VLC is often described as being the most versatile media player — and that doesn’t solely apply to its’ ability to play almost any file format you can chuck at it!
The default look of VLC on Ubuntu is okay. But only okay. As an older Qt app it inherits some accents of whatever GTK theme is running, but it looks…functional.
If you’d rather interface with a prettier VLC interface you can! VLC skins allow you to drastically alter the look, feel and layout of the venerable video player.
Below are 4 of our favourite dark VLC skins.
eDark VLC Skin
MinimalX
A flat, blocky theme with a simple layout, crisp white icons and an uncluttered play window. Possibly the most striking of all the themes in this roundup thanks to a well designed volume slider and playlist window (not pictured).
Arc Dark VLC Theme
If you use the Arc GTK theme this is a must. It’s designed to be used with Arc Dark but looks just as good when used alongside the Arc Darker theme.
DarkLounge
The DarkLounge VLC skin switches things around by putting player controls and the volume slider at the top of the window. It also proved to be the buggiest of the themes on this list with the playlist and equaliser windows appearing transparent!
How to install VLC Skins
Download the theme you want to use and unpack (if a .zip, or .tar file). Move the theme.vlt to ~/.local/share/vlc/skins2.
Next, open your VLC settings and go to .Tools > Preferences > Use Custom Skin. You can now switch themes by right-clicking somewhere on the skin and going to .Interface > Choose Skin.
Be aware that you have to restart VLC for any new theme you add to be detected and available to select from the Interface menu.
Issues Using Skins
Although VLC skins can make the app look drastically different they do, on Ubuntu, have a few drawbacks.
For one, you won’t be able to use the VLC App Menu from the top bar (or the window title if you have Locally Integrated Menus turned on). You can still access menus by right-clicking anywhere inside VLC.
Secondly not all features of all themes play nicely. For instance, the volume pop-over doesn’t show up under the Arc VLC theme, while the timeline scrubber behaves erratically on the eDark theme.
As ever your own mileage may vary depending on your desktop environment, VLC build and other factors.
If you have any other VLC skins you think readers should know about be sure to share them in the comments below.