Figma file and video. Changes were made to fit it to VLC.
• Engine: VLC media player by VideoLAN and its contributors.
• Fonts: Inter and DM Mono, SIL Open Font License.
• Built by StickyGonzales.
• License: Cone Player is free software under the GNU GPL, version 2 or later. The libVLC engine is under the GNU LGPL, version 2.1 or later. Source code: this repository, commit b966f9c280e825242d39153b4c525003592117d1.

Cone Player is not affiliated with or endorsed by VideoLAN or Juxtopposed. VLC, VLC media player and VideoLAN are trademarks of the VideoLAN non-profit organization.