Media player for macOS Catalina similar to Infuse [Merged]

[jchav9183]

Hello!

I'm looking for a video player similar to Infuse for iOS and macOS. I have lots of my favorite TV shows uploaded to my OneDrive and for the past few years I've been streaming them on my MacBook with Infuse. Infuse allows you to connect your OneDrive account directly to the app and can stream .mkv files on-demand without downloading them locally first.

I don't want the app to locally download an episode first. I would rather it just stream directly, downloading as it goes, I suppose. The main reasons for this are because I don't have a lot of disk space and want to conserve it as much as possible. I also LOVE bingeing shows, and don't want to wait 5-8 minutes in between each episode for a download (each episode ranges from 2-4gb).

The online video player does not open any of the episodes. It loads for a few seconds and displays an error message. The playback is completely fine before the upload, it is stored on an external hard disk. It is uploaded directly from that drive. If I download the file from the OneDrive website to my laptop, it opens and plays fine in QuickTime (macOS) and in Movies & TV (Windows). I know that the video files uploaded to OneDrive are uncorrupted because Infuse can stream them in 1080p with no problems. The encoded subtitles even stream properly.

Is there anything similar available for macOS or Windows? I can't stream my MacBook to my TV and there is no Google Cast option on the app. Screen Mirroring doesn't work, either. Infuse is not available for Windows, otherwise I'd use it there to be able to stream to my TV.

Thank you in advance!

 

[HDFan]

You say that you have been streaming with Infuse on your Mac with no problem. So if that works what is the issue?

The online video player does not open any of the episodes.

What video player?

 

[jchav9183]

You say that you have been streaming with Infuse on your Mac with no problem. So if that works what is the issue?



What video player?

The problem with Infuse is that there is no Google Cast option. I can't AirPlay my screen to the TV because it isn't detected under Screen Mirroring.

The online OneDrive video player does not open or play any of my video files. It either displays an error or stays blank.

 

[Slartibart]

you can use e.g. the free VLC and chrome cast.

• Open VLC on your Mac, click "Playback" from the main menu at the top. In the "Playback"-dropdown menu, click "Renderer."
• In the sub-popup menu select your Chromecast device. If you don't see your Chromecast already listed, click "Scan".
• Open a movie to play in VLC. If you are given an "Insecure site" prompt, click "View certificate" and "Accept Permanently"

Alternatively you could cast via Google Chrome, or get one of the various programs which allow for chrome/mira/DNLA casting from macOS (juststream, elmedia player&co.)

 

[jchav9183]

you can use e.g. the free VLC and chrome cast.

• Open VLC on your Mac, click "Playback" from the main menu at the top. In the "Playback"-dropdown menu, click "Renderer."
• In the sub-popup menu select your Chromecast device. If you don't see your Chromecast already listed, click "Scan".
• Open a movie to play in VLC. If you are given an "Insecure site" prompt, click "View certificate" and "Accept Permanently"

Alternatively you could cast via Google Chrome, or get one of the various programs which allow for chrome/mira/DNLA casting from macOS (juststream, elmedia player&co.)

I went onto VLC and added media from the OneDrive folder in Finder. When I did this, it froze the entire application and playback stopped. It did this a few more times, the only resolution being force quitting it in Activity Monitor. Is it because it is cloud content and not local?
I was able to find my TV on the casting settings. Thank you so much for that!

I tried both of your app suggestions and neither of them allowed me to stream cloud content, only local content. I am not a user of Google Chrome because of its resource consumption in the background (chromeisbad). Playback on Chrome on my Windows machine shows the same error as mentioned in the original post.

 

[Slartibart]

you play videos directly from OneDrive as a network stream - here is a guide from the MS Community Forums how to get the link to a OneDrive video and how to add it to VLC

 

[jchav9183]

Hello,
I'm looking for a media player similar to Infuse 7 that can be downloaded on macOS Catalina. It must have these features:

1. Watch history tracking
2. Automatic metadata downloading
3. Subtitle track switching
4. If possible, direct streaming from OneDrive

I suppose what I'm looking for is more of a media center application. All of the ones I've found are either too new for Catalina or way too expensive for what it is. Thank you for any help in advance.

 

[Slartibart]

VLC has all that.

 

[arinamichel911]

my recommendation is also vlc