Previously known as XBMC, Kodi is one of the oldest applications that allows you to turn your computer into a multimedia center where you can play your videos, music files or photos.
Kodi has earned the loyalty of hundreds of thousands of users around the world thanks to its ability to play any multimedia content, both video with different types of formats as well as images and with the possibility of adding multiple accessories, it also has the possibility of showing the weather, as well as installing some programs, video games and more.
What is Kodi?
Kodi is an application with which you can turn your computer into a multimedia center in which to play all kinds of content with a clean and clear interface. It is the successor of the mythical XBMC application (XBox Media Center), which in 2014 announced that it was going to change its name and was simply called Kodi.
Its origins date back to 2002, when XBMC appeared to take advantage of the first XBox game consoles that had managed to “root” or unlock themselves. With this application on the console you could play the multimedia files from your locan storage, something that also ended up being able to be done on computers with the jump from the application to the PC.
One of the great strengths of Kodi is that its code is free (under the GNU / GPL license), so all Internet users can access its source code and manipulate it to adapt it to any operating system or device on which it is used. Thanks to that, Kodi has versions for both Windows and GNU / Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, Raspberry Pi and practically for any other you need.
Another of its main characteristics is that it is a totally modular application that you can adapt to your needs. Not only because it has themes to change its interface, but because it also has a system of add-ons with which to add different types of functionalities that fit your wishes.
These add-ons allow you, for example, to be able to watch different television channels on Kodi over the Internet , show weather predictions, or connect to services such as Plex, SoundCloud or YouTube.
What devices Kodi works on
As mentioned above, it was initially released under the name Xbox Media Player / Center (XBMC) and was designed to work on the Xbox. However, today the famous player works on almost all systems, Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, Android, iOS ,…. Of course, as we have already mentioned, having Kodi on iOS is somewhat more complicated than on other systems.
But the thing does not stop there, since it is possible to make Kodi work on certain streaming devices such as Amazon Fire TV itself and the Raspberry Pi 3 , we can even find certain external projects that have been developed to be able to use Kodi on video consoles like the Xbox 360, Xbox One , the latest PlayStation or even the Wii .
What is special about kodi?
Kodi provide users with a set of features and characteristics that make it really special compared to other platforms on the market. Some of these features are listed below:
Add-ons
This is one of the most important concepts in Kodi since addons are the essence of Kodi and here we will try to focus a little more on explaining how it works.
Addons can take various forms depending on the content they provide, the most popular are video add-ons that allow users to watch TV channels, series, movies, documentaries, cartoons with just a few clicks. The addons are generously shared by developers on the Internet, mostly for free. For the addons to work in optimal conditions, they must be updated frequently by the developer, so it may happen that from one moment to another the addon stops working
Multi platform
Being open source, some developers have found a way to run it on an endless number of devices, the most popular ones being Windows, Linux, Mac OS, Android, iOS, TV OS (Apple TV), Smart TV (depending on brand and model) , Amazon Fire, Raspberry Pi and in the different HTPC devices (Home Teather PC)
Skins
The skins are used to change the appearance of Kodi, such as changing the font style, the arrangement of the menus, creating shortcuts, background images, among many other things, all to be able to give your own customization to your environment on Kodi.
The same program has a large catalog of skins to choose from, even if you do research, you can create your own, to your liking, or install one that someone else has created.
Multilanguage
Kodi is such a large project that it has an impact worldwide, which has support for most languages, fortunately there are many people from around the world creating content and sharing their work to bring us all kinds of content in many languages, and offer addons with TV channels, movies and series where we also have the option to add subtitles.
Customizable settings
Kodi has a wide variety of settings, which include settings for each type of content, from the type of video output, to the audio channels, hardware, subtitles, images, image aspect, etc.
We also have the option to control it remotely, mirror, view the weather forecast, manage different profiles for multiple users, among many other things.
Find out : How to Restore Factory Settings on Kodi
The ability to create playlists
Kodi offers the ability to create content lists, such as putting in favorites the channels that we like the m
ost, as well as movies and series, even selecting a movie to watch later, without having to save it on the hard drive.
We can also configure our own M3U lists, although that is a bit more advanced, later we will explain how it works and how to configure them.
PVR and Live TV
Kodi allows you to watch and record live TV all from the graphical user interface. It works with a number of popular backends (server-side configurations) , including MediaPortal, MythTV, NextPVR, Tvheadend, VDR, Windows Media Center, and many more.
Remote controls
With the support of hundreds of remote controls, Kodi can work with CEC-compatible televisions (a device to control Kodi from the TV remote control) or you can manage it from an application for mobile and tablet compatible with different operating systems.
Steps to follow to install Kodi
Install Kodi on PC
First of all, we must know that to install Kodi on our PC we must check if our equipment meets the minimum requirements to be able to install the multimedia player regardless of the operating system we have.
If everything is correct, then the next thing we have to do is download Kodi from the official website of the tool in the version compatible with our system and proceed with its installation. In the case that we are Windows users, it is important to know that we can also go to the Microsoft Store to download the player.
Once downloaded, we double-click on the executable that has been saved on our computer and begin the installation process, through which the wizard itself will guide us. The first thing we have to do is accept the terms of use of Kodi and once this is done, select the components that we want to install.
Next, we can choose the path where we want the player to be installed on our computer and if we want to create a shortcut to the tool. The Kodi installation process will automatically begin and in a few minutes we will have it installed and ready to start using it. The installation process is similar in any environment, since all we have to do is follow the steps requested by the wizard itself and finally, let it carry out the process automatically.
Install Kodi on mobile
There are many who use the mobile to watch movies or series while they are waiting or going on public transport, hence Kodi is one of the most downloaded apps on the different platforms.
Installing Kodi on Android is a really simple process, since it is installed like any other app. To do this, all we have to do is go to the official Google store, look for the media player app and click on the Install button. We wait for the process to finish and we will already have Kodi installed on our smartphone. We can also install the player through the APK that we can download from the official website of the tool.
If you want to install Kodi on iPhone, things get complicated, since you will need to have a jailbroken iDevice that runs iOS 6.0 or higher (8.0 or higher recommended).
Basic configuration
When you start Kodi for the first time, you should take a couple of things into account: the first is that you will not have any content, and the second is that it will be in English. Both things are easily fixed. Also remember that Kodi runs in full screen .
To have Kodi in tour own language, simply click on the System Settings icon
When the menu with the different system options that you can adjust is presented, click on Interface settings:
The next thing is to enter the Regional option that appears in the menu on the left,
And when you see the Language option on the right side, click on it to change to your favorite language .
Once you have chosen a new language the interface will change automatically, you do not have to restart the program. You can also take advantage of that same screen and change the type of regional format.
Add content to Kodi
At first your collection will be empty, so you will have to Enter Files section to add a source folder from where Kodi will search for movies, music, series, etc, to add to your multimedia center.
Depending on the type of content, simply choose an option from the list on the right. We will choose Videos for this example. The next thing is to click on Files and once in the list of files, click on Add videos …
Then you have to add a video source , that is, the folder or location from where Kodi will seek to index your content. You can click on Search , and start browsing your disk until you find the folder where you have the videos and choose it.
You can also choose a name for the content source and press OK to proceed to the next set content .
In this part you have several options, such as defining whether it is series, movies or video clips, as well as choosing an information provider, that is, the one that gives you the names, the description and the covers in the multimedia center .
When you are ready press OK and Kodi will start indexing.
Then you can add more video sources by following the same steps . Now when you go to the section you will see the indexed videos appear in the list.
This same process is the same to create your library of images, music, series, video clips, etc.
This is the basic and essential configuration of Kodi, but it is only a first step to get started . We have left out the topic of add-ons, but here is another article in which we explain how you can install both official and third party Add-ons to maximize your multimedia center experience.
