Kodi for Android is a multimedia center that has become very popular in recent years. We tell you everything you need to know about this application to use it on Android in a simple way.
Kodi for Android: what is it?
Kodi for Android is a multimedia center, an application to use as hub to access your videos, your music, your images ... It is a free, open source project, available on a large number of platforms. On their website you can find the different versions. Its presence on all devices is one of the keys that have allowed it to become so popular.
Kodi also supports many audio, image, and video formats. Well configured, you can access content found on your PC from your mobile. Together with a great metadata management (titles, covers, artists, groups ...), with Kodi you can have a complete library with a great visual aspect that you can access from any screen.
Is it legal to use Kodi for Android?
Kodi it is legal. It is just one more tool, but it is not a hub for hacking content. The illegal thing, as always, is to reproduce pirated and downloaded content that you do not own. However, doing that depends on each person and from Kodi they do not encourage the consumption of pirated movies or music. Therefore, do not worry about installing and using Kodi, since there will be no problem. If you play pirated content, it will be up to your internet provider to decide whether or not to cut the connection, so the risks are the same as always. Still, calm down. There are many legal services for, for example, watching free classic movies on Kodi.
How do I install Kodi for Android?
In the Play Store you have the plug for the XBMC Foundation, the development team of Kodi for Android. From the Google application store you can get Kodi and with Korean, a remote control for Kodi integrated into your mobile. The Kodi app weighs more than 80 MB, so make sure you have space on your mobile. You can download the two applications from the following links:
Understanding Kodi menus for Android
Installation is the easiest thing to do, but setup will require a few extra steps on your part. It is not too complicated, but it is good to understand each menu. In addition, you will notice that the application shows its interface in vertical format, since it is the most suitable way to consume content.
To access the configuration menus, you must click on the gear at the top left. It will take you to a new screen where you will see all the categories at a glance. We recommend that you first go to interface settings and in Regional change the language to Spanish. It will quickly install the corresponding add-on (we'll talk about this later) and you Kodi It will already be in Spanish.
One last thing before going to each menu is to take into account the gear that appears at the bottom left in each of them. As you press it, you will go from Standard a Advanced and Expert. Each level increases the possible Settings, but in Standard it will be enough for you.
- Player settings: Here you will customize how content playback works. Do you want one video to automatically play after another? Do you want a song to be queued when selected? Do DVDs play automatically? How long is each image displayed? All that, here.
- Content settings: This is the site to see how your local content is displayed. What happens when I press a video? Is the song metadata displayed? And the cover?
- PVR and Live TV settings: These settings are not relevant on Kodi for Android. On other platforms you can record live TV using Kodi.
- Service settings: The place to configure a little more complicated aspects. From the name of the device to the UPnP / DLNA configuration, as well as the operation of the servers you create. You shouldn't mess around here a lot.
- Interface settings: From changing the language to changing the Skin, to deciding whether to use a screensaver or what is the home screen.
- Skin settings: Skins are different themes that you can download and use to change the look of Kodi. Here you can install new skins and determine their behavior (animations, graphics, etc.).
- Profile settings: Your settings as a user. You can add as many profiles as you want if you share the device.
- System settings: How many sound channels do you want? Do you want to use a mouse and keyboard? Configure add-ons? All here.
- System information: If for any reason you want to read the privacy policy, here you have it.
- Event log: Un changelog of everything you are doing.
- File Browser: A traditional file explorer to move and modify what you need. Its main utility lies in not needing to leave the app to access your local content and, for example, move it from one folder to another.
How do I set up Kodi for Android?
When opening the app, you most likely saw the "Your collection is empty" notice. It's time to let Kodi for Android access your files for later playback. Position yourself by sliding on the category on the left that you prefer (Movies, Series, Music ...) and press the button Enter the Files section.
You will now be in File Explorer. The idea is, then, that you look for the folder that contains, for example, your Music. Tap on Add music ... and in the new menu click on Search. You will have to access to the path where your music is and click on Accept once inside. Once done, you can edit the name that that content source will have and then press Ok in the lower area to add it. You will get a notice asking you to confirm the process. Click Yes. The process will be displayed at the top right and, once completed, you will have added the font.
Click on the folder you have added and choose any song. If it plays, congratulations, you've added everything without a hitch. You can continue browsing Kodi for Android while the music is playing. From now on, when you access the main menu, the music category will show the artists, albums, categories ... Everything will be more within reach.
From here, it is to repeat this process in each category of Kodi, indicating where the content to be played is. If some category does not interest you (for example, Video clips), hover over it and use the button Remove this item from the main menu. It will disappear and no longer bother you, allowing you to gain space in the interface. From the Settings you can retrieve the categories if you wish.
Add-ons for Kodi: what they are and how they work
Once all of this is done, you are more or less ready for local video playback without any hassle. Then comes the turn of streaming playback, and this is where add-ons come into play, whose name already gives us a clue of what they are. They are added, pieces that are attached to Kodi for Android to increase its functions. In its most basic format we have the language add-ons, such as the one that is downloaded to use Kodi in Spanish. But they are more than that.
On the main Kodi screen, one of the categories on the left is Add-ons. Get on top of it. You will see several categories and even some applications that you have installed on your mobile. If you click on an application, it will open. What interests us is to click on Add-ons in the menu on the left to start configuring everything.
Place yourself on the new screen on the category you want. In this tutorial we will use the category Video add-ons. Click on Enter the add-on browser. A long list of folders will appear before you, so it is best to be clear about what you are going to look for before arriving here. Keep in mind that some will also have regional blocking, mainly those of television channels.
Look for, for example, the add-on of YouTube. Press it in the list and, in the new screen, press the button Install bottom right. It will return you to the previous list and it will begin to install. You will see the process through notifications at the top right and, once installed, you will see a new tick next to the YouTube name.
Now go back to the main add-ons screen and you will see that the one of YouTube that you just installed. Press it and complete language setup. On the new screen you will see folders that correspond to YouTube categories, one for Login inclusive. If we go to trends, we can press a video to play instantly. Wait a few seconds and you will see how it plays inside Kodi. In the folder Configuration you can choose more options, such as playback quality, play only audio, subtitle settings, auto remove from See Later ...
Seen one, seen all. All add-ons are installed following this method and more or less all will adopt a similar interface. Ideally, you should look for the main streaming services, so that you can play them without problems within Kodi.
Repositories: how to find even more add-ons
By following the steps in the previous category, you've undoubtedly seen that there are a ton of add-ons to choose from, enough to get you lost. But what if you want more? The answer is the repositories. They are collections of add-ons selected by third parties and that do not depend on Kodi. One of the most popular is SuperRepo, and maybe it is the only one you need to install if you want an extra. You can install others, yes, but avoid these Kodi repositories for safety.
Go to the Kodi Settings and enters File Browser. Choose Add font in your internal memory or SD memory and click on on the new screen. Type http://srp.nu and hit Ok. Give it a name SuperRepo on the next screen and press Ok. Go back to the category of Add-ons and click on the icon at the top left, the first one, the one in the shape of an open box. It is the menu of Add-on Explorer.
In the new menu, click on Install from a .zip file and, in the notice, click on Settings. Activate the Unknown origins to enable the installation of third-party add-ons. Press back and press again Install from a .zip file. You will now see a list, including the SuperRepo file. It will appear under the name you give it when you download it from the Explorer. Press it and select the folder for your version of Kodi. When installing the latest version, at the moment it is the folder krypton. Enter and click on repositories and then in superrepo. There is the zip file to install. Select it and press Ok.
When the process is complete, you will get a notice at the top right. Now select in the Add-ons Explorer the option to Install from repository. Choose SuperRepo Repositories and then enter Add-on repository. Choose Super Repo All and install it. Go back to the menu Install from repository and you will see a new folder called Super Repo All where all the add-ons of this repository will be, ready for you to install and use.
How to find the best Kodi add-ons for Android
If on the main screen you go to the category of Add-onsYou will see that this menu has its own categories in the upper area. The last option is to Search, and it is the one that will allow you to easily and directly find the add-ons you are looking for. It is the simplest method if you know what you are looking for. In addition, on its website, Kodi provides selection of legal add-ons organized by categories and is much easier to use. You can also explore the Kodi Wiki by categories.
How to use Kodi with Chromecast
Kodi for Android it falters on one thing: no Chromecast integration. It is the only thing that is missing for streaming our content to be sewing and singing. Still, there are ways to cast content to Chromecast with Kodi:
- Use Google Home: Using the built-in Cast screen and audio to Chromecast option from the Google Home app, you can seamlessly cast content from Kodi. It is not an optimal option, since it depends on the power of your device and will force you to have the screen turned on. However, if you have an old mobile to dedicate only to using Kodi for Android, it is an option to consider.
- Use LocalCast for Chromectas: With this free app from the Play Store you can use a couple of shortcuts to use Kodi with Chromecast. The idea is to download an xml file to paste in the Kodi folder for Android and cause this app to launch at the same time as Kodi, thus integrating it with Chromecast. The best thing is to do it from a computer and connect the mobile by USB. These are the steps:
- Download LocalCast from the Play Store on your mobile.
- Download the file playercorefactory.xml from this link.
- Copy the xml file in the path Android> Data> org.xbmc.kodi> files> .kodi> userdata of your mobile phone.
- Make sure to open the LocalCast app once and test that it works fine.
- The next time you open Kodi and play a file, it should skip LocalCast at the same time. Select your Chromecast and it will start playing on your TV.
Other details of Kodi for Android
- In the home, if you click on the four button on the top left that appears while playing content, the screen will change to a full screen player. If you press once, the screen will go black, something that will allow you to save battery in OLED screens.
- To access the playlist, enter the corresponding category and click on the button. Options bottom left. You will see the option Go to playlist.
- When in doubt, there are many online communities dedicated to add-ons, which are considered the lifeblood of Kodi. For example, this is the reddit community.
- You can add add-ons and content to favorites. So you will have them at your fingertips in the home favorites menu.
- The Kore application comes in handy to use as a Kodi remote control installed on other devices, such as your Android TV.
- PureVPN offers a VPN dedicated to Kodi. It is one of the most popular options on the market.
- We are talking about a product with many options. If you ever "break" something, don't worry, it's easy to restore Kodi to its initial state.
- Although we have not mentioned them much, there are functions for watching TV. For example, you can watch DTT channels with Kodi.
Thank you for your information. Very valuable to me for being new to Box TV and Kodi issues.