FLV and MOV explained
FLV was the container behind Flash video, which dominated online video until browsers removed Flash support entirely at the end of 2020. Nothing plays FLV natively today.
MOV is Apple's QuickTime container. Structurally it is very close to MP4 — the two share an ancestor — but MOV files often use codecs like ProRes that general-purpose players cannot decode.
- Where FLV files come from
- Video downloaded or archived from the web before roughly 2015.
- Where MOV is used
- iPhone and Mac screen recordings, and professional video editing.