When you’re looking to modify your entertainment experience, most users look for open-source media solutions. And this is simply because open-source media is made freely available for a variety of reasons, specifically for modification and redistribution.
In recent years, the rise in streaming services has opened up a virtual playground for users who want to build their entertainment experience on the web or on desktop devices. And unless you’re still plugged into a cable outlet, you’ve probably used a streaming service such as Netflix or Amazon Prime.
Formerly known as XBMC, Kodi is an open-source media center available for free. And this app allows you to access streaming services, play movies, watch TV, play games, and perform other functions on a variety of devices.
But what exactly does Kodi offer, and how do you use it? If you’re looking to enhance your entertainment experience, the following will provide you with a brief overview of Kodi.
How Exactly Does Kodi Work?
One thing you’ll need to know about Kodi is that it doesn’t offer any content. You’ll have to supply your own content, side-load or configure the Kodi app to access third-party services. But with the numerous online and video tutorials, you can easily access content across multiple channels.
Kodi works by connecting all of your media sources into one convenient location. In fact, this entertainment hub is designed around a 10-foot interface, and this allows you to use Kodi with remote control devices.
Currently as of 2022, Kodi can be installed on OSX, Windows, Linux, Android, iOS, and tvOS. And with supporting configuration, you can easily modify Kodi to work for you in whatever capacity you’ll enjoy the most.
What Does Kodi Offer?
As mentioned, Kodi can provide you with a central entertainment hub for all of your online media, and for stored media files as well. But there’s so much more that Kodi offers.
You can consider Kodi as the center for software choices, and this not only includes offering the ability to organize your media content, but to place you in control of all your media options without having to switch remotes or go through multiple apps and files.
For example, with Kodi you can play all of your music including MP3, WAV, Flac and WMA formats. This also includes the ability to build playlists and cue sheets, as well as offering tag reading support to easily bring in new music.
Further, Kodi allows you to record live TV through a variety of portals including MythTV, NextPVR, MediaPortal and many others.
Additionally, Kodi also offers the following media services:
- Skins for changing interface appearance
- Add-ons, applications and scripts
- Multiple remote control web-interface and web-browser compatibility
- Photo album imports
- Games and emulators
The key takeaway is that Kodi is not just a media center for TV only. In fact, just about any digital media can be connected to Kodi and stored in one central hub.
Updates
Just as your smart TV updates itself from time to time, so does Kodi. And with all of the content that you’re able to load into a Kodi media center, having the ability to update in real-time is a worthy feature for any entertainment experience.
Usually referred to as “add-ons,” Kodi offers an enormous catalogue of extras, added bonuses, and other components that will automatically update once installed.
Some popular add-ons include the access of over 30,000 different radio broadcasts, podcasts in just about every genre, listener supported radio, logos and artwork for a variety of media players, and many other options.
The future of streaming lives in our ability to organize and effectively create entertainment hibs that we’re all able to conveniently access at any time. And this is what makes Kodi so popular with media lovers. Because the ability to control your media experience is here. And with Kodi, you’ll have all of your media right where you need it.
