Wondershare UniConverter 15.7.3.564 — Mac version

Home-video archivists and media hoarders will settle into UniConverter quickly. It is a single app that handles conversion, downloads and basic trimming without bouncing between five different tools.

Batch conversion — queue up a folder of clips, pick the same output format for all, and let them run while you get on with something else. Handy for clearing out old camera footage.

Codec library for iMovie and Final Cut — a set of native codecs that sit inside Apple's editing apps. Clips that normally refuse to import suddenly cooperate.

Online video downloader — paste a link from YouTube or a handful of other sites, choose a resolution up to 4K, and pull it straight onto your drive. Useful for grabbing reference footage or a clip you want to sample offline.

2D-to-3D conversion — takes ordinary footage and renders a side-by-side 3D version. More of a curiosity than a daily driver, but fun to try once.

Trimming and cropping — chop the ends off a long recording, or slice away those annoying black bars that appear when old 4:3 footage plays on a widescreen telly.

Format switching is the headline act, but UniConverter packs a few quieter tools that make day-to-day media wrangling less of a chore. You just need to know where they live.

Right-click any file in the queue and choose Open File Location. It sounds trivial, but when you have converted a dozen clips and the output folder you set three cups of tea ago has slipped your mind, that single click saves a dig through Finder.

The Merge button sits in the toolbar but gets overlooked. Drag several clips into the converter, select them, and tap Merge. What you get is one continuous file — no faffing with timeline editors for a simple join. The same toolbar holds Split, which lets you chop a long recording into equal chunks by duration or file size. Properly useful for sending a big lecture recording through email when the attachment limit complains.

If you burn discs, the DVD Burner module has its own quiet trick. Drag a folder of MP4 files onto it and it auto-sequences them into a menu-driven disc, complete with thumbnail buttons. You can edit those menu titles by double-clicking the placeholder text — not exactly shouted about in the interface, but it works.

And for anyone who likes a tidy iTunes library, the Transfer to iTunes checkbox during conversion pulls metadata (artist, album, year) from the source file and pushes it into Apple's library automatically. One less manual tagging session.

Your converted video has no audio because it picked the wrong track

“No audio after conversion.” This one catches people converting MKV files with multiple audio tracks. UniConverter sometimes defaults to a track your playback device does not understand. Before you hit Convert, expand the Audio Track dropdown and pick the first stereo track — usually labelled Track 1 — instead of leaving it on Auto. Problem gone.

“DVD won't load — just spins.” Some shop-bought discs carry copy protection that makes UniConverter stall. The workaround is to let the disc mount in Finder first, wait for it to appear in the sidebar, then point UniConverter at the mounted volume using Load DVD > Browse DVD Folder. It reads the physical disc more reliably that way than via the direct disc-detection routine.

“Hardware acceleration is greyed out.” On older Intel Macs with integrated graphics, the option disappears because Intel Quick Sync is not available. There is no fix — the machine simply lacks the silicon — but conversion still works; it just runs on the CPU and takes a bit longer. An external GPU enclosure does bring acceleration back, but that is a costly solution for a casual conversion.

“Downloader grabs the wrong resolution.” Paste a YouTube link and UniConverter sometimes defaults to 720p even when 1080p or 4K is available. After the link is analysed, click the resolution badge and manually pick the higher tier before adding it to the queue. It remembers your last choice for the session, so you only need to do it once per batch.

“App won't open — unidentified developer.” This happens with the TNT release. Open Terminal, type xattr -cr (with a trailing space), drag the UniConverter app icon into the Terminal window to fill in the path, then hit Enter. Now double-click the app and it will launch. You only have to do it once.

Lossless MKV files won't play on your TV or phone

Choosing Lossless as the output format without checking what the target device actually supports. Lossless MKV files are enormous and most smart TVs, tablets and phones will not play them. Unless you are archiving masters for later editing, stick to the High Quality preset under MP4 — it keeps the file size sane and plays everywhere.

Dragging a whole DVD folder into the converter instead of using the dedicated DVD Converter tab. The general converter sees a pile of VOB files and treats each one as a separate clip, leaving you with a mess of numbered segments instead of a coherent film. The DVD tab stitches them properly.

Leaving the Frame Rate setting on Auto when converting PAL footage (25 fps) alongside NTSC clips (29.97 fps). Auto sometimes guesses wrong and you get jerky pans. Set it manually to match the source — check with QuickTime's Movie Inspector if you are unsure.

Converting a file, deleting the original, then realising the new file is smaller and softer because the Resolution dropdown defaulted to 720p. Always glance at the resolution and bitrate sliders before a big batch; they sometimes reset after switching output formats.

Workflow: digitising a wedding DVD for the family group chat

Old DVDs do not last forever, and most family members no longer own a player. Here is how to get a ceremony disc onto everyone's phone in under an hour.

1. Insert the DVD and let it mount in Finder. If it spins without mounting, eject and try again — older discs can be stubborn.
2. Open UniConverter and click the DVD Converter tab. Click Load DVD, navigate to the mounted disc, and select the VIDEO_TS folder.
3. UniConverter will parse the disc and present a list of titles. The longest title is almost always the main feature. Tick its box and leave the extras unticked.
4. Under Output Format, choose MP4 and pick the Same as source – High Quality preset. This keeps the original frame size and bitrate without blowing up the file.
5. Click the Trim icon next to the title name. Drag the start marker past any blank screen or menu intro, and the end marker to just after the final kiss. This skips the padding that pads out the disc runtime.
6. Set the output folder to your Desktop so the file is easy to find. Click Convert.
7. Once done, right-click the finished file in the queue and choose Open File Location. Rename it from Title_1.mp4 to something sensible like Wedding_Ceremony.mp4.
8. If the file is too large for WhatsApp or Signal, drag it into the Compress module (found in the left sidebar). Choose Target Size, type 100 MB, and convert again. The result is small enough to share without looking like a potato.

The whole process — from disc to shareable clip — takes about the length of a brew and a biscuit. And you still have the original MP4 stored safely for future anniversaries.

• Now compatible back to OS X 10.11
• Runs natively on ARM and 64-bit Intel Macs

• macOS 10.11 or newer
• Apple Silicon or Intel Mac