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System Requirements for viewing, browsing, and apps

The Vimeo website and player are supported on the most popular desktop and mobile platforms. We strongly recommend keeping your device’s operating system and browser as up-to-date as possible to avoid any bugs or potential security vulnerabilities.

Below you’ll find our minimum requirements for accessing vimeo.com, playing videos, and using our official apps.

In this article:

You can view Vimeo videos in quality ranging from 360p to 8K. The following table shows the minimum speeds required for each playback quality:

Quality Required Minimum Bandwidth
240p 500 kbps
360p 1 Mbps
720p 3 Mbps
1080p 7 Mbps
2K 12 Mbps
4K & up 22 Mbps

 

Supported browsers — video playback

Vimeo playback is supported in browsers that can decode H.264 videos in an HTML5 player.

Due to security vulnerabilities, Vimeo no longer supports Flash. Embedded Vimeo videos that used the Flash player will need to be replaced with the iframe embed code.

Vimeo video playback is supported using these browsers:

  • Chrome 60+ (has automatic updates)
  • Firefox 60+ (has automatic updates)
  • Microsoft Edge 79+ (has automatic updates)
  • Safari 11+

Please note the following caveats about specific browsers: 

  • In Firefox for Windows, H.264 video decoding is only supported in Windows 7 and later. 
  • Safari 14+ is the only browser that supports playback in Dolby Vision on MacOS/iOS devices.

Supported operating systems — video playback

The Vimeo player operates in a wide range of operating systems, but we can only guarantee full functionality on platforms that are still supported by their providers.

Microsoft maintains support for Windows 10 and still provides security updates for this platform. Mainstream browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox can be downloaded on these platforms and used to access Vimeo, however, each of these browsers has its own system requirements; newer browser versions may not be compatible with earlier Windows versions.

Apple maintains support for macOS 11 (Big Sur) and still provides security updates. The Safari browser installed with macOS is updated along with system updates; the latest version, Safari 16, is compatible with macOS 11 (Big Sur) and newer. If you are looking to view content on the desktop that has been produced in Dolby Vision, we currently recommend Apple devices with Safari.

Users of macOS can also download the Chrome, Edge, or Firefox browsers to access Vimeo; see our list of supported browsers above. These browsers have their own system requirements. Newer browser versions may not be compatible with earlier versions of macOS. 

While we understand there may still be bugs affecting older systems, we cannot always guarantee that these issues will be prioritized or resolved.

Mobile/Tablets

The Vimeo player operates on mobile and tablet devices, but we can only guarantee full functionality on platforms that are still supported by their providers.

Android mobile and tablet users can access Vimeo using browsers installed on Android 8.0 (Oreo) and newer devices. We recommend downloading Chrome or Firefox for Android. These browsers have their own system requirements; newer browser versions may not be compatible with earlier versions of Android. 

iOS/iPadOS users can access Vimeo from iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad by using the pre-installed Safari browser running iOS 12, iPad 12, or newer. Third-party browsers installed from the App Store such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox use the Safari rendering engine and should function identically to Safari. Additionally, Safari users on Apple devices will be able to playback Dolby Vision content (provided it was uploaded in Dolby Vision).

Users of Blackberry, Palm, Windows Phone, and other mobile platforms may be able to view Vimeo videos on browsers that support HTML5. The Vimeo player is not tested in these environments, so support for these platforms cannot be guaranteed.

Supported browsers — vimeo.com site

The vimeo.com website and all features on the website are supported when using the latest versions of these browsers:

  • Chrome (has automatic updates)
  • Firefox (has automatic updates)
  • Safari
  • Edge

If you see a banner on vimeo.com asking you to upgrade your browser, you can check for the latest browser versions here.

Vimeo mobile app

Native apps are available for mobile phones and tablets running Android and iOS. As always we recommend keeping your device’s operating system up-to-date. The minimum operating system version for each platform is listed below.

  • Android (Nougat) version 7.0+
  • iOS version 14+

Additionally, iPhone 8 and above and 2nd generation iPad Pro and above can playback Dolby Vision videos on the Vimeo app.

Additional permissions may need to be enabled on your device to be able to access all mobile app features. See our Android and iOS mobile app requirement articles for further details.

Vimeo macOS app

The Vimeo macOS app requires macOS 10.12 (Sierra) or newer to operate. Older versions of macOS are not compatible with the app.

Advanced playback

Live event playback

Similar to uploaded videos, playback for live events is supported on any system that supports H.264 video decoding, HTML5, and Media Source (specifically required for our adaptive streaming system). Please see the list of supported browsers and operating systems mentioned above.

5K, 6K, 7K, or 8K playback

To view our higher-resolution playback versions, you must use a browser that supports H.265 (HEVC) decoding in an HTML5 player.

These operating systems and browsers currently support the playback of videos with resolutions over 5K:

  • Safari 11+ on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or higher
  • Microsoft Edge 15+ on Windows 10 (with supported hardware)

We hope to support 5K and higher resolution playback on additional browsers and platforms as they become available. 

HDR and Dolby Vision playback

To view an HDR video, you’ll need to have an HDR10-supported display and a system that supports H.265 (HEVC) playback.

HDR and Dolby Vision playback is currently supported on these platforms:

360° playback

For monoscopic 360° playback on a desktop (i.e on a monitor and not within a headset), we recommend using the latest version of the following browsers with WebGL and hardware acceleration enabled:

  • Chrome
  • Firefox
  • Edge
  • Safari (v11.0.2 or newer)

Playback of 360 videos on mobile devices is only possible with the official Vimeo app for Android or iOS. Mobile devices must have gyroscope sensors for the app to play 360 videos.

Viewers can also play 360 videos within the Vimeo app and place their devices in Google Cardboard-compatible headsets. Other standalone VR headsets, such as the Oculus Go, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, or Samsung Gear, are not officially supported.

Internet Connection Requirements (playback)

Viewers must have a minimum stable download speed of 500 kbps in order to play low-resolution SD 240p video from Vimeo. For a more enjoyable viewing experience and to play high-definition video, we recommend accessing Vimeo using a 5 Mbps or faster internet connection. Whenever possible, hardwired ethernet connections are preferred over wireless (Wi-Fi or cellular).

Not sure what speeds your device is receiving? Visit https://testmy.net/download (on mobile or desktop) for an estimate. We recommend performing this test a few times since bandwidth can change. 

For more in-depth information about bandwidth and troubleshooting, visit Troubleshoot playback quality and buffering issues.

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