Editing QuickTime

{{Short description|Extensible multimedia architecture by Apple}}
{{Other uses|Quick time (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2013}}
{{macOS topics}}

'''QuickTime''' (or QuickTime Player) is an extensible multimedia architecture created by [[Apple Inc.|Apple]], which supports<!-- stay in present, see [[MOS:TENSE]] --> playing, [[Streaming media|streaming]], [[Data compression|encoding]], and [[transcoding]] a variety of [[digital media]] formats.{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}} The term ''QuickTime'' also refers to the '''QuickTime Player''' [[Frontend and backend|front-end]] media player application,{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}} which is built-into [[macOS]], and was formerly available for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Goodin |first=Dan |date=2016-04-14 |title=Apple stops patching QuickTime for Windows despite 2 active vulnerabilities |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/04/apple-stops-patching-quicktime-for-windows-despite-2-active-vulnerabilities/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref>

QuickTime was created in 1991, when the concept of playing digital video directly on computers was "groundbreaking."{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}} QuickTime could embed a number of advanced media types, including [[QuickTime VR|panoramic image]]s (called QuickTime VR) and [[Adobe Flash]]. Over the 1990s, QuickTime became a dominant standard for digital [[multimedia]], as it was integrated into many websites, applications, and video games, and adopted by professional [[Filmmaking|filmmakers]]. The [[QuickTime File Format]] became the basis for the [[MPEG-4]] standard.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-03-30 |title=QuickTime and the Rise of Multimedia |url=https://computerhistory.org/blog/quicktime-and-the-rise-of-multimedia/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CHM |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Happy birthday, Apple QuickTime |url=https://www.theregister.com/Print/2011/12/02/apple_quicktime_multimedia_software_turns_20 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=The Register}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}}{{Sfn|Monroe|2004|p=xv}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Apple QuickTime Software 1991 - A Technical Description |url=https://collections.museumsvictoria.com.au/articles/2780 |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Museums Victoria Collections}}</ref> During its heyday, QuickTime was notably used to create the innovative ''[[Myst]]'' and ''[[Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World|Xplora1]]'' video games, and to exclusively distribute movie trailers for several ''[[Star Wars]]'' movies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Evan |title=QuickTime prepared to make its comeback |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/quicktime-prepared-to-make-its-comeback-1/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Ferncase|2003|pp=1-2}} QuickTime could support additional codecs through plug-ins, for example with [[Perian]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Promising prospect: Perian |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/181999/perian.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref>

As operating systems and browsers gained support for MPEG-4 and subsequent standards like [[Advanced Video Coding|H.264]], the need for a cross-platform version of QuickTime diminished, and Apple discontinued the Windows version of QuickTime in 2016.<ref name="developer_apple_com">{{cite web |date=May 28, 2013 |title=Technical Note TN2300: Transitioning QTKit Code to AV Foundation. |url=https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2300/_index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902161826/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/technotes/tn2300/_index.html |archive-date=2016-09-02}}</ref><ref name="Thornton-2018">{{Cite web |last=Thornton |first=Mike |date=December 4, 2018 |title=Apple Announce End Of Native Support For Avid DNx Codecs - Avid Respond. Why This Matters For Pro Tools Users {{!}} Pro Tools - The leading website for Pro Tools users |url=https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/home-page/2018/12/3/a-future-macos-wont-support-the-avid-dnxhd-and-cineform-codecs-pro-tools-users-working-with-video-need-to-prepare-for-this-now |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=ProToolsExpert |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Oakley |first=Howard |date=2022-03-26 |title=Explainer: Whatever happened to QuickTime? |url=https://eclecticlight.co/2022/03/26/explainer-whatever-happened-to-quicktime/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=The Eclectic Light Company |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Siracusa">{{Cite web |last=Siracusa |first=John |date=2009-09-01 |title=Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review |url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6/ |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Ars Technica |language=en-us}}</ref> In [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard]], QuickTime 7 was discontinued in favor of QuickTime Player X, which abandoned the aging QuickTime framework in favor of the [[AVFoundation]] framework. QuickTime Player X does not support video editing (beyond trimming clips) or plug-ins for additional [[codec]] support.<ref name="Siracusa"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Getting started with QuickTime Player X |url=https://www.macworld.com/article/221585/getting-started-with-quicktime-player-x.html |access-date=2023-01-06 |website=Macworld |language=en}}</ref> [[macOS Catalina]] dropped support for all 32-bit applications, including the QTKit framework and the old QuickTime 7.<ref name="Thornton-2018" />

== Overview ==
QuickTime is bundled with macOS. QuickTime for [[Microsoft Windows]] was downloadable as a standalone installation, and was bundled with Apple's [[iTunes]] before iTunes 10.5, but is no longer supported and therefore security vulnerabilities will no longer be patched.<ref name="Windows">{{cite web |title=Download QuickTime 7.7.9 for Windows |url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL837 |access-date=April 30, 2016 |publisher=Apple |quote=QuickTime 7 for Windows is no longer supported by Apple.}}</ref> Already, at the time of the Windows version's discontinuation, two such [[zero-day (computing)|zero-day]] vulnerabilities (both of which permitted [[arbitrary code execution]]) were identified and publicly disclosed by [[Trend Micro]]; consequently, Trend Micro strongly advised users to uninstall the product from Windows systems.<ref name=TrendMicro>{{cite web | url=http://blog.trendmicro.com/urgent-call-action-uninstall-quicktime-windows-today/ | title=Urgent Call to Action: Uninstall QuickTime for Windows Today | last=Budd | first=Christopher | date=April 14, 2016 | website=SIMPLYsecurity blog | publisher=[[Trend Micro]] | access-date=April 14, 2016 }}</ref><ref name=US-CERT>{{cite web | url=https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA16-105A | title=Alert (TA16-105A) ~ Apple Ends Support for QuickTime for Windows; New Vulnerabilities Announced | date=April 14, 2016 | website=National Cyber Awareness System | series=Alerts | publisher=[[United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team]] | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414211456/https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA16-105A | archive-date=April 14, 2016 | url-status=live | access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>

[[Software development kit]]s (SDK) for QuickTime are available to the public with an [[Apple Developer|Apple Developer Connection]] (ADC) subscription.

It is available free of charge for both macOS operating systems. There are some other free player applications that rely on the QuickTime framework, providing features not available in the basic QuickTime Player. For example, iTunes can export audio in [[WAV]], [[Audio Interchange File Format|AIFF]], [[MP3]], [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC]], and [[Apple Lossless]]. In addition, macOS has a simple [[AppleScript]] that can be used to play a movie in full-screen mode,<ref>{{cite web | title=MacWorld&nbsp;– Mac 911&nbsp;– Full screen for free | url=http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/mac911/2005/08/fullscreen/index.php | access-date=January 27, 2007}}</ref> but since version 7.2 full-screen viewing is now supported in the non-Pro version.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apple&nbsp;– Support&nbsp;– Downloads&nbsp;– QuickTime 7.2 for Mac |url=https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime72formac.html |access-date=July 12, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713183959/http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime72formac.html |archive-date=July 13, 2007 }}</ref>

== QuickTime framework ==
{{Expand section|More information about the framework as a whole; and about the platform-specific implementations of QuickTime (differences between Mac and Windows versions). Can use the book sources cited at the end|date=January 2023}}
The QuickTime framework provides the following:

* Encoding and [[transcoding]] video and audio from one format to another. Command-line utilities afconvert (to convert audio formats), avconvert (to convert video formats) and qtmodernizer (to automatically convert older formats to H.264/AAC) are provided with macOS for power users.
* Decoding video and audio, then sending the decoded stream to the graphics or audio subsystem for playback.  In macOS, QuickTime sends video playback to the [[Quartz Extreme|Quartz Extreme (OpenGL) Compositor]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Mac OS X&nbsp;– Quartz Extreme | url=https://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme | access-date=January 16, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20031010031305/http://www.apple.com/macosx/features/quartzextreme/ |archive-date=October 10, 2003 }}</ref>
* A "component" plug-in architecture for supporting additional 3rd-party codecs (such as [[DivX]]).

As of early 2008, the framework hides many older codecs listed below from the user although the option to "Show legacy encoders" exists in QuickTime Preferences to use them.<ref>{{cite web | title=Re: batch export : where is sorenson ? | url=http://lists.apple.com/archives/QuickTime-API/2008/Feb/msg00223.html | access-date=June 6, 2008 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207004142/http://lists.apple.com/archives/QuickTime-API/2008/Feb/msg00223.html | archive-date=December 7, 2008 | url-status=dead | df=mdy-all }}</ref>  The framework supports the following file types and codecs natively:<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– QuickTime Player&nbsp;– Tech Specs | url=https://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/specs.html | access-date=April 15, 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080724002332/http://www.apple.com/quicktime/player/specs.html |archive-date = July 24, 2008}}</ref>

{|
|-
! Audio
! Video
! Picture
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
* [[A-law algorithm|A-law]]
* [[Advanced Audio Coding]] (AAC)
* [[Adaptive Multi-Rate audio codec|AMR Narrowband]]
* [[Apple Lossless]]
* [[Au file format]]
* [[Audio Interchange File Format]] (AIFF)
* [[Core Audio Format]]
* [[FLAC]] (since macOS 10.13)
* MACE
* Microsoft [[Adaptive DPCM]] (MS ADPCM)
* [[MIDI]]
* [[MP3|MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3]] (MP3)
* [[Pulse-code modulation]] (PCM)
* [[QCELP]] (''Qualcomm PureVoice'')
* [[QDesign]]
* [[WAV|Waveform Audio File Format]] (WAV)
* [[μ-law algorithm|μ-law]]
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
* [[Animated GIF]]
* [[Animation codec|Animation (FLI, FLC)]]
* [[Apple ProRes]]
* [[Apple Video]] (MOV, QT)
* [[Audio Video Interleave]] (AVI)
* [[Cinepak]]
* Component Video
* [[DV (video format)|DV]]
* [[3GP and 3G2]]
* [[QuickTime Graphics|Graphics]]
* [[H.261]]
* [[H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2]]<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/ |title = Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– MPEG-2 Playback |access-date = April 15, 2010 |quote = QuickTime has the ability to play back MPEG-2 content via the QuickTime MPEG-2 Playback Component. It is available as an add-on to QuickTime 7 for $19.99 in the Apple Store online. |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100414104538/http://www.apple.com/quicktime/mpeg2/ |archive-date = April 14, 2010 |url-status = dead |df = mdy-all }}</ref>
* [[H.263]]
* [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC]]
* [[H.265/HEVC]] (since macOS 10.13)
* [[Microsoft Video 1]]
* [[Motion JPEG]]
* [[MPEG-1]]
* [[MPEG-4 Part 2]]
* [[Pixlet]]
* Planar RGB
* [[Qtch]]
* [[#File formats|QuickTime Movie]]
* [[QuickTime VR]]
* [[Sorenson codec|Sorenson Video]]
| style="vertical-align:top;" |
* [[BMP file format|BMP]]
* [[FlashPix]]
* [[Graphics Interchange Format]] (GIF)
* [[JPEG]]
* [[JPEG 2000]]
* [[Portable Network Graphics]] (PNG)
* [[TIFF]]
* [[Truevision TGA]]
|}

Due to macOS Mojave being the last version to include support for 32-bit APIs and Apple's plans to drop 32-bit application support in future macOS releases, many codecs will no longer be supported in newer macOS releases, starting with macOS Catalina, which was released on October 7, 2019.

As of [[Mac OS X Lion]], the underlying media framework for QuickTime, QTKit, was deprecated in favor of a newer graphics framework, [[AVFoundation]], and completely discontinued as of [[macOS Catalina]].<ref name="developer_apple_com" />

=== Windows ===
PictureViewer is a component of QuickTime for [[Microsoft Windows]] and the [[Mac OS 8]] and [[Mac OS 9]] operating systems. It is used to view picture files from the [[still image]] formats that QuickTime supports. In [[macOS]], it is replaced by [[Preview (software)|Preview]].<ref>{{cite web
  |url = http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3134
  |title = Common Internet file formats
  |work = Apple Support
  |publisher = Apple
  |access-date = January 24, 2011
  |quote = Many of the multimedia file types listed below can be opened with QuickTime Player, Preview (Mac OS X) or PictureViewer (Mac OS 8, 9).
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
  |url = http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=QuickTime%20Player%20Win/7.3/en/c1qt5.html
  |title = QuickTime for Windows 7.3 Help
  |work = Apple Support
  |publisher = Apple
  |access-date = January 24, 2011
}}</ref>

=== Irix ===
A version of QuickTime for the Irix operating system running on SGI hardware with MIPS processors was developed in the mid-1990s but never released.

== QuickTime Player ==
{{Expand section|date=January 2023}}

=== QuickTime 7 Pro ===
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2017|small=yes}}

QuickTime Player 7 is limited to only basic playback operations unless a QuickTime Pro license key is purchased from Apple. Until Catalina, Apple's professional applications (e.g. [[Final Cut Studio]], [[Logic Studio]]) included a QuickTime Pro license. Pro keys are specific to the major version of QuickTime for which they are purchased and unlock additional features of the QuickTime Player application on macOS or Windows.<ref>{{cite web |title=Apple – QuickTime – QuickTime Pro |url=https://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070110200720/http://www.apple.com/quicktime/pro/ |archive-date=January 10, 2007 |access-date=January 10, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Pro key does not require any additional downloads; entering the registration code immediately unlocks the hidden features.

QuickTime 7 is still available for download from Apple, but as of mid-2016, Apple stopped selling registration keys for the Pro version.

Features enabled by the Pro license include, but are not limited to:
* Editing clips through the cut, copy and paste functions, merging separate audio and video tracks, and freely placing the video tracks on a virtual canvas with the options of cropping and rotation.
* Saving and exporting ([[data compression|encoding]]) to any of the [[video codec|codecs]] supported by QuickTime. QuickTime 7 includes presets for exporting video to a video-capable [[iPod]], [[Apple TV]], and the [[iPhone]].
* Saving existing QuickTime movies from the web directly to a hard disk drive. This is often, but not always, either hidden or intentionally blocked in the standard mode. Two options exist for saving movies from a web browser:
** Save as source – This option will save the embedded video in its original format. (I.e. not limited to .mov files.)
** Save as QuickTime movie – This option will save the embedded video in a .mov file format no matter what the original container is/was.

=== QuickTime Player X ===
{{Infobox software
| name = QuickTime Player
| logo = Quicktime X Logo.png
| screenshot = Quicktime Player X.png
| caption = QuickTime Player 10.5 playing ''[[Big Buck Bunny]]'' running on [[macOS Big Sur]]
| developer = [[Apple Inc.]]
| released = {{start date and age|1991|12|2}}
| latest release version = 10.5 (updated as part of macOS, with only build number increments)
| latest release date = <!-- do not add! This is a system application, not a downloadable app whose version number gets updated. -->
| latest preview version = 
| latest preview date = 
| operating system = [[macOS]]<br/>Discontinued: [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[Classic Mac OS]]
| website = {{URL|https://support.apple.com/quicktime}}
}}

[[Mac OS X Snow Leopard]] includes QuickTime X. QuickTime Player X lacks cut, copy and paste and will only export to four formats, but its limited export feature is free. Users do not have an option to upgrade to a Pro version of QuickTime X, but those who have already purchased QuickTime 7 Pro and are upgrading to Snow Leopard from a previous version of Mac OS X will have QuickTime 7 stored in the Utilities or user defined folder. Otherwise, users will have to install QuickTime 7 from the "Optional Installs" directory of the Snow Leopard DVD after installing the OS.

[[Mac OS X Lion]] and later also include QuickTime X. No installer for QuickTime 7 is included with these software packages, but users can download the QuickTime 7 installer from the [http://support.apple.com/kb/DL923 Apple support] site. QuickTime X on [[MacOS Sierra|later versions of macOS]] support cut, copy and paste functions similarly to the way QuickTime 7 Pro did; the interface has been significantly modified to simplify these operations, however.

On September 24, 2018, Apple ended support for QuickTime 7 and QuickTime Pro, and updated many download and support pages on their website to state that QuickTime 7 "will not be compatible with future macOS releases."

== File formats ==<!-- This section is linked from [[Streaming media]] -->
{{Main|QuickTime File Format}}

The native [[file format]] for QuickTime video, [[QuickTime File Format]], specifies a [[Container format (digital)|multimedia container file]] that contains one or more tracks, each of which stores a particular type of data: audio, video, effects, or text (e.g. for subtitles). Each track either contains a digitally encoded media stream (using a specific format) or a data reference to the media stream located in another file. The ability to contain abstract data references for the media data, and the separation of the media data from the media offsets and the track edit lists means that QuickTime is particularly suited for editing, as it is capable of importing and editing in place (without data copying).

Other file formats that QuickTime supports natively (to varying degrees) include [[Audio Interchange File Format|AIFF]], [[WAV]], [[DV (video format)|DV-DIF]], [[MP3]], and [[MPEG program stream]]. With additional QuickTime Components, it can also support [[Advanced Systems Format|ASF]], [[DivX Media Format]], [[Flash Video]], [[Matroska]], [[Ogg]], and many others.

=== QuickTime and MPEG-4 ===
On February 11, 1998, the [[International Organization for Standardization|ISO]] approved the QuickTime file format as the basis of the MPEG‑4 file format.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1998-02-11 |title=ISO ADOPTS QUICKTIME FILE FORMAT AS STARTING POINT FOR DEVELOPIN |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/1998-02-11/iso-adopts-quicktime-file-format-as-starting-point-for-developin |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220420210713/https://www.bloomberg.com/press-releases/1998-02-11/iso-adopts-quicktime-file-format-as-starting-point-for-developin |archive-date=April 20, 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The MPEG-4 file format specification was created on the basis of the QuickTime format specification published in 2001.<ref>{{cite web
 | url = https://developer.apple.com/standards/classicquicktime.html
 | author = Apple Inc.
 | title = Classic Version of the QuickTime File Format Specification
 | year = 2001
 | access-date = June 14, 2009
}}</ref> The MP4 (<code>.mp4</code>) file format was published in 2001 as the revision of the MPEG-4 Part 1: Systems specification published in 1999 (ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001).<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000037.shtml
 | author = Library of Congress, US
 | title = MPEG-4 File Format, Version 1
 | year = 2001
 | access-date = June 14, 2009
}}</ref>{{ref RFC|4337}}<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_ics/catalogue_detail_ics.htm?csnumber=34903
 | author = International Organization for Standardization
 | title = MPEG-4 Part 1: Systems; ISO/IEC 14496-1:2001
 | year = 2001
 | access-date = June 11, 2009
}}</ref> In 2003, the first version of MP4 format was revised and replaced by [[MPEG-4 Part 14]]: MP4 file format (ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003).<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=38538
 | author = International Organization for Standardization
 | title = MPEG-4 Part 14: MP4 file format; ISO/IEC 14496-14:2003
 | year = 2003
 | access-date = June 11, 2009
}}</ref> The MP4 file format was generalized into the [[ISO base media file format|ISO Base Media File Format]] ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004, which defines a general structure for time-based media files. It in turn is used as the basis for other multimedia file formats (for example [[3GP]], [[MJ2|Motion JPEG 2000]]).<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = http://www.mp4ra.org/specs.html
 | publisher = MP4REG&nbsp;– MP4 Registration authority
 | title = References, MPEG-4 Registration authority
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120808112056/http://www.mp4ra.org/specs.html
 | archive-date = August 8, 2012
 | url-status = dead
 | df = mdy-all
 }}
</ref><ref>{{cite tech report
  | author = International Organization for Standardization
  | title =  ISO Base Media File Format white paper&nbsp;– Proposal
  | publisher = MPEG
  | date = April 2006
  | url = http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/technologies/mp04-ff/index.htm
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080714101745/http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/technologies/mp04-ff/index.htm 
  | archive-date = July 14, 2008
  | author-link = International Organization for Standardization
  | url-status = dead}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite tech report
  | author = International Organization for Standardization
  | title =  ISO Base Media File Format white paper&nbsp;– Proposal
  | publisher = MPEG
  | date = October 2009
  | url = http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/technologies/mpeg-4/mp04-ff/index.htm
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101019201035/http://mpeg.chiariglione.org/technologies/mpeg-4/mp04-ff/index.htm
  | archive-date = October 19, 2010
  | author-link = International Organization for Standardization
  | url-status = dead}}</ref>
<ref name="mpeg4part12-mp4">{{cite tech report
  | author = International Organization for Standardization
  | title = ISO/IEC 14496-12:2008, Information technology&nbsp;– Coding of audio-visual objects&nbsp;– Part 12: ISO base media file format
  | publisher = International Organization for Standardization
  | year = 2008
  | url = http://standards.iso.org/ittf/PubliclyAvailableStandards/c051533_ISO_IEC_14496-12_2008.zip
  | format = PDF
  | pages = 88, 94
  | access-date = May 30, 2009
  | author-link = International Organization for Standardization }}{{dead link|date=January 2025}}</ref>
<ref>{{cite web
 | url = http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=38539
 | author = International Organization for Standardization
 | title = MPEG-4 Part 12: ISO base media file format; ISO/IEC 14496-12:2004
 | year = 2004
 | access-date = June 11, 2009 }}</ref> A list of all registered extensions for ISO Base Media File Format is published on the official registration authority website [http://www.mp4ra.org www.mp4ra.org]. This registration authority for code-points in "MP4 Family" files is Apple Computer Inc. and it is named in Annex D (informative) in MPEG-4 Part 12.<ref name="mpeg4part12-mp4" />

By 2000, MPEG-4 formats became industry standards, first appearing with support in QuickTime 6 in 2002.  Accordingly, the MPEG-4 container is designed to capture, edit, [[archive]], and [[distribution (business)|distribute]] media, unlike the simple file-as-stream approach of MPEG-1 and [[MPEG-2]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– Technologies&nbsp;– MPEG-4 | url=https://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/mpeg4/ | access-date=January 16, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070111065647/http://www.apple.com/quicktime/technologies/mpeg4/ |archive-date = January 11, 2007}}</ref>

==== Profile support ====
QuickTime 6 added limited support for MPEG-4, specifically encoding and decoding using Simple Profile (SP). Advanced Simple Profile (ASP) features, like [[Video compression picture types|B-frames]], were unsupported (in contrast with, for example, encoders such as [[Xvid|XviD]] or [[3ivx]]). QuickTime 7 supports the H.264 encoder and decoder.<ref>{{cite web | title=QuickTime for Windows 7.0 Help | url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=QuickTime+Player+Win/7.0/en/wn.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127104402/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=QuickTime+Player+Win/7.0/en/wn.html | archive-date=January 27, 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Container benefits ====
Because both MOV and MP4 containers can use the same MPEG-4 codecs, they are mostly interchangeable in a QuickTime-only environment. MP4, being an international standard, has more support. This is especially true on hardware devices, such as the [[Sony PSP]] and various DVD players, on the software side, most [[DirectShow]] / [[Video for Windows]] codec packs<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hellninjacommando.com/defilerpak/ |title=DefilerPak - A lightweight codec pack for Windows PCs |access-date=August 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150815154602/http://hellninjacommando.com/defilerpak/ |archive-date=August 15, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.k-litecodecpack.com|archive-url=https://archive.today/20031031022301/http://www.k-litecodecpack.com/|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 31, 2003|title=www.k-litecodecpack.com|access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> include a MP4 parser, but not one for MOV.

In QuickTime Pro's MPEG-4 Export dialog, an option called "Passthrough" allows a clean export to MP4 without affecting the audio or video streams. QuickTime 7 now supports [[surround sound|multichannel]] AAC-LC and HE-AAC audio (used, for example, in the high-definition trailers on Apple's site),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apple.com/trailers|title=iTunes Movie Trailers|access-date=August 15, 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100213200700/http://www.apple.com//trailers//|archive-date=February 13, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref> for both .MOV and .MP4 containers.

== History ==
Apple released the first version of QuickTime on December 2, 1991, as a [[multimedia]] add-on for [[System Software 6|System 6]] and later. The lead developer of QuickTime, [[Bruce Leak]], ran the first public demonstration at the May 1991 [[Worldwide Developers Conference]], where he played Apple's famous [[1984 (advertisement)|1984 advertisement]] in a window at 320×240 pixels resolution.

=== QuickTime 1.x ===
The original video [[codec]]s included:

* the [[Animation codec]], which used [[run-length encoding]] and was better suited to cartoon-type images with large areas of flat color
* the [[Apple Video]] codec (also known as "Road Pizza"), suited to normal live-action video.<ref>[http://wiki.multimedia.cx/index.php?title=Apple_RPZA Apple RPZA - MultimediaWiki]. wiki.multimedia.cx (December 11, 2008). Retrieved on August 23, 2013.</ref>
* the [[QuickTime Graphics|Graphics]] codec, for 8-bit images, including ones that had undergone [[dithering]]

The first commercial project produced using QuickTime 1.0 was the CD-ROM [https://web.archive.org/web/20070607104108/http://www.againstallodds.com/alice.htm From Alice to Ocean]. The first publicly visible use of QuickTime was [[Ben & Jerry's]] interactive factory tour (dubbed ''The Rik & Joe Show'' after its in-house developers). ''The Rik and Joe Show'' was demonstrated onstage at MacWorld in San Francisco when [[John Sculley]] announced QuickTime.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/complete_history_macworld_expo?page=0,1 |title=The Complete History of the Macworld Expo |access-date=August 2, 2013 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804220227/http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/complete_history_macworld_expo?page=0,1 |archive-date=August 4, 2014 }}</ref>

Apple released QuickTime 1.5 for Mac OS in the latter part of 1992. This added the SuperMac-developed [[Cinepak]] vector-quantization video codec (initially known as Compact Video). It could play video at 320×240 resolution at 30 frames per second on a 25 MHz [[Motorola 68040]] CPU. It also added ''text'' tracks, which allowed for captioning, lyrics and other potential uses.

Apple contracted [[San Francisco Canyon Company]] to port QuickTime to the Windows platform.<ref name="Apple: The Inside Story">{{Cite book |last=Carlton |first=Jim |date=1997 |title=Apple: The inside story of intrigue, egomania, and business blunders |location=New York |publisher=Random House |page=[https://archive.org/details/appleinsidestory00carl/page/309 309] |isbn=0-8129-2851-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/appleinsidestory00carl/page/309 }}</ref> Version 1.0 of QuickTime for Windows provided only a subset of the full QuickTime API, including only movie playback functions driven through the standard movie controller.

QuickTime 1.6 came out the following year. Version 1.6.2 first incorporated the "QuickTime PowerPlug" which replaced some components with [[PowerPC]]-native code when running on PowerPC Macs.

=== QuickTime 2.x ===
[[File:Quicktime old logo.svg|thumb|200px|QuickTime logo for versions 2.x and 3.x, from 1994 until 1999]]
Apple released QuickTime 2.0 for System Software 7 in June 1994—the only version never released for free. It added support for music tracks, which contained the equivalent of [[MIDI]] data and which could drive a sound-synthesis engine built into QuickTime itself (using a limited set of instrument sounds licensed from [[Roland Corporation|Roland]]), or any external MIDI-compatible hardware, thereby producing sounds using only small amounts of movie data.

Following [[Bruce Leak]]'s departure to [[MSN TV|Web TV]], the leadership of the QuickTime team was taken over by Peter Hoddie.

QuickTime 2.0 for Windows appeared in November 1994 under the leadership of [[Paul Charlton (technologist)|Paul Charlton]]. As part of the development effort for cross-platform QuickTime, Charlton (as architect and technical lead), along with ace individual contributor Michael Kellner and a small highly effective team including Keith Gurganus, ported a subset of the Macintosh Toolbox to Intel and other platforms (notably, MIPS and SGI Unix variants) as the enabling infrastructure for the QuickTime Media Layer (QTML) which was first demonstrated at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference ([[WWDC]]) in May 1996. The QTML later became the foundation for the Carbon API which allowed legacy Macintosh applications to run on the Darwin kernel in Mac OS X.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}}

The next versions, 2.1 and 2.5, reverted to the previous model of giving QuickTime away for free. They improved the music support and added [[sprite (computer science)|sprite]] tracks which allowed the creation of complex animations with the addition of little more than the static sprite images to the size of the movie. QuickTime 2.5 also fully integrated [[QuickTime VR]] 2.0.1 into QuickTime as a QuickTime extension. On January 16, 1997, Apple released the QuickTime MPEG Extension (PPC only) as an add-on to QuickTime 2.5, which added software MPEG-1 playback capabilities to QuickTime.

=== Lawsuit against San Francisco Canyon ===
{{Main|San Francisco Canyon Company}}
In 1994, Apple filed suit against software developer [[San Francisco Canyon Company|San Francisco Canyon]] for intellectual property infringement and breach of contract.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/12/business/apple-lawsuit-may-renew-legal-battle-with-microsoft.html|title=Apple Lawsuit May Renew Legal Battle With Microsoft|last=Markoff|first=John|date=1994-12-12|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-04-15}}</ref> Apple alleged that San Francisco Canyon had helped develop [[Video for Windows]] using several hundred lines of unlicensed QuickTime source code. They were contracted by Intel to help make Video for Windows better use system resources on [[Intel]] processors, which was subsequently unilaterally removed.<ref name="Apple: The Inside Story"/> Microsoft and Intel were added to the lawsuit in 1995. The suit ended in a settlement in 1997.

=== QuickTime 3.x ===
The release of QuickTime 3.0 for Mac OS on March 30, 1998, introduced the now-standard revenue model of releasing the software for free, but with additional features of the Apple-provided MoviePlayer application that end-users could only unlock by buying a QuickTime Pro [[license]] code. Since the "Pro" features were the same as the existing features in QuickTime 2.5, any previous user of QuickTime could continue to use an older version of the central MoviePlayer application for the remaining lifespan of Mac OS to 2002, indeed, since these additional features were limited to MoviePlayer, any other QuickTime-compatible application remained unaffected.

QuickTime 3.0 added support for graphics importer components that could read images from [[GIF]], JPEG, [[TIFF]], and other file formats, and video output components which served primarily to export movie data via FireWire. Apple also licensed several third-party technologies for inclusion in QuickTime 3.0, including the [[Sorenson Video]] codec for advanced video compression, the [[QDesign]] Music codec for substantial audio compression, and the complete Roland Sound Canvas instrument set and GS Format extensions for improved playback of MIDI music files. It also added video ''effects'' which programmers could apply in real-time to video tracks. Some of these effects would even respond to mouse clicks by the user, as part of the new movie [[interactivity|interaction]] support (known as '''wired movies''').

==== QuickTime interactive ====
During the development cycle for QuickTime 3.0, part of the engineering team was working on a more advanced version of QuickTime to be known as '''QuickTime interactive''' or QTi. Although similar in concept to the wired movies feature released as part of QuickTime 3.0, QuickTime interactive was much more ambitious. It allowed any QuickTime movie to be a fully interactive and programmable container for media. A special track type was added that contained an interpreter for a custom programming language based on 68000 [[assembly language]]. This supported a comprehensive user interaction model for mouse and keyboard event handling based in part on the AML language from the [[Apple Media Tool]].

The QuickTime interactive movie was to have been the playback format for the next generation of [[HyperCard]] authoring tool. Both the QuickTime interactive and the HyperCard 3.0 projects were canceled in order to concentrate engineering resources on streaming support for QuickTime 4.0, and the projects were never released to the public.

=== QuickTime 4.x ===
Apple released QuickTime 4.0 on June 8, 1999<ref name="Timeline of QuickTime Updates">{{cite web | title=Timeline of QuickTime Updates at the Apple Museum | url=http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=41 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> for Mac OS 7.5.5 through 8.6 (later [[Mac OS 9]]) and [[Windows 95]], [[Windows 98]], and [[Windows NT]].  Three minor updates (versions 4.0.1, 4.0.2, and 4.0.3) followed.<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– Technical Note TN1183 | url=https://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1183.html | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>
It introduced features that most users now consider basic:<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– What's New in QuickTime | url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/whatsnew.htm | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>

* Graphics exporter components, which could write some of the same formats that the previously introduced importers could read. (GIF support was omitted, possibly because of the [[Lempel–Ziv–Welch#Patents|LZW patent]].)
* Support for the QDesign Music 2 and MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio (MP3). 
* QuickTime 4 was the first version to support [[Streaming media|streaming]].  It was accompanied by the release of the free [[QuickTime Streaming Server]] version 1.0.
* QuickTime 4 Player introduced [[brushed metal (interface)|brushed metal]] to the Macintosh user interface.

On December 17, 1999, Apple provided QuickTime 4.1, this version's first major update.<ref name="Timeline of QuickTime Updates" />  Two minor versions (4.1.1 and 4.1.2) followed.<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– Technical Note TN1197 | url=https://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1197.html | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> The most notable improvements in the 4.1.x family were:<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– Summary of Changes and Enhancements for QuickTime 4.1 | url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/REF/QT41_HTML/QT41WhatsNew-2.html
 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>

* Support for files larger than 2.0 [[gigabytes|GB]] in Mac OS 9. (This is a consequence of Mac OS 9 requiring the [[HFS Plus]] filesystem.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mac OS 8, 9: Mac OS Extended Format - Volume and File Limits|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/TA21924?locale=en_US|access-date=2020-06-09|website=support.apple.com}}</ref>)
* [[Variable bit rate]] (VBR) support for MPEG-1 Layer 3 (MP3) audio.
* Support for [[Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language]] (SMIL).
* Introduction of AppleScript support in Mac OS.
* The requirement of a PowerPC processor for Mac OS systems. QuickTime 4.1 dropped support for Motorola [[68k]] Macintosh systems.

=== QuickTime 5.x ===
QuickTime 5 was one of the shortest-lived versions of QuickTime, released in April 2001 and superseded by QuickTime 6 a little over a year later. This version was the last to have greater capabilities under Mac OS 9 than under Mac OS X, and the last version of QuickTime to support Mac OS versions 7.5.5 through 8.5.1 on a PowerPC Mac and Windows 95.  Version 5.0 was initially only released for Mac OS and Mac OS X on April 14, 2001, and version 5.0.1 followed shortly thereafter on April 23, 2001, supporting the classic Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Windows.<ref>{{cite web | title=Timeline of QuickTime Updates at the Apple Museum | url=http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=41 | access-date=January 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111130002506/http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=41 |archive-date=November 30, 2011 }}</ref> Three more updates to QuickTime 5 (versions 5.0.2, 5.0.4, and 5.0.5) were released over its short lifespan.

QuickTime 5 delivered the following enhancements:<ref>{{cite web|title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime 5&nbsp;– Summary of Changes and Enhancements |url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/WhatsNewQT5/QT5NewChapt1/chapter_1_section_5.html |access-date=January 6, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031105172110/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/quicktime/WhatsNewQT5/QT5NewChapt1/chapter_1_section_5.html |archive-date=November 5, 2003 }}</ref>
* MPEG-1 playback for Windows, and updated MPEG-1 Layer 3 audio support for all systems.
* Sorenson Video 3 playback and export<ref>Apple (October 10, 2000) [https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2000/oct/10qt5.html Apple Releases QuickTime 5 and QuickTime Streaming Server 3 Public Previews] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919205725/http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2000/oct/10qt5.html |date=September 19, 2010 }}, retrieved on August 9, 2009</ref> (added with the 5.0.2 update).<ref>Sorenson Media (July 2, 2001) [http://www.sorensonmedia.com/news/?n=239 Sorenson Media Announces the Availability of Sorenson Video 3 Exclusively for QuickTime], retrieved on August 9, 2009</ref>
* Realtime rendering of effects & transitions in DV files, including enhancements to DV rendering, multiprocessor support, and Altivec enhancements for [[PowerPC G4]] systems.
* [[Adobe Flash|Flash]] 4 playback and export.
* A new QuickTime VR engine, adding support for cubic VR panoramas.

=== QuickTime 6.x ===
On July 15, 2002, Apple released QuickTime 6.0, providing the following features:<ref>{{cite web|title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime 6&nbsp;– Summary of Changes and Enhancements |url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/QT6WhatsNew/Chap1/chapter_1_section_6.html |access-date=January 8, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031105170543/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/quicktime/QT6WhatsNew/Chap1/chapter_1_section_6.html |archive-date=November 5, 2003 }}</ref>

* [[MPEG-4]] playback, import, and export, including [[MPEG-4 Part 2]] video and [[Advanced Audio Coding|AAC Audio]].
* Support for Flash 5, [[JPEG 2000]], and improved [[Exif]] handling.
* Instant-on streaming playback.
* MPEG-2 playback (via the purchase of Apple's MPEG-2 Playback Component).
* Scriptable [[ActiveX]] control.

QuickTime 6 was initially available for Mac OS 8.6&nbsp;– 9.x, Mac OS X (10.1.5 minimum), and Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP. Development of QuickTime 6 for Mac OS slowed considerably in early 2003, after the release of [[Mac OS X v10.2]] in August 2002. QuickTime 6 for Mac OS continued on the 6.0.x path, eventually stopping with version 6.0.3.<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime 6.0.3 for Mac OS 8.6/9 | url=https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime603formac.html | access-date=January 4, 2007}}</ref>

QuickTime 6.1 & 6.1.1 for [[Mac OS X v10.1]] and Mac OS X v10.2 (released October 22, 2002)<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime: About the QuickTime 6.1.1 Update | url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61776 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> and QuickTime 6.1 for Windows (released March 31, 2003)<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime for Windows: About the QuickTime 6.1 Update | url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=42997 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> offered [[ISO standard|ISO]]-Compliant MPEG-4 file creation and fixed the [https://web.archive.org/web/20060323141000/http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/vulnwatch/2003-q1/0166.html CAN-2003-0168] vulnerability.

Apple released QuickTime 6.2 exclusively for Mac OS X on April 29, 2003, to provide support for iTunes 4, which allowed AAC encoding for songs in the iTunes library.<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime: About the QuickTime 6.2 Update | url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93052 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref> (iTunes was not available for Windows until October 2003.)

On June 3, 2003, Apple released QuickTime 6.3, delivering the following:<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime: About QuickTime 6.3 | url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93137 | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>

* Support for [[3GPP]], including [[3G]] Text, video, and audio (AAC and [[Adaptive Multi-Rate|AMR]] codecs).
* Support for the .3gp, .amr, and .sdv file formats via separate component.

QuickTime 6.4, released on October 16, 2003, for Mac OS X v10.2, [[Mac OS X v10.3]], and Windows, added the following:<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– What's New in QuickTime 6.4 For Mac OS X | url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/WhatsNewQT6_4/index.html | access-date=January 8, 2007}}</ref>

* Addition of the Apple [[Pixlet]] codec (only for Mac OS X v10.3 and later).
* [[ColorSync]] support.
* Integrated [[3GPP]].

On December 18, 2003, Apple released QuickTime 6.5, supporting the same systems as version 6.4. Versions 6.5.1 and 6.5.2 followed on April 28, 2004, and October 27, 2004. These versions would be the last to support Windows 98 and Me. The 6.5 family added the following features:<ref>{{cite web |title = Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– What's New in QuickTime 6.5 For Mac OS X|url = https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/WhatsNewQT6_5/index.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40000965|access-date = January 8, 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080223212024/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/WhatsNewQT6_5/Chap1/chapter_1_section_1.html|archive-date = 2008-02-23|url-status = dead}}</ref>

* [[3GP]]P2 and AMC mobile multimedia formats.
* [[QCELP]] voice code.
* Apple Lossless (in version 6.5.1<ref>{{Cite web|title = QuickTime 6.5.1 adds Lossless Encoder, improves AAC|url = http://www.neowin.net/news/quicktime-651-adds-lossless-encoder-improves-aac|website = Neowin|access-date = 2016-01-24|date = 2004-04-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title = QuickTime 6.5.1 adds Lossless Encoder, improves AAC|url = http://www.macworld.com/article/1031552/quicktime.html|website = [[Macworld]]|access-date = 2016-01-24|date = 2004-04-28}}</ref>).

QuickTime 6.5.3 was released on October 12, 2005, for Mac OS X v10.2.8 after the release of QuickTime 7.0, fixing a number of security issues.

=== QuickTime 7.x ===
[[File:QuickTime 7.6.6 for Windows.png|thumb|QuickTime Player 7.6.6 playing ''[[Big Buck Bunny]]'' running on [[Microsoft Windows]]]]
Initially released on April 29, 2005, in conjunction with [[Mac OS X v10.4]] (for version 10.3.9 and 10.4.x), QuickTime 7.0 featured the following:<ref>{{cite web | title=ArsTechnica&nbsp;– Video in Tiger | url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/2005/04/28/macosx-10-4/16/ | access-date=May 5, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime 7 Update Guide | url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/Conceptual/QT7UpdateGuide/index.html | access-date=January 9, 2007}}</ref>

* Improved MPEG-4 compliance.
* A [[H.264/MPEG-4 AVC]] codec (does not support the [[AVCHD]] H.264 AVC format from Sony HD camcorders).
* Support for ''[[Core Audio]]'', a set of [[Application programming interface]]s that supports high resolution sound and replaces [[Sound Manager]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Apple&nbsp;– Developer&nbsp;– QuickTime 7 Audio Enhancements |url=https://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/Conceptual/QT7UpdateGuide/Chapter02/chapter_2_section_6.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001163-CH313-718813 |access-date=January 9, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706155450/http://developer.apple.com/documentation/QuickTime/Conceptual/QT7UpdateGuide/Chapter02/chapter_2_section_6.html |archive-date=July 6, 2008 }}</ref>
* Support for using [[Core Image]] filters in Mac OS X v10.4 on live video (Not to be confused with [[Core Video]]).
* Support for [[Quartz Composer]] (.qtz) animations.
* Support for distinct decode order and display order.
* ''QuickTime Kit Framework'' (''QTKit''), a [[Cocoa (API)|Cocoa]] framework for QuickTime.
After a couple of preview Windows releases,<ref>{{cite web | title= Apple Unveils Preview Release of QuickTime 7 for Windows | url= https://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06quicktime.html | access-date= June 1, 2007 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070319123416/http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jun/06quicktime.html | archive-date= March 19, 2007 | url-status= dead | df= mdy-all }}</ref> Apple released 7.0.2 as the first stable release on September 7, 2005, for [[Windows 2000]] and [[Windows XP]]. Version 7.0.4, released on January 10, 2006, was the first [[universal binary]] version. But it suffered numerous bugs, including a [[buffer overrun]], which is more problematic to most users.

Apple dropped support for Windows 2000 with the release of QuickTime 7.2 on July 11, 2007.<ref>{{cite web | title=Apple&nbsp;– QuickTime&nbsp;– Download&nbsp;– QuickTime Version Availability | url=https://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/version.html | access-date=July 16, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070525103601/http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/version.html |archive-date = May 25, 2007}}</ref> The last version available for Windows 2000, 7.1.6, contains numerous security vulnerabilities.<ref>{{cite web | title= Apple Releases Security Updates for QuickTime | url= http://www.uscert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA07-193A.html | access-date= July 16, 2007 | url-status= dead | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070830011856/http://www.uscert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA07-193A.html | archive-date= August 30, 2007 | df= mdy-all }}</ref> References to this version have been removed from the QuickTime site, but it can be downloaded from Apple's support section.<ref>[https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime716forwindows.html Apple&nbsp;– Support&nbsp;– Downloads&nbsp;– QuickTime 7.1.6 for Windows<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Apple has not indicated that they will be providing any further security updates for older versions. QuickTime 7.2 is the first version for Windows Vista.

Apple dropped support for Flash content in QuickTime 7.3, breaking content that relied on Flash for interactivity, or animation tracks. Security concerns seem to be part of the decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307176|title=About the security content of QuickTime 7.3.1|date=December 13, 2007|access-date=April 10, 2008|publisher=Apple|archive-date=March 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080311142419/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307176|url-status=dead}}</ref> Flash flv files can still be played in QuickTime if the free [[Perian]] plugin is added.

In QuickTime 7.3, a [[Central processing unit|processor]] that supports [[Streaming SIMD Extensions|SSE]] is required. QuickTime 7.4 does not require SSE. Unlike versions 7.2 and 7.3, QuickTime 7.4 cannot be installed on Windows XP without service packs or with Service Pack 1/1A installed (its setup program checks if Service Pack 2 is installed).

QuickTime 7.5 was released on June 10, 2008.<ref>{{cite web|title=Apple releases QuickTime 7.5 for Mac and Windows|url=http://macdailynews.com/2008/06/10/apple_releases_quicktime_75_for_mac_and_windows/|website=MacDailyNews|date=June 10, 2008|access-date=June 13, 2017}}</ref> QuickTime 7.5.5 was released on September 9, 2008,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apple Releases QuickTime 7.5.5|url=https://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/09/apple-releases-quicktime-7-5-5/|access-date=2020-11-08|website=MacRumors|date=September 9, 2008 |language=en}}</ref> which requires Mac OS X v10.4 or higher, dropping 10.3 support. QuickTime 7.6 was released on January 21, 2009.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apple - Support - Downloads|url=https://support.apple.com/en_GB/downloads/quicktime|access-date=2020-11-08|website=support.apple.com}}</ref> QuickTime 7.7 was released on August 3, 2011.<ref>{{Cite web|title=QuickTime 7.7 released for Mac OS X Leopard and Windows|url=https://www.engadget.com/2011-08-03-quicktime-7-7-released-for-mac-os-x-leopard-and-windows.html|access-date=2020-11-08|website=Engadget|date=August 4, 2011 |language=en}}</ref>

QuickTime 7.6.6 is available for OS X, 10.6.3 Snow Leopard until 10.14 Mojave, as 10.15 Catalina will only support 64-bit applications.<ref name="7.7.3" /> There is a 7.7 release of QuickTime 7 for OS X, but it is only for Leopard 10.5.<ref name="QuickTime 7.7">{{cite web|url=http://support.apple.com/kb/DL761 |title=QuickTime 7.7 for Leopard |access-date=August 15, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108010313/https://support.apple.com/kb/dl761 |archive-date=January 8, 2015 }}</ref>

QuickTime 7.7.6 is the last release for Windows XP Service Pack 2 or 3.

QuickTime 7.7.9 is the last Windows release of QuickTime. Apple stopped supporting QuickTime on Windows afterwards.<ref name="Windows" />

Safari 12, released on September 17, 2018, for macOS Sierra and macOS High Sierra (and the default browser included on macOS Mojave released on September 24, 2018), which drops support for NPAPI plug-ins (except for Adobe Flash) dropped its support for QuickTime 7's web plugin. On September 24, 2018, Apple dropped support for the macOS version of QuickTime 7. This effectively marked the end of the technology in Apple's codec and web development.

Starting with macOS Catalina, QuickTime 7 applications, image, audio and video codecs will no longer be compatible with macOS or supported by Apple.

=== QuickTime X ===
QuickTime X (pronounced ''QuickTime Ten'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/06/12/wwdc-2008-new-in-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/|title=WWDC 2008: New in Mac OS X Snow Leopard|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=October 17, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081017052319/http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/06/12/wwdc-2008-new-in-mac-os-x-snow-leopard/|url-status=dead}}</ref> was initially demonstrated at [[WWDC]] on June 8, 2009, and shipped with [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|Mac OS X v10.6]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/08/quicktime-x-leaps-forward-in-snow-leopard/|title=QuickTime X leaps forward in Snow Leopard|author=Victor Agreda Jr.|work=Engadget|access-date=August 15, 2015|archive-date=January 31, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150131141531/http://www.tuaw.com/2009/06/08/quicktime-x-leaps-forward-in-snow-leopard/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

It includes visual chapters,<ref>thumbnail images for chapters instead of only text</ref> conversion, sharing to YouTube, video editing,<ref>trimming through a frame-based timeline akin to iMovie's</ref> capture of video and audio streams, screen recording,<ref>allowing basic screencasting built-in</ref> GPU acceleration, and live streaming.<ref>[https://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/enhancements-refinements.html#quicktime OSX Leopard enhancements: QuickTime X] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140820232918/https://www.apple.com/macosx/refinements/enhancements-refinements.html#quicktime |date=August 20, 2014 }}</ref>

But it removed support for various widely used formats, in particular the omission of MIDI caused significant inconvenience and trouble to many musicians and their potential audiences.<ref>{{cite web | title=No MIDI Instruments in Quicktime X | url=http://www.sibelius.com/cgi-bin/helpcenter/chat/chat.pl?com=thread&start=460345&groupid=3&&guest=1#460345 | access-date=April 7, 2014}}</ref>

In addition, a screen recorder is featured which records whatever is on the screen. However it is not possible to capture certain [[Digital rights management]] protected content. This includes iTunes/Apple TV video purchases, or any content protected by Apple's [[FairPlay]] DRM technology. While Safari uses FairPlay, [[Google Chrome]] and [[Firefox]] use [[Widevine]] for DRM, whose content is not protected from QuickTime screen capturing.

The reason for the jump in numbering from 7 to 10 (X) was to indicate a similar break with the previous versions of the product that Mac OS X indicated. QuickTime X is fundamentally different from previous versions, in that it is provided as a Cocoa (Objective-C) framework and breaks compatibility with the previous QuickTime 7 C-based APIs that were previously used. QuickTime X was completely rewritten to implement modern audio video codecs in 64-bit. QuickTime X is a combination of two technologies: QuickTime Kit Framework (QTKit) and QuickTime X Player. QTKit is used by QuickTime player to display media. QuickTime X does not implement all of the functionality of the previous QuickTime as well as some of the codecs. When QuickTime X attempts to operate with a 32-bit codec or perform an operation not supported by QuickTime X, it will start a 32-bit helper process to perform the requested operation. The website ''[[Ars Technica]]'' revealed that QuickTime X uses QuickTime 7.x via QTKit to run older codecs that have not made the transition to 64-bit.<ref>{{cite web | title=Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review QuickTime X | date=September 2009 | url=https://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars/6 | access-date=September 29, 2009}}</ref>

QuickTime X does not support .SRT subtitle files.<ref>{{cite web | title=QuickTime X can't use .srt files | url=https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/44406/quicktime-x-cant-use-srt-files?rq=1 |work=Ask Different| access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref> It has been suggested using the program Subler to interleave the MP4 and SRT files will fix this oversight, which can be downloaded at [[Bitbucket]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Subler Downloads | url=https://bitbucket.org/galad87/subler/downloads|work=Bitbucket.org |access-date=August 8, 2019}}</ref>

QuickTime 7 may still be required to support older formats on Snow Leopard such as QTVR, interactive QuickTime movies, and MIDI files. In such cases, a compatible version of QuickTime 7 is included on Snow Leopard installation disc and may be installed side-by-side with QuickTime X. Users who have a Pro license for QuickTime 7 can then activate their license.<ref>{{cite web
  |url         = http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3678
  |title       = Installing QuickTime Player 7 on Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard
  |publisher   = Apple
  |work        = Apple Support
  |access-date = May 14, 2010
  |date        = May 6, 2010
}}</ref>

A Snow Leopard compatible version of QuickTime 7 may also be downloaded from Apple Support website.<ref>{{cite web
  |url         = http://support.apple.com/kb/DL923
  |title       = QuickTime Player 7.6.6 for Mac OS X v10.6.3
  |publisher   = Apple
  |work        = Apple Support
  |access-date = May 14, 2010
  |date        = May 10, 2010
}}</ref>

The software got an increment with the release of Mavericks, and as of August 2018, the current version is v10.5. It contains more sharing options (email, [[YouTube]], [[Facebook]], [[Flickr]] etc.), more export options (including web export in multiple sizes, and export for iPhone 4/iPad/Apple TV (but not Apple TV 2). It also includes a new way of fast forwarding through a video and mouse support for scrolling.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201066|title=How to use QuickTime Player|work=Apple Support|access-date=2018-05-26|language=en-US}}</ref>

Starting with macOS Catalina, Apple only provides QuickTime X, as QuickTime 7 was never updated to 64-bit, affecting many applications, image, audio, and video formats utilizing QuickTime 7, and compatibility with these codecs in QuickTime X.

=== Platform support ===
{| class ="wikitable"
|+ Macintosh
|-
! OS
! Latest version
|-
| [[System 6.0.7]] – [[System 7.0.1|7.0.1]]
| 2.5<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtmac.html |title=Download QuickTime for Macintosh |access-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219141552/http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtmac.html |archive-date=December 19, 1996 }}</ref>
|-
| [[System 7.1]] – [[Mac OS 8|8.1]] on [[68K]]
| 4.0.3<ref name="QuickTime 4.0.3">{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1124|title=QuickTime 4.0.3 for Mac: Information and Download|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[System 7.1.2]] – [[System 7.5.3|7.5.3]] on PowerPC
| 4.0.3<ref name="QuickTime 4.0.3"/>
|-
| [[System 7.5.5]] – [[Mac OS 8|8.5.1]] on PowerPC
| 5.0.5<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1158|title=QuickTime 5 for Mac OS: Information and Download|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS 8|Mac OS 8.6]] – [[Mac OS 9|9]]
| 6.0.3<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL510|title=QuickTime 6.0.3 for Mac|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS X v10.0]]
| 5.0 <small>(bundled)</small>
|-
| [[Mac OS X v10.1]]
| 6.3.1<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL587|title=QuickTime 6.3.1 for Mac|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS X v10.2]]
| 6.5.3<ref>[https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime653formac.html QuickTime 6.5.3] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080808170154/https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime653formac.html |date=August 8, 2008 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS X Panther|Mac OS X v10.3]]
| 7.5<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL54 |title=QuickTime 7.5 for Panther |access-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110619202300/http://support.apple.com/kb/DL54 |archive-date=June 19, 2011 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS X Tiger|Mac OS X v10.4]]
| 7.6.4<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL838|title=QuickTime 7.6.4 for Tiger|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mac OS X Leopard|Mac OS X v10.5]]
| 7.7<ref name="QuickTime 7.7"/>
|-
| [[Mac OS X Snow Leopard|Mac OS X v10.6]]
| 10.0<ref>[https://www.apple.com/macosx/technology/#quicktimex QuickTime X] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527233434/https://www.apple.com/macosx/technology/#quicktimex |date=May 27, 2011 }}</ref> / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3">{{cite web|url=http://support.apple.com/kb/DL923|title=QuickTime Player 7 for Mac OS X v10.6.3 or later|access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[Mac OS X Lion|Mac OS X v10.7]]
| 10.1<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.anandtech.com/show/4485/back-to-the-mac-os-x-107-lion-review/19|title=Safari, iChat, TextEdit, Preview, QuickTime X - Back to the Mac: OS X 10.7 Lion Review|author1=Andrew Cunningham |author2=Kristian Vättö |author3=Anand Lal Shimpi |access-date=August 15, 2015}}</ref> / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[OS X Mountain Lion|OS X v10.8]]
| 10.2{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[OS X Mavericks|OS X v10.9]]
| 10.3{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[OS X Yosemite|OS X v10.10]]
| 10.4{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[OS X El Capitan|OS X v10.11]]
| 10.4 (855){{citation needed|date=October 2014}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[MacOS Sierra|macOS v10.12]]
| 10.4{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[MacOS High Sierra|macOS v10.13]]
| 10.4{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[MacOS Mojave|macOS v10.14]]
| 10.5{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} / 7.6.6<ref name="7.7.3" /> {{small|(optional)}}
|-
| [[MacOS Catalina|macOS v10.15]]
| 10.5{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
|-
| [[MacOS Big Sur|macOS v11.0]]
| 10.5{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
|-
| [[MacOS Monterey|macOS v12.0]]
| 10.5{{citation needed|date=August 2018}}
|-
|[[MacOS Ventura|macOS v13.0]]
|10.5
|-
|[[MacOS Sonoma|macOS v14.0]]
|10.5
|}

{| class ="wikitable"
|+ Microsoft Windows
|-
! OS
! Latest version
|-
| [[Windows 3.1]] – [[Windows NT 3.51]]
| 2.1.2<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtwin.html |title=Download QuickTime for Windows 3.1 |access-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219141558/http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtwin.html |archive-date=December 19, 1996 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtwin32.html |title=Download QuickTime for Windows 95/NT |access-date=April 14, 2016 |url-status=unfit |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961219141613/http://quicktime.apple.com/sw/qtwin32.html |archive-date=December 19, 1996 }}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows 95]]
| 5.0.5<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1160|title=QuickTime 5 for Windows : Information and Download|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows NT 4.0]]
| 6.1<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1197|title=QuickTime 6.1 installer for Windows: Information and Download|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows 98]], [[Windows ME|ME]]
| 6.5.2<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL443|title=QuickTime 6.5.2 for Windows|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows 2000]]
| 7.1.6<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL260|title=QuickTime 7.1.6 for Windows|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows XP]] RTM, SP1
| 7.3.1
|-
| [[Windows XP]] SP2, SP3
| 7.7.6<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL1822|title=QuickTime 7.7.6 for Windows|access-date=April 14, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| [[Windows Vista]] and [[Windows 7]]
| 7.7.9<ref>{{cite web|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL837|title=Apple - QuickTime - Download|access-date=August 25, 2015}}</ref>
|}

== Creating software that uses QuickTime ==

=== QuickTime X ===
{{expand section|date=March 2013}}

QuickTime X previously provided the QTKit Framework on Mac OS 10.6 until 10.14.<ref>{{cite web
  |url = https://developer.apple.com/quicktime/qtkit.html
  |title = Using the QTKit Framework
  |work = Developer Connection
  |publisher = Apple
  |date = September 18, 2008
  |access-date = May 14, 2010}}
</ref>
Since the release of macOS 10.15, AVKit and AVFoundation are used instead (due to the removal of 32-bit audio and video codecs, as well as image formats and APIs supported by QuickTime 7).

=== Previous versions ===
QuickTime consists of two major subsystems: the '''Movie Toolbox''' and the '''Image Compression Manager'''. The Movie Toolbox consists of a general API for handling time-based data, while the Image Compression Manager provides services for dealing with compressed [[Raster graphics|raster]] data as produced by video and photo codecs.

Developers can use the QuickTime software development kit ([[Software development kit|SDK]]) to develop multimedia applications for Mac or Windows with the [[C (programming language)|C programming language]] or with the Java programming language (see [[QuickTime for Java]]), or, under Windows, using [[Component Object Model|COM]]/[[Activex|ActiveX]] from a language supporting this.

The COM/ActiveX option was introduced as part of QuickTime 7 for Windows and is intended for programmers who want to build standalone Windows applications using high-level QuickTime movie playback and control with some import, export, and editing capabilities. This is considerably easier than mastering the original QuickTime C API.<ref>{{cite web | title= Scripting the QuickTime COM/ActiveX object for Windows Developers.| url=https://developer.apple.com/quicktime/activexcontrol.html}}</ref>

QuickTime 7 for Mac introduced the QuickTime Kit (aka QTKit), a developer framework that is intended to replace previous APIs for Cocoa developers. This framework is for Mac only, and exists as [[Objective-C]] abstractions around a subset of the C interface. Mac OS X v10.5 extends QTKit to full 64-bit support. The QTKit allows multiplexing between QuickTime X and QuickTime 7 behind the scenes so that the user need not worry about which version of QuickTime they need to use.

== Bugs and vulnerabilities ==
QuickTime 7.4 was found to disable [[Adobe Systems|Adobe]]'s video compositing program, [[Adobe After Effects|After Effects]].<ref>{{cite web
 | title      = Beware of the new QuickTime 7.4
 | url        = http://www.videocopilot.net/blog/?p=130
 | last       = Kramer
 | first      = Andrew
 | date       = January 18, 2008
 | access-date = May 14, 2010
 | publisher  = Video Copilot
}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine
 | title      = QuickTime 7.4 breaks After Effects and Premiere
 | url        = http://www.macworld.com/article/131809/article.html
 | date       = January 25, 2008
 | last       = Dalrymple
 | first      = Jim
 | magazine  = [[Macworld]]
 | access-date = May 14, 2010
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
 | title      = Don't update to QuickTime 7.4
 | url        = http://blogs.adobe.com/keyframes/2008/01/dont_update_to_quicktime_74.html
 | date       = January 21, 2009
 | last       = Coleman
 | first       = Michael
 | publisher  = Adobe Systems Incorporated
 | access-date = May 14, 2010
}}</ref> This was due to the [[Digital rights management|DRM]] built into version 7.4 since it allowed movie rentals from iTunes. QuickTime 7.4.1 resolved this issue.<ref>{{cite magazine | title= QuickTime 7.4.1 fixes After Effects problem| url=http://www.macworld.com/article/131990/2008/02/quicktime.html|magazine=[[Macworld]]}}</ref>

Versions 4.0 through 7.3 contained a buffer overflow bug which could compromise the security of a PC using either the QuickTime Streaming Media client, or the QuickTime player itself.<ref>{{cite web | title= Apple QuickTime RTSP Content-Type header stack buffer overflow.| url=http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/659761 | access-date=December 6, 2007}}</ref> The bug was fixed in version 7.3.1.

QuickTime 7.5.5 and earlier are known to have a list of significant vulnerabilities that allow a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (out-of-bounds memory access and application crash) on a targeted system. The list includes six types of buffer overflow,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1244 | title=CVE-2014-1244 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=[[National Institute of Standards and Technology]] | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=[[Gaithersburg, Maryland]] | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1246 | title=CVE-2014-1246 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1247 | title=CVE-2014-1247 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1248 | title=CVE-2014-1248 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1249 | title=CVE-2014-1249 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1251 | title=CVE-2014-1251 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref> data conversion,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1250 | title=CVE-2014-1250 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref> signed vs. unsigned integer mismatch,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1245 | title=CVE-2014-1245 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref> and uninitialized memory pointer.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://web.nvd.nist.gov/view/vuln/detail?vulnId=CVE-2014-1243 | title=CVE-2014-1243 Detail | date=February 26, 2014 | publisher=National Institute of Standards and Technology | work=National Vulnerability Database | location=Gaithersburg, Maryland | access-date=June 30, 2018 }}</ref>

QuickTime 7.6 has been found to disable Mac users' ability to play certain games, such as ''[[Civilization IV]]'' and ''[[The Sims 2]]''. There are fixes available from the publisher, [[Aspyr]].<ref>{{cite web|title=QuickTime 7.6 Fixes |url=http://support.aspyr.com/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&root=239target= |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304114157/http://support.aspyr.com/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&root=239target= |archive-date=March 4, 2009 }}</ref>

QuickTime 7 lacks support for H.264 Sample Aspect Ratio.<ref>{{cite web|title=Using MEncoder to create QuickTime-compatible files|url=http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/menc-feat-quicktime-7.html}}</ref> QuickTime X does not have this limitation,{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} but many Apple products (such as [[Apple TV]]) still use the older QuickTime 7 engine. [[iTunes]] previously utilized QuickTime 7, but as of October 2019, iTunes no longer utilizes the older QuickTime 7 engine.<ref>{{cite web |title=Download QuickTime 7.7.9 for Windows |url=https://support.apple.com/kb/DL837 |website=Apple }}</ref>

QuickTime 7.7.x on Windows fails to encode H.264 on multi-core systems with more than approximately 20 threads, e.g. HP Z820 with 2× 8-core CPUs. A suggested solution{{By whom|date=April 2016}} is to disable hyper-threading/limit CPU cores. Encoding speed and stability depends on the scaling of the player window.{{Citation needed|date=April 2016}}

On April 14, 2016, Christopher Budd of [[Trend Micro]] announced that Apple has ceased all security patching of QuickTime for Windows, and called attention to two Zero Day Initiative advisories, ZDI-16-241<ref>{{cite web | url=http://zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-16-241/ | title=(0Day) Apple QuickTime moov Atom Heap Corruption Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | date=April 14, 2016 | website=Zero Day Initiative | series=Advisories | publisher=[[TippingPoint]] | access-date=April 14, 2016 }}</ref> and ZDI-16-242,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-16-242/ | title=(0Day) Apple QuickTime Atom Processing Heap Corruption Remote Code Execution Vulnerability | date=April 14, 2016 | website=Zero Day Initiative | series=Advisories | publisher=TippingPoint | access-date=April 14, 2016 }}</ref> issued by Trend Micro's subsidiary [[TippingPoint]] on that same day.<ref name=TrendMicro /> Also on that same day, the [[United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team]] issued alert TA16-105A, encapsulating Budd's announcement and the Zero Day Initiative advisories.<ref name=US-CERT /> Apple responded with a statement that QuickTime 7 for Windows is no longer supported by Apple.<ref name="Windows" />

==See also==
* [[AVFoundation]]
* [[Comparison of audio player software]]
* [[Comparison of video player software]]
* [[Perian]]
* [[Qtch]]
* [[QuickTime Alternative]]
* [[QuickTime Broadcaster]]
* [[QuickTime File Format]]
* [[QuickTime Streaming Server]]
* [[Darwin Streaming Server]]
* [[Windows Media Components for QuickTime]]
* [[Xiph QuickTime Components]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite book |last=Ferncase |first=Richard K. |url= |title=QuickTime for Filmmakers |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-240-80496-5 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Monroe |first=Tim |url= |title=QuickTime Toolkit Volume One: Basic Movie Playback and Media Types |date=2004-07-09 |publisher=Morgan Kaufmann |isbn=978-0-08-054017-7 |pages=xv |language=en}}

== External links ==
* [https://support.apple.com/quicktime QuickTime Reference]
* [https://support.apple.com/downloads/quicktime All versions of QuickTime]
* [https://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/QuickTime/RM/Fundamentals/QTOverview/QTOverview_AIntro/Introduction.html Introduction To QuickTime Overview]

{{Apple Inc.}}
{{Apple software}}
{{Classic Mac OS}}
{{macOS}}
{{Media player (application software)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:QuickTime}}
[[Category:QuickTime| ]]
[[Category:1991 software]]
[[Category:Graphics software]]
[[Category:MacOS APIs]]
[[Category:Image viewers]]
[[Category:Macintosh media players]]
[[Category:MacOS media players]]
[[Category:Multimedia frameworks]]
[[Category:Software development kits|QTKit Framework]]
[[Category:Windows media players]]