Different Ways to Play MP4 Video on iPad

iPad MP4 video playback problem

Unable to play long MP4 videos on iPad

"I have these videos which are in MP4 format however whenever I try to play them, the audio that comes out is choppy but the visual player looks fine. The 4mins long MP4 videos are okay though. I have tried deleting and downloading the app before syncing the videos again. The other MKV format videos works fine. Anyone able to help me solve this issue? Thanks in advance."

Play MP4 on iPad

iPad does not play .mp4 files from quiz

I'm in need of help! I am setting up a new quize site using Moodle 2.4.3 (Build 20130318) and I want to play out videos coded in .mp4. They play OK on PCs and Mac Books but not an iPad, very frustrating. The files were coded using Adobe Premier Pro CS5:
H.264/.mp4
PAL DV widescreen
25 frames per second
16:9 aspect ratio
Level 3 coding
0.7 bit rate
1.0 max bit rate

What MP4 file types can be played by iPad?

Following tablet shows the video/audio formats supported by different new available iPad models:

iPad Models	Audio Formats	Video Formats
iPad Pro	AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV	- H.264 video up to 4K, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2 with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - MPEG4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - Motion JPEG (MJPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
iPad Air 2	AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV	- H.264 video up to 4K, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2 with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - MPEG4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - Motion JPEG (MJPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
iPad Mini 4	AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC-3), Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV	- H.264 video up to 4K, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.2 with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - MPEG4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AACLC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio or Dolby Audio up to 1008 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo or multichannel audio, in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; - Motion JPEG (MJPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

From above lists, we can see all iPad available models have strict requirements for the file types played on it. Only a MP4 file format with compatible video codec, bit rate, frame rate, resolution and audio codec, bit rate, sample rate and channels, etc will be accepted by iPad. If the MP4 vidoe in your hand does not meet the standard listed above, you can fix this format incomaptible issue in the following 2 ways:
- Play MP4 video with a third-party iPad Video Player
- Convert MP4 to iPad best playback settings

Play MP4 video with iPad Video Player

As the default video player app offered by iPad has very limited media playback capabilities, fortunately, you can download and install some third-party iPad video player to expand its media playback capabilities. Following are 5 best iPad video player app recommended to you:

1. OPlayer Lite/OPlaer HD Lite

Oplayer Lite/Oplayer HD Lite is one of the best video player for your iPad Pro/Mini/Air. It boosts your iPad media capabilities. It can play MKV, AVI, MP4, MOV and other media formats directly without any conversion.

2. PlayerXtremeHD

PlayerXtremeHD player is compatible with iPad Pro 9.7/12.9, iPad Air 3, iPad Mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad Mini 2, iPad 4/3/2/1 with iOS 5.0 or later. It is capable of running files of almost all formats. Its library has Mac finder/ Windows Explorer like interface that is very easy to handle.

3. GoodPlayer

GoodPlayer supports iPad Mini 4/3/2/1, iPad Air 3/2/1, iPad 4/3/2/1, iPad Pro 9.7/12.9, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 6S with iOS 4.3 and later. Swipe finger up/down on playing, change subtitles or turn off subtitles. It supports almost all video and audio formats.

4. Video Stream

You can play your any videos and audio instantly with Video Stream on iPad. It supports up to 1080p playback. It has Multiple account support. Kid safe privacy protection. Restrict access to any folder.

5. VLC Media Player

Although some people don't like VLC, you can't deny that VLC is a really powerful video player for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch. It can play all your movies and shows in most formats directly without conversion.

Convert MP4 to iPad best playback settings

If you fail to playback the MP4 files with above listed iPad Video Player apps, then the best solution is performing a MP4 to iPad compatible file formats and settings conversion. Here, you can easily complete the job with a simple to use application called Pavtube Video Converter for Mac, which can comprehensively convert MP4 files encoded with various different video and audio codec to iPad supported H.264 High Profile Level 4.2, MPEG-4 video codec and AAC, MP3, AC3 audio codec.

Besides that, you can also adjust the output profile parameters such as video resolution, bit rate, frame rate, audio bit rate, sample rate and channels to make them fit with the best playback settings of iPad. For those people who does not have any technology backaround, you can use the program to directly output iPad preset profile H.264 or MPEG-4 video with the optimal playback settings.

How to Convert MP4 Video for Playing on iPad?

Step 1: Load MP4 files into the program.

Start the program on your computer, on the main interface, click "File" > "Add Video/Audio" or "Add from Folder" to load unsupported MP4 files into the program. You can also directly drag the files to the program's main panel.

Load MP4 video into the program

Step 2: Output iPad supported file formats.

Click Format bar, from its drop-list, select one of iPad playable file formats such as "H.264 HD Video(*.mp4)" under "HD Video" main category.

Output iPad supported file formats

Tips: Click "Settings" to open "Profile Settings" window, here you can flexibly adjust output profil parameters to make them adapt with iPad best playback settings.

You can also choose iPad preset H.264 or MPEG-4 formats if you have no idea how to set the playback settings for iPad on your own.

Step 3: Begin the conversion process.

After all setting is completed, hit right-bottom "Convert" button to begin the conversion from MP4 video to iPad supported file formats conversion process.

When the conversion is completed, feel free to sync files from iTunes to iPad Pro/Mini/Air for watching on the move.

What's Next? Price: $35