Apple has historically blocked people from watching their events unless they are using the Safari browser, but now you can watch them on any operating system.
Update: Apple’s minimum requirements just changed, and now it appears that you can also watch using Chrome or Firefox:
So if you want to watch the Apple event on any browser, just head to the official page for today’s event on any device. We obviously have not tested this yet, so if you end up having problems, keep reading for the rest of the details, and we’ll update the VLC stream URL once the event gets started.
https://www.apple.com/apple-events/september-2018/
You can also simply head to apple.com in your favorite browser, and you’ll be able to watch it like you would any other video on a website. On an Apple TV, download the free “Apple Events” app to stream it. If you are watching it on an Apple device, you can also use AirPlay to mirror your display onto your Apple TV.
So why can’t you stream them elsewhere? Apple’s live events are just normal videos on a web page, right? Not quite: Apple uses a protocol named “HTTP Live Streaming (HLS)“. It works on Apple’s Safari browser and Microsoft’s Edge browser, but it doesn’t work in Google’s Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. There are, however, other ways to watch the video stream.
Windows 10 Users: You Can Always Just Use Microsoft Edge
With the launch of Windows 10, Apple events became a lot easier to stream on Windows. If you’re running Windows 10 and can’t get the Apple event to work in Chrome or Firefox, you can just launch the included Microsoft Edge web browser, head to Apple’s website, and start watching–just like you would in Safari on an Apple platform.
This “just works” because Microsoft Edge supports the HTTPS Live Streaming feature.
Windows 7/8/10, Android, and Linux Users: Grab the Stream with VLC
If you’re running Windows 7 or 8, or if you want to watch it from a phone or tablet running Android, you still can thanks to VLC media player. Some other media players may also work, but we like VLC.
NOTE: Your mileage may vary with this trick. Watching the stream using an official solution will usually work better, though in the past VLC has worked decently well for us.
If you don’t already have VLC installed on your device, download VLC for your computer or VLC for Android.
Launch VLC on your device. On the Windows or Linux version of VLC, click Media > Open Network Stream. On the Android version, tap the menu button and tap “Stream”.
Copy and paste the address of the Apple live stream into the box. Apple uses a different URL for each live event, so you’ll need a different address for each live stream when it rolls around.
WWDC June 4th, 2018:
Here’s the URL for the WWDC Keynote on June 5th, 2017:
Click “Play” and the live event should start playing immediately in VLC, assuming you entered the correct URL for the current event and that Apple is currently live streaming the event. If you try tuning in a bit early, you may see a black screen–but the event should automatically begin playing when the event begins.
Now you can keep up with Apple’s latest news, even if you don’t use their devices.
