Can’t Play .3gp, .3g2, or .asf in QuickTime? Convert to MP4 on Mac

Old phone videos often use video or audio formats that the current Mac players do not support. A file that will not open in QuickTime Player is not necessarily damaged.

Retro Mobile Video Vault plays files your Mac can already play, and stores them in its library. Files your Mac cannot play are converted to H.264 and AAC in an MP4, then played.

Players such as VLC play many formats in place. Retro Mobile Video Vault is not a general-purpose player.

For .3gp, .3g2, .asf, and similar files that the Mac cannot play with its built-in apps, it saves an H.264 and AAC MP4 in its library and plays that copy on your Mac. Nothing is uploaded. An exported MP4 can be opened in QuickTime or moved to an iPhone.

Playing a file in VLC is separate from keeping an MP4 copy. This app does not play every format VLC can play.

Yes. The app has no permission to use the network. Conversion and playback stay on your Mac. Videos are not sent to our servers or to a conversion website.

Files your Mac cannot play are converted to MP4 and saved in the library. Files it can already play are copied into the library without changing the format.

.asf, .wmv, and .wma files are accepted for import. A matching extension does not guarantee success. The codec inside the file, or damage to the file, can still prevent conversion or playback.

The app accepts these extensions: .3gp, .3g2, .3ga, .amr, .asf, .wmv, .wma, .mp4, .m4v, .m4a, .mov, .qt, .avi, .mpg, .mpeg, .mpe, .mkv, .webm, .ogv, .ogg, .opus, .flac, .flv, .ts, .m2ts, .mts, .vob, .mp3, .aac, .wav, .aiff, .aif, .aifc, .caf, and .ac3.

Audio-only files are accepted when the extension is in that list. Files that the Mac identifies as video or audio are also accepted. Pictures (JPEG, PNG, HEIC, and similar) and folders are not.

A listed extension can still fail when the file is damaged or uses an unusual codec.

The folder itself is not imported. Open the folder and select the video files, or drop the files onto the window. If files that are not media are included, the app skips them and tells you how many were skipped.

The app requires a Mac with Apple Silicon (M1 or later). It does not run on Intel Macs. There is no Windows version and no iPhone version.

To watch a video on iPhone, export it from the library and move that file to the iPhone. Videos created by conversion are MP4 files.

macOS 15.0 or later, on a Mac with Apple Silicon.

It is a one-time purchase on the U.S. Mac App Store for $5.99. There is no monthly fee, no in-app purchase, and no advertising.

No. The app copies the file you chose, then plays or converts that copy. The file on your SD card or in the original folder stays where it is.

Deleting an item from the library deletes only the copy stored inside the app.

Imported and converted files are stored in an area reserved for the app. They do not appear in your Documents folder. The location is:

~/Library/Containers/com.smartuf.GarakeiVideoVault/Data/Library/Application Support/com.smartuf.GarakeiVideoVault/MediaLibrary/

Video files are in the videos folder there, and the library index is library.json. In Finder, choose Go > Go to Folder and paste that path.

To keep copies for a new Mac or a backup, export them from the library into a folder you choose.

If the original file name (ignoring capitalization) and the file size in bytes both match an item already in the library, the app uses that item and does not convert the file again. Importing that one file again plays the existing item. When a batch contains duplicates, the app reports how many were skipped.

A different file name, or a different file size, is imported as a separate item. Renaming an item in the library does not change this check.

Sometimes. Files your Mac can already play are copied into the library without re-encoding, so the picture does not change.

Files it cannot play are turned into MP4. When the contents are already H.264 and AAC (including video with no audio), if the timestamps are valid, the app packs them into an MP4 without encoding the picture or audio again. That repack also leaves the picture unchanged.

Anything else is re-encoded. The width and height stay the same. Video is H.264 through VideoToolbox at about 2 Mbps, and audio is AAC at 44.1 kHz, stereo, 128 kbps. The app does not enlarge the small frame size of old phone videos.

The app remembers the position when you leave a video and resumes there the next time. If you stopped within the last 3 seconds, the next playback starts at the beginning. The library marks a partly watched video with “Partway”.

With continuous play on, videos play from top to bottom and stop after the last one. You can drag to reorder them, and you can rename them.

Export copies the library file to a folder you choose and does not re-encode it. If the name is already taken, the copy is named like “Name (2)”. You can export several selected items at once.

While a video is playing, the space bar toggles play and pause. The space bar does nothing while you are typing, or while a confirmation is on screen.

A damaged file, or a codec the app cannot handle, fails to convert. That file is not added to the library, and the unfinished conversion file is removed. Your original file remains. The message names the file that failed.