diff --git a/Model/Import Export Settings/Exporters/AdvancedSettingsGroupExporter.swift b/Model/Import Export Settings/Exporters/AdvancedSettingsGroupExporter.swift
index 89cffad2..ac94a101 100644
--- a/Model/Import Export Settings/Exporters/AdvancedSettingsGroupExporter.swift	
+++ b/Model/Import Export Settings/Exporters/AdvancedSettingsGroupExporter.swift	
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ final class AdvancedSettingsGroupExporter: SettingsGroupExporter {
         [
             "showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu": Defaults[.showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu],
             "videoLoadingRetryCount": Defaults[.videoLoadingRetryCount],
+            "avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats": Defaults[.avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats],
             "showMPVPlaybackStats": Defaults[.showMPVPlaybackStats],
             "mpvEnableLogging": Defaults[.mpvEnableLogging],
             "mpvCacheSecs": Defaults[.mpvCacheSecs],
diff --git a/Model/Import Export Settings/Importers/AdvancedSettingsGroupImporter.swift b/Model/Import Export Settings/Importers/AdvancedSettingsGroupImporter.swift
index 6c22a3f8..467b671c 100644
--- a/Model/Import Export Settings/Importers/AdvancedSettingsGroupImporter.swift	
+++ b/Model/Import Export Settings/Importers/AdvancedSettingsGroupImporter.swift	
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ struct AdvancedSettingsGroupImporter {
             Defaults[.videoLoadingRetryCount] = videoLoadingRetryCount
         }
 
+        if let avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats = json["avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats"].bool {
+            Defaults[.avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats] = avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats
+        }
+
         if let showMPVPlaybackStats = json["showMPVPlaybackStats"].bool {
             Defaults[.showMPVPlaybackStats] = showMPVPlaybackStats
         }
diff --git a/Model/Player/Backends/AVPlayerBackend.swift b/Model/Player/Backends/AVPlayerBackend.swift
index 2b2c1df0..2548ad1c 100644
--- a/Model/Player/Backends/AVPlayerBackend.swift
+++ b/Model/Player/Backends/AVPlayerBackend.swift
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import SwiftUI
 final class AVPlayerBackend: PlayerBackend {
     static let assetKeysToLoad = ["tracks", "playable", "duration"]
 
+    @Default(.avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats) private var allowsNonStreamableFormats
+
     private var logger = Logger(label: "avplayer-backend")
 
     var model: PlayerModel { .shared }
@@ -150,7 +152,30 @@ final class AVPlayerBackend: PlayerBackend {
     }
 
     func canPlay(_ stream: Stream) -> Bool {
-        stream.kind == .hls || stream.kind == .stream
+        // AVPlayer has a fundamental limitation with MP4/AVC1 progressive downloads:
+        // If the moov atom is at the end of the file (common case), it must download
+        // the entire file before playback can start. MPV doesn't have this limitation.
+        // By default, reject non-HLS MP4/AVC1 streams unless user explicitly enables them.
+
+        // Check if this is a non-streamable format (MP4/AVC1) that isn't HLS
+        let isNonStreamableFormat = stream.kind != .hls && (stream.format == .mp4 || stream.format == .avc1)
+
+        if isNonStreamableFormat && !allowsNonStreamableFormats {
+            return false
+        }
+
+        // If non-streamable formats are enabled, allow MP4/AVC1 adaptive streams
+        // but limit to 1080p maximum (higher resolutions can't be played properly)
+        if isNonStreamableFormat && allowsNonStreamableFormats {
+            let maxHeight = 1080
+            if let resolution = stream.resolution, resolution.height > maxHeight {
+                return false
+            }
+            return true
+        }
+
+        // AVPlayer works well with HLS and stream formats
+        return stream.kind == .hls || stream.kind == .stream
     }
 
     func playStream(
@@ -304,12 +329,12 @@ final class AVPlayerBackend: PlayerBackend {
         preservingTime: Bool = false,
         model: PlayerModel
     ) {
+        model.logger.info("loading \(type.rawValue) track")
+
         asset.loadValuesAsynchronously(forKeys: Self.assetKeysToLoad) { [weak self] in
             guard let self else {
                 return
             }
-            model.logger.info("loading \(type.rawValue) track")
-
             let assetTracks = asset.tracks(withMediaType: type)
 
             guard let compositionTrack = self.composition.addMutableTrack(
diff --git a/Shared/Defaults.swift b/Shared/Defaults.swift
index a33ee284..79905aa4 100644
--- a/Shared/Defaults.swift
+++ b/Shared/Defaults.swift
@@ -192,7 +192,8 @@ extension Defaults.Keys {
                     hd1080p60MPVProfile,
                     hd1080pMPVProfile,
                     hd720p60MPVProfile,
-                    hd720pMPVProfile
+                    hd720pMPVProfile,
+                    hd720pAVPlayerProfile
                 ]
 
                 static let batteryCellularProfileDefault = hd720pMPVProfile.id
@@ -208,7 +209,8 @@ extension Defaults.Keys {
                     hd1080pMPVProfile,
                     hd720p60MPVProfile,
                     hd720pMPVProfile,
-                    sd360pMPVProfile
+                    sd360pMPVProfile,
+                    hd720pAVPlayerProfile
                 ]
 
                 static let batteryCellularProfileDefault = sd360pMPVProfile.id
@@ -361,6 +363,7 @@ extension Defaults.Keys {
 
     static let showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu = Key<Bool>("showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu", default: false)
     static let videoLoadingRetryCount = Key<Int>("videoLoadingRetryCount", default: 10)
+    static let avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats = Key<Bool>("avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats", default: false)
 
     static let showMPVPlaybackStats = Key<Bool>("showMPVPlaybackStats", default: false)
     static let mpvEnableLogging = Key<Bool>("mpvEnableLogging", default: false)
diff --git a/Shared/Settings/AdvancedSettings.swift b/Shared/Settings/AdvancedSettings.swift
index 6d67ecb6..c199019d 100644
--- a/Shared/Settings/AdvancedSettings.swift
+++ b/Shared/Settings/AdvancedSettings.swift
@@ -16,10 +16,12 @@ struct AdvancedSettings: View {
     @Default(.feedCacheSize) private var feedCacheSize
     @Default(.showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu) private var showPlayNowInBackendContextMenu
     @Default(.videoLoadingRetryCount) private var videoLoadingRetryCount
+    @Default(.avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats) private var avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats
 
     @State private var filesToShare = [MPVClient.logFile]
     @State private var presentingShareSheet = false
 
+    @ObservedObject private var player = PlayerModel.shared
     private var settings = SettingsModel.shared
 
     var body: some View {
@@ -73,6 +75,10 @@ struct AdvancedSettings: View {
             videoLoadingRetryCountField
         }
 
+        Section(header: SettingsHeader(text: "AVPlayer"), footer: avPlayerNonStreamableFormatsFooter) {
+            avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormatsToggle
+        }
+
         Section(header: SettingsHeader(text: "MPV"), footer: mpvFooter) {
             showMPVPlaybackStatsToggle
             #if !os(tvOS)
@@ -370,6 +376,22 @@ struct AdvancedSettings: View {
         Text(String(format: "Total size: %@".localized(), BaseCacheModel.shared.totalSizeFormatted))
             .foregroundColor(.secondary)
     }
+
+    var avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormatsToggle: some View {
+        Toggle("Enable non-streamable formats (MP4/AVC1)", isOn: $avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats)
+            .onChange(of: avPlayerAllowsNonStreamableFormats) { _ in
+                // Trigger refresh of available streams when setting changes
+                if let video = player.currentVideo {
+                    player.loadAvailableStreams(video)
+                }
+            }
+    }
+
+    @ViewBuilder var avPlayerNonStreamableFormatsFooter: some View {
+        Text("Non-streamable video formats (MP4/AVC1) may take a long time to start playback with AVPlayer. These formats require downloading metadata before playback can begin. Limited to 1080p maximum. For better performance with these formats, use MPV backend instead.")
+            .foregroundColor(.secondary)
+            .fixedSize(horizontal: false, vertical: true)
+    }
 }
 
 struct AdvancedSettings_Previews: PreviewProvider {
diff --git a/Shared/Settings/SettingsView.swift b/Shared/Settings/SettingsView.swift
index c1d0db0c..48801a53 100644
--- a/Shared/Settings/SettingsView.swift
+++ b/Shared/Settings/SettingsView.swift
@@ -360,7 +360,7 @@ struct SettingsView: View {
             case .locations:
                 return 600
             case .advanced:
-                return 630
+                return 700
             case .importExport:
                 return 580
             case .help: