Web Archive Player

Web archives represent probably one of the best ways to store or preserve web pages for a certain period for future reference. Usually saved with the help of WARC and ARC formats, web archives have the primary benefit that you can browse their contents in offline mode.

With its fairly self-explanatory name, Web Archive Player is a simple, cross-platform piece of software that provides you with a quick and uncomplicated method of viewing web archives. In a few words, the utility enables you to work with one or multiple web archives currently stored on your computer's hard-drive.

You can start working with Web Archive Player right off the bat, as it does not involve any kind of installation process. This said, the app's workflow is quite straightforward, with you only having to launch the application and load the web archives with the help of the pop-up dialog window.

Subsequent to the step above, you are greeted by the app's plain, stripped-down main window that displays information about the utility's current version and the address for the Archive Player Server. Simply copy the address (http:\\localhost:8090) to your computer's clipboard and use it within any modern web browser.

From this point onwards, you will be working mainly with the help of the web browser. You are met by a similarly minimalist user-interface as before. The browser should display the location of the archives you are currently replaying and a list of all the HTML pages found within the archive.

For your convenience, Web Archive Player provides you with the possibility to search the archives using the exact URL or, at least, the domain prefix.

To conclude, Web Archive Player provides you with a quick and hassle-free method of viewing WARC and ARC web archives on your computer. It is true that the application does not feature a built-in browser and therefore, you need to rely on the one installed on your computer, but this is not a deal-breaker since it actually makes the app very resource efficient.

The best part about this utility is the fact that it is very easy to use, without requiring any kind of configuration on your part.