As an Android user, when you are looking for a complete media player the first option that comes to mind is kodi. It is the most popular of all media centers thanks to its performance and the huge possibilities it does offer.
The truth is that Kodi has been around for many years running on many platforms including Android.
Many users have come to the conclusion that Kodi is great but not enough for android based devices and they have been looking for some other alternatives with similar features. Fortunately, SPMC, a recently renewed entry into the world of media players, could be exactly what Android users need.
In this article we’ll tell you where SPMC and Kodi come from, what makes them similar, and what sets them apart. We’ll also show you how to install SPMC on your Android device and take a guided tour of its main features.
What are Kodi and SPMC?
Kodi and SPMC (Semper Media Center) are two very similar media player applications. Both can play local content stored on the device itself or in a remote location connected to the network, such as a file or media server. Both can also play streaming content from the Internet with external modules called add-ons that can be downloaded and installed from various sources. Kodi is available on multiple platforms such as Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Raspberry Pi, iOS, Android and some others. SPMC is only available for Android. That’s what makes it so interesting… for an Android user, of course.
How are SPMC and Kodi similar?
The short answer to this question is “Much!”. This makes sense, considering that SPMC was created from Kodi’s source code. In fact, they are so similar that the SPMC home screen has a Kodi logo at the top left. This is a clear indication that much of the SPMC code comes from Kodi.
As you may know, Kodi’s functionality can be greatly enhanced by using add-ons from official sources as well as from a huge third-party Kodi library. Well, SPMC has the same. And that’s what I mean. Add-ons running on Kodi can also run on SPMC. The same add-on repositories can be installed for similar functionality on both platforms.
How do SPMC and Kodi differ?
There is also a short answer to these questions: Very! As similar as they are, they are two different applications. SPMC was developed and released as a pure Android application. It cannot be run on any other platform. The great thing about it is that the developer was able to really optimize the application for the Android platform. In fact, it was developed on the Nvidia Shield and runs particularly well on this platform.
The reduced size of the SPMC code is one of the main differences, albeit invisible. However, this is important because Android devices often have limited resources in memory and processor performance, and the smaller code can be better executed.
SPMC was developed exclusively as an Android app and has also been optimized to make the most of the resources offered by this operating system.
Finally, the most visible differences between Kodi and SPMC have to do with appearance. With many Android devices with a small screen and touch interface, SPMC is optimized for this type of hardware. The home screen (see above) is simpler with fewer options and larger buttons. Apart from the four menu options on the left, there are four buttons: the power button, settings, volume, and favorites at the bottom right.
How to install SPMC
Installing SPMC on your Android device couldn’t be easier. Everything is done via the Google Play Store. It’s almost like installing another app on Android.
So start the Google Play app on your Android device.
In the Google Play Store app, select the search box, enter “SPMC” and start the search.
Install and open the application
If your device doesn’t have the Google Play Store
Not all Android-based devices support the Google Play app. For example, Amazon Fire devices use the Amazon App Store instead of the Google Play Store.
You can still install SPMC via a different process:
SPMC review
After having installed SPMC, let’s see what it looks like and what it’s all about.
The SPMC home screen is clean and elegantly simple. We briefly introduced it when we discussed the differences between Kodi and SPMC. Let’s take a quick look at the different sections.
By the way, have you seen the Kodi logo on the top left of the screen?
It is proof that it is indeed a derivative of Kodi. The background pattern is also a dead giveaway as it is identical to the previous Kodi background.
The first three selections in the main menu: Videos, Music, and Pictures are quite self-explanatory and allow access to the corresponding files, playlists and add-ons. Exactly as expected, under the Program item you will find all installed program add-ons.
On the home screen, the four buttons are also enabled right below.
The first from the left is the power button that you can press to exit SPMC. If you go all the way to the right, clicking the button with the star icon will open your favorites. Just like in Kodi, any content in SPMC can be marked as a favorite and can be accessed by touching this button from the Favorites screen. The button with the speaker icon allows you to adjust the volume of SPMC as expected.
This leaves the gear button that allows you to access the SPMC settings, similar to the gear button at the top left of the Kodi screen. However, the settings menu is very different from Kodi’s.
Although the appearance of the settings screen is very different from that of Kodi, the functionality is roughly the same.
There are sections for appearance, video, music, pictures, weather, live TV, services, and system. And to help you navigate the settings, each button contains a description of each section.
There are also 6 icon buttons at the bottom right of the screen. Unfortunately, the importance of some of them is a little more cryptic. Starting on the far right, the first button is the same Favorites button as on the home screen. Next to it is the back button – the one with the arrow to the left – that you use to return to the previous screen. The button with which “I” displays the system information page. This page contains five subsections with information about the system.
With the next button (see image below), you can access the file manager. Its functionality is exactly the same as Kodi’s, but with a different look.
The last button worth talking about is the one with a puzzle piece on it. It allows you to access the add-on screen. Here you can list your installed add-ons, install new add-ons from a repository or zip file. Browse your add-ons or view your system add-ons.
How about SPMC add-ons?
Well, you’ll be pleased to learn that every Kodi add-on works fine on SPMC. The same applies to repositories. All Kodi repos with their add-ons are compatible with SPMC.
Also, with a few exceptions, differences in the user interface and the position of some things. Any installation process that works with Kodi can be easily adapted to SPMC, as all steps would be exactly the same.
This is no surprise considering that SPMC is really a modified version of Kodi that is optimized for Android and can be used with typical Android input devices.
SPMC is the media player you need for your Android based device. You get all the features that have made Kodi so popular in an application optimized for Android. It is considerably smaller than its Kodi counterpart and still offers all the necessary functions with a full support to the entire Kodi add-on scene.
