Reviewing Kodi | Open Source Home Theater Software

Repository

https://github.com/xbmc

Since the beginning of time, man has always sought out a way to entertain himself. From public shows and dance to circus among others to modern times of radio and television using music and movies. There is always a need to keep spirit, soul and body together and lively. Kodi was built for such a time like this; to make entertainment better.

Introduction

Kodi (formerly XBMC) is a free and open-source media player software application developed by the XBMC Foundation, a non-profit technology consortium. Kodi is available for multiple operating systems and hardware platforms, with a software 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most streaming media, such as videos, music, podcasts, and videos from the Internet, as well as all common digital media files from local and network storage media.
Source

System Requirements and Platform

No matter what operating system or platform you use, you can have access Kodi. Kodi is available in Windows OS, MacOS, Android OS, iOS, tvOS (Apple TV OS), Linux, Xbox ONE and FreeBSD.

If you are on PC and using Windows OS, the minimum OS Kodi can run is Windows Vista. The recommended Windows is Windows 10. In terms of hardware, the latest Kodi installation file v18.1 is about 60 MB

Interface

The Kodi interface is beautiful, simple and straight to the point. The icons are big and easily identifiable, making navigation easy for even a first time. When I installed Kodi, I didn't have to look through any manual to set it up.

You can also download multiple skins online to have a better unique feeling or experience. Under the interface settings, you can also edit the background, font, changing themes, colours, and zoom. These options give you a better flexing and control over your entertainment environment.

For people like me who don't like stress and want things the easy way, you can download a Kodi build. With a build, Kodi’s best add-ons are pre-installed along with Skin settings and more

Price and Alternatives

No matter how good a software is, it must always have alternatives because some people think certain features or settings can be done differently. Kodi is not an exception, among its competitors, some are free while some come with monthly or lifetime fees. Some notable Kodi alternatives include Plex, SPMC, Emby, JRiver, Stremio etc.

• Plex: free and paid ($4.99/month, $39.99/year, $119.99/lifetime)
• SPMC: Free
• Emby: free and Premium ($4.99/month, $54.00/year, $119.00/lifetime)
• JRiver: free Trial; $49.98 Windows license (one-time purchase)
• Stremio: Free

Pros, Cons and Challenges

• Kodi is free of charge, available on lots of devices and platform and easy to install. As I stated before, the process is pretty straightforward.

• Kodi gives you the opportunity to watch almost anything from live TV to different TV shows.

• In terms of security and privacy, it is adviced that users use VPN as they are constantly being monitored by the government with additional threats from hackers.

• Kodi has a community forum where users share their experiences and challenges, it is basically a user support forum. There is not an official channel to submit complaints, so when you have problems with your software just hope you can have someone among the users help you.

Conclusion

The experience using Kodi so far has been good for something that is completely free. Kodi will remain a dominant software in the world for entertainment for a long time to come.

One major challenge is the issue of copyright infringements. This issue varies from country to country and as such some users can find themselves in a tight corner. They might have to use VPN to evade detection from authorities, which is a crime in some countries especially the developed world.