An mp4 file extension is typically used for MPEG-4 multimedia files defined by ISO 14496-1 standard. Commonly used for video and movie files and supported by vast number of media players.
Software that open mp4 file
MP4 file extension - MPEG-4 video file format
What is mp4 file? How to open mp4 files?
The mp4 file extension is used mainly for the MPEG-4 multimedia file format.
The MPEG-4 file format, as defined by the MPEG-4 specification, contains MPEG-4 encoded video and Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)-encoded audio content. It typically uses the mp4 file extension for its files.
These mp4 files are in a container format defined in the Systems Part of the MPEG-4 standard (ISO 14496-1). The .mp4 files support all kinds of multimedia content (multiple audio streams, video streams, subtitle streams, pictures) and advanced content (called "Rich Media" or "BIFS") like 2D and 3D graphics, user interactivity, DVD-like menus. The MP4 file format is also streamable.
The MP4 is the most common file extension used for the MPEG-4 format. A .mp4 file may contain both audio and video, while files with m4a file extension contain only audio tracks and those with m4v file extension contain video data. m4r file extension is used for MP4 ringtones in iPhone smart phones and there is also m4b file extension. for audio books.
The MP4 format is also used by Native Instruments Stems audio files (stem file extension, or stem.mp4 file extension) for digital DJ performance. All those formats use the same MPEG-4 technology.
The MPEG-4 is an International Standards Organization (ISO) specification that covers many aspects of multimedia presentation including compression, authoring and delivery. Although video compression and file container definition are two separate and independent entities of the MPEG-4 specification, many people incorrectly believe that the two are interchangeable. You can implement only portions of the MPEG-4 specification and remain compliant with the standard.
MIME types:
video/mp4
Updated: May 7, 2021
The default software associated to open mp4 file:
Company or developer:
VideoLAN Project Team
Very popular multimedia player developed for Windows, Apple Mac, Linux, Unix and various other operating systems and platforms.
VLC can playback many of the video formats (AVI, MKV, OGV, WMV, ASF, MOV...) and audio formats (MP3, AAC, M4A, OGG, FLAC...) as well as support of subtitles for video. It can also be used as a streaming server and multimedia transcoder.
Microsoft Windows Media Player 
Company or developer:
Microsoft Corporation
Microsoft Windows Media Player is default multimedia player installed in Microsoft Windows. WMP can manage music, videos and pictures in computer, play or view them, sync them with portable devices, or burn them on CD/DVD media. It also supports home media sharing with other computers.
Company or developer:
VideoLAN Project Team
VLC media player for Mac is popular multimedia player that supports variety of audio and video formats as well as DVDs, VCDs, and streaming protocols.
List of software applications associated to the .mp4 file extension
Recommended software programs are sorted by OS platform (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android etc.)
and possible program actions that can be done with the file: like open mp4 file, edit mp4 file, convert mp4 file, view mp4 file, play mp4 file etc. (if exist software for corresponding action in File-Extensions.org's database).
Hint:
Click on the tab below to simply browse between the application actions, to quickly get a list of recommended software, which is able to perform the specified software action, such as opening, editing or converting mp4 files.
Software that open mp4 file - MPEG-4 video file format
Programs supporting the exension mp4 on the main platforms Windows, Mac, Linux or mobile. Click on the link to get more information about listed programs for open mp4 file action.
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