HLS vs DASH
HLS and DASH are the two main adaptive streaming protocols. HLS (HTTP Live Streaming) was created by Apple and has the widest device support; DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP) is an open standard with more codec flexibility. Both deliver multi-quality video over HTTP.
The practical difference
HLS plays natively on Apple devices and is supported everywhere else through players like hls.js, which makes it the safest default for broad reach. DASH is codec-agnostic and popular in some broadcast and DRM-heavy workflows, but it does not play natively in Safari.
Which to use
For most teams, HLS is the pragmatic choice because it just works across phones, browsers, and TVs. Reelm delivers adaptive HLS by default, played by the open-source <reelm-player>, which uses native HLS on Apple and hls.js everywhere else.
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