--- title: I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor,... description: VLC has an official skin editor that allows users to create custom themes, but it hasn't been updated in nearly 17 years — predating even VLC 1.0. Getting it... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor, and I learned why nobody uses it | daily.dev og:description: VLC has an official skin editor that allows users to create custom themes, but it hasn't been updated in nearly 17 years — predating even VLC 1.0. Getting it... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/2DbIcfqj5.png og:image:alt: I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor, and I learned why nobody uses it og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor, and I learned why nobody uses it **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary VLC has an official skin editor that allows users to create custom themes, but it hasn't been updated in nearly 17 years — predating even VLC 1.0. Getting it running requires hunting down Java 6 specifically, as newer versions aren't recognized. The editor itself is functional but extremely convoluted, with confusing menus and poor alignment tools. Even when a skin is created, VLC's skinnable interface doesn't scale well on high-resolution displays and buttons don't resize with the window. For skins to be truly useful, the editor needs a modern overhaul and skins need to be built from scratch with HiDPI support in mind. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [After 20 years together, VLC and I are finally breaking up, and it's because of this app](https://daily.dev/posts/after-20-years-together-vlc-and-i-are-finally-breaking-up-and-it-s-because-of-this-app-3cugbisim) · XDA Developers · 67 upvotes · 13 comments - [I replaced VLC with a leaner open-source player, and I'm not going back](https://daily.dev/posts/i-replaced-vlc-with-a-leaner-open-source-player-and-i-m-not-going-back-crxkub6s8) · XDA Developers · 42 upvotes · 5 comments - [VLC got its ‘biggest security release ever’](https://daily.dev/posts/vlc-got-its-biggest-security-release-ever--focb0jslu) · omg\! ubuntu\! · 3 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#open-source](https://daily.dev/tags/open-source), [#java](https://daily.dev/tags/java) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor, and I learned why nobody uses it","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5"},"datePublished":"2026-04-01T10:03:07.668Z","dateModified":"2026-04-01T10:03:54.936Z","description":"VLC has an official skin editor that allows users to create custom themes, but it hasn't been updated in nearly 17 years — predating even VLC 1.0. Getting it...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003471cc720539645766866a82e54977?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/003471cc720539645766866a82e54977?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/i-tried-to-customize-vlc-with-its-official-skin-editor-and-i-learned-why-nobody-uses-it-2dbicfqj5","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"open-source,java","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"I tried to customize VLC with its official skin editor, and I learned why nobody uses it"}]} ```