Your Kodi media center plays video and music from your hard drive, but what else is it capable of? We took a deep dive and discovered 10 fascinating ways to make your Kodi media center even better. Here are some awesome tips for Kodi fans everywhere.
Whether you've installed Kodi on an HTPC (Home Theater PC), a Raspberry Pi, an Android device, or some other piece of hardware that can connect to your TV, chances are you're not taking full advantage of this amazing media center software. .
Kodi is great for playing videos from your collection of MP4 files; maybe you're enjoying some home videos or burned DVDs that are usually stored on a hard drive (hard drive) or NAS (network attached storage), or you use it to pipe the music in your living room. Kodi (formerly known as XBMC) is also adept at displaying its image libraries.
But did you know you can also use it to watch YouTube, watch live TV, or listen to podcasts? Kodi is capable of much more than its designers imagined, as the following list demonstrates...
Recent versions of Kodi (or perhaps device-specific versions) may come with YouTube pre-installed. Whether yours has it or not, if you're using a typical Kodi/XBMC remote app, there likely won't be a keyboard option. This can make the search a bit tricky.
While this is a general problem unless you connect a Bluetooth keyboard (or, if you like, a USB keyboard), you can use your mobile device to cast YouTube videos, Chromecast-style, to your Kodi box. Desktop browser plugins also provide this functionality.
Previously, we produced an excellent tutorial detailing how to watch YouTube on Kodi How to Instantly Send Any YouTube Video to Your TV Using XBMC How to Instantly Send Any YouTube Video to Your TV Using XBMC Instantly Send Any YouTube Video to Your TV. It's perfect for YouTube parties or when you want to comfortably watch a video from your couch. Everything you need to make living room dreams come true... Read More Seriously, you can't have Kodi without YouTube!
Like El Dorado for cord cutters, watching live TV on your computer without paying a cable company a dime is a huge boon, and one that can save you a lot of money. As long as you keep it legal, right?
You have several options here, from standard Live TV streaming How to Stream Live TV to your XBMC How to Stream Live TV to your XBMC Watch live TV streaming from your XBMC media center, without a cable subscription. Here are some plugins worth checking out. Read More Free, no charge using your PC. It's perfectly legal, and a free Windows program called NextPVR makes the process (relatively) simple. Read more.
However, if you don't want a personal video recorder (PVR), you can use various Kodi addons to watch TV shows. Watch TV shows on XBMC with these addons. Watch TV shows on XBMC with these addons. you like TV Then you love XBMC too, even if you don't know it yet. The latest media center software offers a wide variety of ways for you to catch up with your favorite... Read More
If you're not already familiar with Pushbullet, the incredibly versatile device bridging service, you should fix it immediately. While Pushbullet is most commonly used to send data from your PC to your phone and vice versa, it also has a very useful role in helping you get the most out of your Kodi media center.
So how does it work? Well, let's say you're browsing the web on your phone or PC and you see a video, image, or audio clip that you want to watch on your TV through Kodi. All you need to do is right-click or long-press on the content, and use the “Push This To Kodi” menu item to view it on the big screen. But it doesn't end there..
Pushbullet and Kodi can be used in other ways as well. You might, for example, like to see phone notifications on your TV or even automatically pause the movie you're watching when your phone rings.
Our dedicated guide to using Pushbullet and Kodi together make Kodi work for you with a little help from Pushbullet Make Kodi work for you with a little help from Pushbullet Send video links to Pushbullet and they will automatically play in Kodi. If you have been looking for a Kodi Chromecast alternative, here it is. Reading more will show you how to do this.
If you're into video podcasts (no one says "videocast" these days) or standard audio podcasts, you've most likely wondered if your Kodi box can be used to subscribe to and download your favorite weekly shows.
Well, it turns out it can, and better yet, you can do it without relying on a plugin! Our detailed guide to adding one or more podcast sources to Kodi How to add your podcast sources to your XBMC Media Center How to add your podcast sources to your XBMC Media Center Get access to your favorite podcasts, videos or audio, using XBMC. You don't need any plugins to listen to the podcasts, but the method of doing so isn't entirely obvious, and the official documentation isn't exactly... Read More
However, if you want to use a plugin, the Apple iTunes Podcasts plugin gives you access to all the podcasts in iTunes. And there are plenty of podcasts available on iTunes, some good, some bad.
UK readers (and anyone abroad who hides their location with a VPN) might be interested in watching BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) TV. This can be done on Kodi using the official BBC iPlayer, packaged as an addon.
However, remember that BBC content is paid for by a compulsory TV license in the UK, so viewing iPlayer content without paying the license fee is currently a legal gray area. We leave it to your conscience..
If you ever wanted to view your Facebook photos or share videos on Facebook or Twitter while watching them, then you need one of the many social addons for Kodi.
Facebook Media can be used to view your Facebook photos on TV and is still maintained. Our previous guide to Social TV with Kodi Make TV More Social With These XBMC Addons Make TV More Social With These XBMC Addons Who says watching TV is anti-social? Plugins can bring Facebook photos, Live Tweets and more to your XBMC setup. Read More has more links and ideas you should check out.
If the combination of Pushbullet's device communication sauce with Kodi isn't amazing enough, you can even pull content from Reddit into your Kodi media center.
Reddit addons are available on Kodi and are designed to offer the eclectic collection of videos shared from the very “Internet Front Page” style.
This means that you can find any number of videos on just about any topic you can think of, at least the topics where the videos were previously produced, and enjoy them as they are funneled across the networks to your Kodi box.
Check out our guide to installing a Reddit addon on Kodi Reddit + XBMC =Virtual Crack. Here's how to set it up. Reddit + XBMC =Virtual Crack. Here's how to set it up. Reddit always finds the best videos; XBMC is the best media center. Combine these two things to explore the best videos on the web right now, from your couch. Read more to know more..
Having all of your most important video streaming apps on the same device is important, and while you may find that your TV, Blu-ray player, or game console already has a Netflix app. How To Access Netflix On Almost Every Platform Known To Man How To Access Netflix On Almost Every Platform Known To Man. I do not like horror movies. The classic horror that I can face; I enjoy the psychological horror of Alfred Hitchcock, for example, but I'm not a fan of scares and gore, as a general rule. My wife, in the… Read More
Netflix's first app, known as Flix2Kodi, can be seen in action here:
Please note that various Netflix add-ons have been tried over the years. A couple of others are currently in circulation, but Flix2Kodi seems to be the most reliable, and has the longest development period (it was previously called NetflixBMC until XBMC became known as Kodi).
How do you like to receive your news? Through the newspapers? TV news channels? Perhaps you prefer to read your favorite news sources online. Either way, it's always a prescriptive experience, your news feed is always dictated by an unseen editor, a fact-keeper.
However, thanks to a wide selection of news add-ons for Kodi, you can now enjoy news from a variety of TV and online sources. How to Watch the News Online with XBMC How to Watch the News Online with XBMC Read More and scroll down to gather news on a particular topic or event.
You may have already read our guide to creating an automated news aggregator that plays videos and podcasts How to Create a Linux Auto-Content Internet TV Station How to Create an Auto-Content Internet TV Station Wouldn't it be great to turn on your? Do you have a PC and have you automatically played your favorite newscasts? You could enjoy the first coffee of the day, soaking up your news fix. Sounds complicated? It is not. Read more about the topics that interest you? Now you can incorporate that same idea into your Kodi media center.
Playing video games on your television is not revolutionary, but it is an unusual activity in a media center. However, if you have some controllers connected and configured, you can take advantage of the ROM Collection Browser.
The ROM files - from the games you already own (obviously!) - should be stored in your Kodi device's storage, ready for the ROM Collection browser add-on to browse the files and launch the games at its disposal.
If you've somehow seen everything there is to watch on Netflix, and run out of podcasts to listen to, this is the next logical step for your Kodi box.
These 10 new ways to use your Kodi media center are sure to keep you busy for a while. But have we covered everything? Or is there something we missed? Do you know of any other addons that can further enhance the Kodi experience?
If so, please let us know in the comments below, but avoid illegal streaming and downloading. Because, well, it's illegal..
