How do MOV and FLVcompare? Here's everything you need to know to choose the right format — and how to convert between them.
QuickTime Movie
MOV is Apple's video format, native to macOS and iOS. iPhones record video in MOV format by default. It supports high quality and professional features but works best within the Apple ecosystem.
Flash Video
FLV was the dominant web video format during the Flash era. While Flash is dead, FLV files still exist in archives and legacy systems. Converting FLV to MP4 is one of the most common conversion needs.
| Specification | MOV | FLV |
|---|---|---|
| Full name | QuickTime Movie | Flash Video |
| Extension | .mov | .flv |
| MIME type | video/quicktime | video/x-flv |
| Category | Video | Video |
| Developer | Apple | Adobe (Macromedia) |
| Year introduced | 1991 | 2003 |
MOV and FLV target different use cases. MOV is ideal for iphone and ipad video recording, while FLV works best for converting old web videos.
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