RealPlayer


RealPlayer, formerly RealAudio Player, RealOne Player and RealPlayer G2, is a cross-platform media player app, developed by RealNetworks. The media player is compatible with numerous container file formats of the multimedia realm, including MP3, MP4, QuickTime File Format, Windows Media format, and the proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats. RealPlayer is also available for other operating systems, Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian versions have been released.
The program is powered by an underlying open-source media engine called Helix.

History

The first version of RealPlayer was introduced on April 3, 1995 as "RealAudio Player" and was one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet. Then, version 4.01 of RealPlayer was included as a selectable Internet tool in Windows 98's installation package. Subsequent versions of the software were titled "RealPlayer G2" and "RealOne Player", while free "Basic" versions as well as paid "Plus" versions, the latter with additional features, have also been offered. For the Windows OS, the RealPlayer version 9 the features of the separate program, RealJukebox.
RealPlayer 11 was released for Microsoft Windows in November 2007 and for Mac OS X in May 2008. RealPlayer 15 was released on November 18, 2011. This version allows users to transfer video, music and photos between their computers and mobile devices, share links of videos and photos on sites such as Facebook and MySpace, and download videos from popular sites such as YouTube and Metacafe.
RealPlayer was initially accessed by many users as a plugin to watch streaming video or listen to streaming audio ; but in the early 21st century, Adobe Flash and subsequently HTML5 video became preferred options for this purpose.

Current status

In February 2016, RealNetworks released RealPlayer 18, which incorporated the features of the previous year's release of RealTimes, an app that makes multimedia montages from users' photographs and videos, backed up and accessible via cloud storage. The Real.com Blog states that "RealPlayer with RealTimes will still include the legacy features, such as Downloader, Converter, and Web Videos. It will also still include our RealTimes features, such as Photos and RealTimes Stories, our automatic video collage feature." Note that as of 2018, the publisher only provides RealTime for use on a Mac and no longer publishes a media player called RealPlayer for macOS.

Features

Features of RealPlayer include a video download utility, a web browser, visualizations, equalizer and video controls, recording audio, CD ripping, and a media converter which allows converting files to a variety of common audio and video formats.
RealPlayer has used several data formats:

Plug-ins

RealPlayer has a wide variety of plug-ins. Some of the plug-ins are listed at the RealPlayer accessories page, but not all.
;Audio Enhancement
;RealPlayer Skin Creators
;Playback Plug-Ins
;Radio Tuners
;Visualizations
;Firefox Browser Download
;ScrobRealPlayer

Supported platforms for RealPlayer

Windows

RealPlayer SP includes audio CD burning capabilities, DVR-style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an embedded web browser, and the ability to convert and transfer media to a wide range of devices. This includes music players such as iPod and Zune, smartphones such as iPhone and BlackBerry, portable gaming devices such as Sony PSP, and console gaming systems such as Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii. Since version 11, RealPlayer SP has gained Flash Video support, DVD, SVCD, VCD burning, and video recording.
As of 2011, RealPlayer Enterprise is a licensed product for enterprise applications which can be customized and remotely administered by RealPlayer Enterprise Manager. The free Realplayer Enterprise Education Edition has been removed. Both versions of Realplayer Enterprise are lightweight, ad-free versions of RealPlayer, missing most consumer features and most plug-in support. The RealSched.exe update reminder can be disabled in two steps, and it is not reinstalled upon running the player.

macOS

While RealPlayer for macOS had been distributed in the past, as of 2018 no macOS version of RealPlayer is available for download from the Real site.
The last stable release as of 2010 included Real's Helix playback engine for RealAudio and RealVideo, a 10-band equalizer and video adjustment controls, and a full-screen, resizable "theater mode" for video playback, as well as many features found in its Windows counterpart.
Since the release of version 10 on January 7, 2004, RealPlayer had become much more closely integrated with macOS including features such as:
Available versions of RealPlayer for macOS are 32-bit. The current macOS 10.14 is probably the last macOS that will run 32-bit applications.

Linux/Unix

RealPlayer for Linux/Unix was developed separately from the Windows and Mac versions. The client is based on the open-source Helix Player which can be found at the . It supports Windows Media 7/8, RealAudio/Video, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. The interface depends on the current GTK+ theme.

Android

The Android version of RealPlayer is currently available as a free download from the Google Play Store. It supports Real Audio, Real Video, MP3, 3GP, AMR, and other media formats.

Symbian

The Symbian version of RealPlayer allows mobile phones to play Real Audio, Real Video, MP3, 3GP, AMR, and other media formats. It is provided as freeware. In newer Symbian devices it can also be used to stream both audio and video content in the form of MP3 and 3GP.

Palm

RealPlayer 1.6.1 or RealPlayer 1.6.0 is available for free for PalmOne-made Palm OS 5 devices, such as the Palm Tungsten or Zire series. It is also compatible with RealPlayer Music Store tracks. However, they will neither install nor run on non-PalmOne-made devices like Sony's Clie line of PDAs. Realplayer for Palm OS does not support later Palm smartphones such as the treo 700p, 755p, or Centro, although the treo 600 and 650 are listed as supported devices.

Related products

RealJukebox was a computer program released by RealNetworks that allowed users to organise their digital music. It was first released in May 1999. By late 2001, the functions of the program had been integrated into the Real's core media player program, RealPlayer.

Reception

Past versions of RealPlayer have been criticized for containing adware and spyware. In 1999 security researcher Richard M. Smith dissected some of RealJukebox's network traffic and discovered that it was sending a unique identifier with information about the music titles to which its users were listening. RealNetworks issued a patch, and the spyware was removed in version 1.02. Their download page stated RealJukebox included privacy enhancements and gave a link to the privacy policy.
PC World magazine named RealPlayer as number 2 in its 2006 list "The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time", writing that RealPlayer "had a disturbing way of making itself a little too much at home on your PC installing itself as the default media player, taking liberties with your Windows Registry, popping up annoying 'messages' that were really just advertisements, and so on." In 2007, it placed RealPlayer, versions 1996–2004, at number 5 in its list The 20 Most Annoying Tech Products.
US-CERT has issued multiple security advisories reporting defects which allowed remote sites to use RealPlayer to execute attack code.

Real Alternative

Real Alternative is a codec which allows RealMedia files to be played without the installation of the RealPlayer software. In 2010, RealNetworks sued Hilbrand Edskes, a 26-year-old Dutch webmaster, for unlawfully providing a hyperlink to the Real Alternative codec on his website, alleging that Real Alternative is a reverse engineered codec and therefore illegal. In November 2011, RealNetworks' case against Edskes was dismissed and RealNetworks was ordered to pay him €48,000 in damages. The case, however, cost Edskes €66,000 in legal fees.