Kodi – an idiots guide ?

My business partner has just bought some sort of ‘Kodi’ box for his TV which is appearing to play just about every TV / Sport / Film package there is all for free! I’m sure it can’t be legal but what exactly are these devices / software and how are they getting their feeds ?

It’s basically a TV box, generally with an Android operating system. Kodi is the app. You download a repository (basically a shop like google play. Within that are “add-ons” which are like little apps like Netflix where you can click on links to media – live tv or recorded shows.
Whilst I don’t think it’s illegal as most of the laws apply to broadcasters rather than individuals but morally it’s pretty wrong as you’re getting something that you haven’t paid for.

Currently not illegal to stream content…pretty sure they’ll close that loophole at some point though.

It’s a full blown media centre. So as well as all the streaming stuff, you can use it for music, photos etc.
I use a Raspberry Pi running it. Connected to our big TV and hifi amp. The screensaver does a slideshow of our photos while I can play music from it, either from local content, content on another networked PC or YouTube etc.

It’s a nice hoof in the slats for Mr Murdoch, which is why I love it.

Kodi all we watch now, Sky subscription long gone.

sorry to hijack, but i’m technologically clueless about this stuff as well. so do you need to buy a piece of hardware that you plug into your tv then or is it something you down load to your lap top and run to the tv from there?

As far as I know an Amazon stick can actually run the software.

Kodi is software, it can run on Laptop’s, ATV, Amazon Stick, Pi’s & loads more things.

I find the quality of films/TV series quite poor and live TV is terrible.

You have a few options.

You can download the app to your phone, laptop or tablet and watch on those (or cast it to your TV if you have a Chromecast).

You can buy an Amazon firestick and side load Kodi on to that.

You can buy a TV box with it on.

interesting. Used to be xBox media centre

https://kodi.tv/the-piracy-box-sellers-and-youtube-promoters-are-killing-kodi/

Edit: too slow 🙂

not illegal. morally a grey area, perhaps, but the software and the devices it runs on are 100% legit. you’re streaming from sites hosting content that isn’t particularly legal, but via VPNs/proxies that constantly change to circumvent ISPs blocking the host IPs, and in the EU nobody has ever been prosecuted for streaming (as long as you don’t download content, you’re not doing anything outside of the law basically).
i find that the quality of both streamed films/TV and live TV feeds can be variable, but i’ve never had trouble finding high quality amongst the dozens of streams of each particular thing i’ve wanted to watch.
i have an android TV box, plus kodi running on two nexus tablets and my nexus 5 phone too.
i’ve never had a paid TV sub from any provider, nor would i ever get one- if Kodi didn’t exist, I just wouldn’t watch stuff unless it came on freeview channels. with that in mind, i’ve made my peace with my own streaming activity!

“BEAST” install if relativly idiot proof as well 🙂

Exodus app/repo is where its at especially for tv shows, apparently.

Which Addon is best for live sports feeds? Looking for the live formula1 on sunday

Which Addon is best for live sports feeds? Looking for the live formula1 on sunday

Ukturks is pretty good for sports

Phoenix is good generally for films, TV and some sport.
Njm soccer for HD footy although it can buffer quite a bit.
Money sports for ufc etc.
Sports access is good too but that’s a paid account and needs a password and username.
The wookie build is good as is beast and ares wizard.
Google and follow the seo-michael.co.uk guides for install.

Overall, it can be fiddly and annoying sometimes but worthwhile for the content. I’m working my way through the Sopranos via Phoenix add-on at the moment.

Not a fan of KODI. I use Plex, and paid a one off fee to have some libraries shared with me.

its day and night compared to KODI.

Best thing to do is buy a firestick (good product in its own right) and then go to youtube and search kodi firestick, you’ll get a walkthrough vid to install it.

Showbox is amazing for films and shows on Android and pc. It wont work on Apple unless it’s jailbroken apparently.

Plus one for showbox.good content regularly updated and you can stream or download if you want.

Hateful eight was excellent……

Would kodi work directly on a Samsung smart tv or does it need an external device like a firestick?

Thanks

You need an external device.

If you tv runs Android then you can install Kodi on it, if not you’ll need the Firestick.

Can you get Russian TV on these things?

Just got a Firestick on Saturday nad installed Kodi and ‘The Beast’ build no problems, took about 2 hours following guides on internet (and Im not really very good at these things)
seems good so far, watched the GP live and started on Season 2 of Better Call Saul last night
GP picture was not HD standard but still very good and only buffered twice
Tales some exploring and navigating round though to find stuff in all the different streams
The Firestick is worth it even without Kodi on, so much better than my old Chromecast

Operation Robocop is a great app for football. It has BT Sport and Sky sports links in it.

If i sideload kodi etc on a firestick would this work abroad or would it still fall foul of the geolocation?

Is a Samsung smart tv android? I’m an idiot!

No they’re not they use Linux but that can be used with Kodi too. Not that I’ve tried.

I’m sure once upon a time I would have been all over Kodi but now my moral compass steers me further and further away from stuff like this, regardless of the current legality. Moreover, how do you lot even watch a fraction of all this free content? I pay for Netflix and there’s enough on there to keep me entertained for years!

Moreover, how do you lot even watch a fraction of all this free content? I pay for Netflix and there’s enough on there to keep me entertained for years!

My guess is in the same way you find time to watch Netflix.

But don’t you spend half your free time browsing for something to watch out of the vast choice, or do you already know what you want to watch and use Kodi to find it?

Scratch that, my point was really about the morality of this, but I fear I’m in sparse company on this thread 😀

Pretty much you have an idea what you want to watch. You know a bit like watching Netflix.

I tend to “browse” to be honest. If I’ve an hour spare in an evening and want to watch some telly, first port of call is flick through the EPG (which doesn’t take long as I’m on “Freeview Lite”) and then I might browse Netflix. If I happen across something I think I’d like to watch I save it for another day. As a result my “to watch” list is huge and I’m not sure how I’ll get through it. If I had even more choice I’d be a gibbering wreck. Trust me I’ve already had evenings where I’ve got so fed up flicking through the vast choice that I’ve just turned off and read a book instead 😆

Kodi works exactly the same then. 😀

Morally I’d prefer another option. When it comes to music I buy loads and don’t freeload anything. But on the video front the options for legal streaming are a mess and the process of getting to watch things I want to watch is so much harder than it needs to be. Shows that are available on legal platforms can disappear without much warning, films come and go, some are available on Netflix, some on Amazon, some aren’t on either. TV shows are available in bits and pieces, Amazon have shows that have a season or two available as part of the prime membership, other seasons of the same show are only available to buy individually and still other seasons aren’t available at all.

Not a fan of KODI. I use Plex, and paid a one off fee to have some libraries shared with me.
its day and night compared to KODI.

Plex is based on Kodi (formerly xbmc). A developer left and took the source code and developed Plex. It is essentially a cut down version of Kodi but is not as powerful. The difference you experience is more likely due to the fact you are paying for your streaming service.

I use it to watch games that aren’t actually screened in this country so I’m not actually doing anyone out of money