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RealPlayer |
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 RealPlayer 11 on Windows |
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| Developed by | RealNetworks |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 4.0 |
| Stable release | 11.0.5 (Windows), 11.0.0.884 (Mac OS X), 11.0.0.4028 (Linux/Unix), 1.6.1 (Palm) (14 March 2008 (Windows) 29 May 2008 (Mac OS X)) +/− |
| Preview release | none () +/− |
| OS | Cross-platform |
| Available in | English,Simplified & Traditional Chinese, German, French, Korean, Italian, Japanese as well as Portuguese. |
| Type | Media player |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | www.real.com |
RealPlayer (briefly known also as RealOne Player) is a proprietary cross-platform media player by RealNetworks that plays a number of multimedia formats including MP3, MPEG-4, QuickTime, Windows Media, and multiple versions of proprietary RealAudio and RealVideo formats.1
The first version of RealPlayer was introduced in April 1995 as RealAudio Player, one of the first media players capable of streaming media over the Internet.2 Version 6 of RealPlayer was called RealPlayer G2; version 9 was called RealOne Player. Free "Basic" versions have been provided as well as paid "Plus" versions with additional features. On Windows, version 9 subsumed the features of the separate program RealJukebox.
RealPlayer 11 was released for Windows in November 2007, and for Mac OS X in May 2008. Versions of RealPlayer are also available for Linux, Unix, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, and Symbian OS.3 The program is powered by an underlying open source media engine called Helix.4
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RealPlayer, beyond its function as an audio/video player, also contains additional features such as:
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RealPlayer has a wide variety of plug-ins. Some of the plug-ins are listed at the RealPlayer accessories page, but not all.
RealPlayer for personal use includes audio CD burning capabilities, DVR-style playback buffering, multimedia search, Internet radio, a jukebox-style file library, an embedded web browser (using Microsoft Internet Explorer), and the ability to transfer media to a number of portable devices, including Apple's iPod, MP3 players, and Windows Media devices. Since version 11, RealPlayer also includes Flash Video support, DVD, SVCD, VCD burning and video recording (DRM is supported). The free version is not currently available for 64-bit versions of Windows. The BBC offers an advertising-free version for users of its website.
RealPlayer Enterprise is a free lightweight advertising-free version for business. It can be administered by RealPlayer Enterprise Manager. Most consumer features have been removed from this version, and some plug-ins are not supported. Its RealSched.exe can be disabled in two steps, and it is not reinstalled upon running the player.
The current stable release for Windows is version 11.
The user interface of RealPlayer for Mac OS X was written from scratch as a Cocoa application.citation needed It encompasses both Real's Helix playback engine for RealAudio and RealVideo, and Apple's QuickTime for other file and stream types. RealPlayer 10 for Mac OS X is distributed for free. It includes a 10-band equalizer and video adjustment controls for RealMedia playback, and a full-screen, resizable "theater mode" for video playback, as well as many features found in its Windows counterpart.
RealPlayer for Mac OS X supports web browsing via Apple's WebKit, meaning RealPlayer and Safari share cookies. RealPlayer 10.1 is a universal binary.
RealPlayer provides an AppleScript dictionary and locally-shared favorites via Bonjour.
The current stable release for Mac OS X is version 11.
RealPlayer for Linux/Unix is developed separately from the Windows and Mac versions.citation needed The client is based on the open-source Helix Player which can be found at the Helix Community Website. It supports RealAudio/Video, MP3 and Ogg Vorbis. The interface depends on the current GTK+ theme.
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.
RealPlayer 1.6.1 (US) or RealPlayer 1.6.0 (worldwide) is available for free for PalmOne-made Palm OS 5 devices, such as the Palm Tungsten or Zire series.37 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. They also do not support modern Palm smartphones such as the treo 700p, 755p, or Centro, although the treo 600 and 650 are listed as supported devices. Their Web page regarding PalmOS support (shown above) gives no indication if support for those devices will ever be provided.
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.
Past versions of RealPlayer have been criticized for containing features similar to adware and spyware. In 2006 PC World Magazine named RealPlayer (1999 Version) as #2 in its list of the 25 worst 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."38 In 2007, it placed RealPlayer, versions 1996-2004, at #5 in its list of the 20 most annoying tech products.39
In 2008 StopBadware.org called RealPlayer "badware" due to failure to completely disclose software components it installs as well as those it leaves behind after being un-installed.40 Jeff Chasen, vice president for RealPlayer, responded by stating: "I actually admire what stopbadware is trying to do to keep consumers safe. But in this case the only thing bad is the report itself. Here’s why: Not a single claim raised by stopbadware actually hurts anyone." 41
The Message Center of RealPlayer has caused controversy due to its feature of pop-up advertisements. In previous versions of the program the Message Center had a reputation for being difficult to turn off completely, while in RealPlayer 11 it will not appear unless it is turned on by the user. 42
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.4344 RealNetworks acknowledged this, and the feature was removed in version 1.02. Their download page stated RealJukebox included privacy enhancements and gave a link to the privacy policy.38
When RealPlayer is installed, a process called tkbell.exe will run automatically each time the computer starts up, and may appear on the list of active processes as realsched.exe. The process is linked to the Message Center and can also check for updates to the program. The process is non-essential and is not considered to be harmful, but has been seen as a nuisance by some users. 45 It can be disabled by altering the settings of RealPlayer's Message Center. 46
Earlier versions of RealPlayer have experienced an issue with the volume control, where muting the sound in the program would also mute Windows system sounds. 47 This issue appears to have been resolved in RealPlayer 11.citation needed
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