Movie Time 0.4.3

Movie Time is a free application that can play videos on your Mac.

Playing your videos with this application is quite nice, because it has some interesting features. Unfortunately, the application lacks the user interface. It is not a text based video player. It just opens the video in fullscreen mode and you have to control it by using your keyboard.

The essential keys are the arrow keys and some key combinations such as Command (Apple) + 'O' that opens a supported video file or Command (Apple) + ',' that opens the 'Preferences' panel.

Stopping a movie is something that can easily be done by using spacebar, Command (Apple) + '.', double-clicking the screen, or by using the application's contextual menu. The up/down arrow-keys control the volume of the application. The right/left arrow-keys fast-forward or rewind the movie. To make it play at normal speed again, you need to hit one of stop commands that were described above. When the movie is stopped, the arrow keys can be used to skip frame-by-frame throughout the movie.

The application has a little bug, when it changes the playing mode from fast forward or rewind to play. It doesn't output any sound until the volume is modified. This can also happen in several situations, which involve modifying the playback speed. The application can crash, if the fast forward and rewind are abused. The volume control has another buggy behavior. It can go far beyond 100%. I tested to see how far it could get, so I placed my cell phone over the up arrow-key and I found something else to do, which didn't involve using my Mac. At 70,000%, I got bored and I stopped the test, but the bug is proven.

I encountered another challenge when I wanted to do some work and didn't want to interrupt the playback. The solution was another key combination Command (Apple) + 'H', which hides the application and automatically stops the playback.

The application has the support for playlists and subtitles. So far, I didn't find out how I can create a playlist. The player also has a feature that is not common for video players. It remembers where you stopped playing the movie and it can resume playback after the program is restarted.

Pluses: it is free. It uses a Quick Time module, so it uses QT's movie playback support. It has some interesting features and it has the support for playlist and playback resume.

Drawbacks / flaws: it is a little buggy. It can crash when the fast forward and rewind controls are abused.

In conclusion: this player can be a pretty good alternative to the software you are currently using. I am looking forward to see what future versions will bring.

version reviewed: 0.4