Pylon 1.3.2

Pylon 1.3.2 (beta): smoother seeking

🌐 New download page: nirmaljosephukken.github.io/pylon-player
It picks the right file for your computer and walks you through installing VLC first.

Fixed

• No more flicker when you seek. Clicking the seek bar sent two jumps in a row, so the picture briefly flashed between frames before settling. Now one click is one jump, dragging is smooth, and the bar no longer snaps back for a moment while the video catches up. Arrow-key jumps pressed in quick succession are smoother too (#11).
• The update window's release notes are readable. The "what's new" box showed light text on a white background. It now matches your theme.

Thanks to @Kechos23 for the report.

If you're on 1.3.1, Pylon will offer this update by itself within a day (or use Menu > Check for updates). The "what's new" text in that window may look blank this one time, because the fix only arrives with this version. Update now works as normal.

Downloads

	Download
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.3.2.exe (installs over earlier versions, settings kept)
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.3.2-x86_64.AppImage
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.3.2-macOS.zip

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included. Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.3.1

Pylon 1.3.1 (beta): updates, watched tools, shuffle switch and preset fixes

New

• Pylon tells you when there's a new version. It checks once a day and shows what's new. On Windows, Update now downloads the installer, closes Pylon and installs into the same folder. Your library, presets and settings are kept. On Linux and macOS it opens the download page. You can also use Menu > Check for updates, and turn the daily check off in Preferences > Privacy (#7).
• Playlists pick up where you left off. Opening a playlist starts at the first item you haven't finished, and that item resumes from where you stopped (#6).
• Mark as watched from Continue watching. Hover a card and click the ✓✓ button in its corner (#8).
• Bulk edit the queue. Select several items with Ctrl or Shift click (or Ctrl+A), then right-click to mark them watched or unwatched, or remove them. Delete also removes the selected items. Watched items now show a tick in the queue (#8).
• Shuffle is now an on/off switch. Click it to shuffle the queue and an orange dot shows it's on. Click again to put the original order back, without interrupting what's playing. Anything you added while shuffled goes at the end. Opening a new folder or playlist starts in normal order (#10).

Fixed

• Presets now restore Sharpen. Before, Sharpen was saved in the preset but came back as Off the next time you opened the app (#9).
• Picture settings in presets now apply. Saturation (and brightness, contrast, gamma, hue) could show the right value in the sidebar while the video looked unchanged. This happened on the next episode and after changing Sharpen (#9).
• The play triangle in the Pylon logo is centred properly (#7).

Thanks to @UserSpringRoll for all five reports.

Note: 1.3.0 and earlier don't have the update check, so this one update has to be installed by hand. From 1.3.1 on, Pylon will offer the next version itself.

Downloads

	Download
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.3.1.exe (installs over earlier versions, settings kept)
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.3.1-x86_64.AppImage
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.3.1-macOS.zip

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included. Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.3.0

Pylon 1.3.0 (beta): themes, including neon

New

• Themes: Preferences > General > Theme. Choose Dark, Pitch black (true black, great on OLED screens), Warm grey or Midnight blue, or pick Custom tint and Pylon turns any colour into a dark background palette (#4).
• Neon themes: Neon, Sunset, Aurora and Synthwave. Black or deep-tinted backgrounds with gradient highlights on the seek bar, volume cone and play button, a second accent colour for selected items, and a soft glow. The video area stays black so nothing distracts from what you're watching.
• Text stays light on every theme, so it's always readable. Themes apply instantly, no restart needed.

Thanks to @UserSpringRoll for the idea.

Downloads

	Download
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.3.0.exe (installs over 1.2.x, settings kept)
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.3.0-x86_64.AppImage
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.3.0-macOS.zip

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included. Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.2.1

Pylon 1.2.1 (beta): polish from your feedback

Thanks to @UserSpringRoll for the first round of issues.

New

• Sharpen slider in Settings > Video, for soft or low-resolution video (#1).
• Keep the controls visible when not in fullscreen: Preferences > Interface. The bars stay solid and the video sits between them; in fullscreen they still hide when you stop moving the mouse (#2).
• New play button: a solid rounded button in your accent colour, as in the original concept (#2).
• Rounder volume cone: a full cone shape instead of the striped one (#2).
• Watch progress on the home page: Continue watching cards show a progress bar, and playlists show how many items you've watched, e.g. "6 items · 2 watched" (#5).
• Cleaner titles on the home page: "Shameless.US.S02E01.1080p.WEB" now shows as "Shameless US" with "S02E01" underneath; films show as "Name (Year)".

Fixed

• The settings panel no longer runs off the right edge (long audio track names and sound presets, #3).
• More breathing room on the left and right of the settings panel (#3).
• The stray line above the settings tabs is gone (#3).
• Bookmarks and chapters sit in their own darker boxes, without the big empty gap (#3).
• Saturation and Gamma sliders now sit in the middle at 100%, like the others.
• Removed the decorative icons inside the sound preset, rotate, sleep timer and repeat buttons; they looked clickable but did nothing.

Downloads

	Download
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.2.1.exe (installs over 1.2.0, settings kept)
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.2.1-x86_64.AppImage
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.2.1-macOS.zip

Checksums in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included. Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.2.0

Pylon 1.2.0 (beta): seek previews and a music library

New

• Preview pictures on the seek bar. Hover anywhere on the seek bar to see a small picture of that moment, with the time underneath. Pylon makes the previews quietly in the background the first time you play a video (the whole bar gets rough coverage within seconds, then it fills in), and keeps them, so the next time you open that file they're there instantly. Works for video files on your computer. You can turn it off in Preferences > Interface.
• Music library. A new Music section in the library (the note icon) lists the songs in your library folders by Artists, Albums or Songs, with cover art taken from the files themselves (or a cover.jpg / folder.jpg next to them). Open an album and press Play, double-click any song, or right-click to add to the queue or a playlist. Songs without tags are grouped by their folder name. New and changed songs are picked up each time you open Music, or with the refresh button.

Downloads

	Download	Notes
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.2.0.exe	Installs over 1.1; your library and settings are kept.
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.2.0-x86_64.AppImage	Needs glibc 2.34+ and VLC from your distro.
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.2.0-macOS.zip	Untested on a real Mac yet.

Checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included: install it from videolan.org or your package manager.

The story behind Pylon: https://dev.to/nekku/700000-people-watched-a-vlc-redesign-i-built-the-player-1aio

Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.1.1.

Pylon 1.1.1 (beta): finds VLC by itself in more places

A small fix release. If 1.1.0 already found your VLC, nothing changes for you.

Fixed

• VLC wasn't found when Pylon was installed in a subfolder. Setup's Browse button adds \Pylon to the folder you pick, so Pylon ended up one level deeper than expected (for example E:\Apps\Pylon-1.1\Pylon) and missed a VLC at E:\Apps\VLC. Pylon and setup now look in a VLC folder inside, next to and up to three folders above Pylon's folder, plus VLC's own registry entries, Program Files and PATH.
• No restart after "Locate VLC folder…". Pylon starts using the VLC you pick straight away. When you switch to a different VLC later (in Preferences), it offers to restart for you and reopens what you were playing.
• A clearer message when the VLC found can't be loaded (for example a 32-bit VLC).

Downloads

	Download	Notes
Windows 10/11 (64-bit)	Pylon-Setup-1.1.1.exe	Installs over 1.1.0; your library and settings are kept.
Linux x86-64	Pylon-1.1.1-x86_64.AppImage	Needs glibc 2.34+ and VLC from your distro.
macOS 14+ (experimental)	Pylon-1.1.1-macOS.zip	Untested on a real Mac yet.

Checksums are in SHA256SUMS.txt. VLC is not included: install it from videolan.org or your package manager.

Not affiliated with VideoLAN. Interface based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Pylon 1.0.0 (beta)

First public beta of Pylon, a calmer, redesigned interface for the VLC engine on Windows, based on Juxtopposed's VLC redesign concept.

Install

1. Install VLC 3.0 (64-bit) from videolan.org.
2. Install Python 3.10+ (64-bit) from python.org and tick "Add python.exe to PATH".
3. Download Pylon-1.0.0-windows.zip below, unzip it anywhere, and double-click setup.bat.
4. Start Pylon with Pylon.exe or the desktop shortcut.

Windows may show "Windows protected your PC" the first time, because Pylon.exe (a small launcher) isn't code-signed. Click More info, then Run anyway.

Highlights

• Auto-hiding top and bottom bars, a thick seek bar and a cone-shaped volume control
• Settings sidebar with a draggable subtitle timeline, subtitle styling, audio and video tweaks
• Per-show presets and default subtitle/audio languages
• Library and queue you can open without leaving the video; next episode plays automatically
• Bulk subtitle matching for a whole folder (S01E02, 1x02, E02)
• Continue watching, bookmarks (Ctrl+B), picture-in-picture, sleep timer
• On-screen hints show which key you pressed; every shortcut can be changed

Known limitations

Tested on only a few PCs so far. Not built yet: seek thumbnails, waveform seek bar, reverse playback, music sorted by artist and album, casting, and the layout editor.

Found a bug? Run diag.bat and attach logs\diag.txt to an issue (check it first: it contains your file paths).

Not affiliated with VideoLAN. VLC is a trademark of VideoLAN.