11 ms·

Kodi 19.0

99 points by danfritz 6y ago

dchuk 6y ago
Has anyone migrated from Plex to Kodi who can weigh in on whether it was worth it? I have a solid little raspberry PI based home media streaming & download setup, with Plex as the central media app, but I’ve been curious about if kodi is wholesale better in some regards.
- Vaslo 6y ago
  I use both. Plex is better for the less technical members of my family. I burned all my wife’s Workout DVDs and she uses it with ease. For HDR movies I prefer Kodi. My understanding is that plex transcodes from the originating machine where as Kodi will transcode on the machine that receives it - so the HDR films get transcoded on a machine with a graphics card. For some systems they come as simple apps you can just fire up, or you can have the separate apps load up. Not hard to switch between them.
  - oefrha 6y ago
    Transcoding on the receiving end doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re trying to save bandwidth, transcoding on the receiving end is obviously pointless. If you’re transcoding just to play an unplayable codec, well, why not just get a better player that supports the codec? What am I missing?
    - Nullabillity 6y ago
      Kodi doesn't do any transcoding, it's up to the player to support the codec.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- colordrops 6y ago
  I couldn't figure out how to bypass logging into Plex with the latest version, so I dumped it and moved to Jellyfin which is fully open source. It does all I need, including having both Roku and Android apps, and supports DLNA so I can stream to various devices around the house. Don't miss Plex at all.
  - kyriakos 6y ago
    Unfortunately there's no support for Samsung tizen TVs which is keeping me on plex
    - dexterdog 6y ago
      Samsung TVs are so horrible with spyware that it is best to keep them off the network and use an attached device like a Shield or Roku. This is also true with most other "smart TVs"
      - kyriakos 6y ago
        I understand the spyware part but one thing i noticed is that i dont get any ads which a lot of people I saw complaining about online. I think ads are location based and i'm outside their zone.
        dexterdog 6y ago
        Do you have a pihole on your network?
        kyriakos 6y ago
        no but from what I read Samsung uses their own hardcoded DNS on their TVs to bypass DNS filtering
- heyitsme 6y ago
  I have a computer on my network that runs an nfs server and hosts media, then use kodi on nvidia shields (or other computers) to access it. It works extremely well... as in not even a single issue for years now. I should stress that this is at the level of just serving files, as I don't show any metadata associated with the media (as it's mainly personal home movies, etc).
  - forty 6y ago
    How do you authenticate to the nfs server? Did you setup kerberos ? I have always been reluctant to go that path, it felt to complex for my home use case. I generally use ftp instead for this reason, but I guess it's not as efficient.
    - 29083011397778 6y ago
      I share my media on an Ubuntu server via NFS - all I've done is set the shared media library as read-only for the devices it's shared with, and specify the (local, reserved) IP it should be sent to. The only authentication is the fact that it's LAN-only, and being sent to the right (local) IP Kerberos would be far too complex to be warranted here - all that's needed is nfs-kernel-server and /etc/exports on the server side. Granted, my network is reasonably locked-down (MAC address filtering, (reserved) IP addresses available matching the number of devices on the network), but security beyond that has never really crossed my mind.
    - heyitsme 6y ago
      I don't password protect the media files on the nfs server - they are visible password-free from any machine on my local network. Of course if someone has sensitive material and/or the local network is shared, say, then some extra setup is needed. EDIT: another common use-case for me is basically grabbing lots of youtube videos/playlists via youtube-dl, which then lets me watch them on anything and everything than can run kodi commercial-free without jumping through hoops (i.e. browser addons or sideloading third party youtube apps, etc)
- covidthrow 6y ago
  We use Emby Server to maintain watch status sync and various not-Kodi-friendly devices in our house. The TVs use Emby through Kodi because of Kodi's superior interface and processing. Kodi 19/Matrix broke that, however, so now we're just streaming directly from the NAS until it's resolved on Emby's end. While the 2 experiences are nearly identical, we like the per-user/other device stuff that Emby brings in. (As well as outside-the-home streaming when we travel.) If you don't need or care about that stuff, just pulling from a central data store works very nicely in stand-alone Kodi. The Emby and Plex apps are trash compared to Kodi if you care about flexibility/customization.
- v7p1Qbt1im 6y ago
  Been using Kodi since 2017. it‘s running on an nvidia shield with the files being supplied via NFS from a Synology nas. Currently not using an actual media server like emby. It‘s been mostly rock solid. Kodi is more flexible in terms of interface. If you don‘t like plex‘s ui - tough luck. I‘ve actually started using Plex for my highest-end Dolby Vision MKV‘s because Kodi didn‘t support playback yet. Might be different now. Other than that I don‘t see massive differences tbh. Plex is certainly more of a „set it an forget it“ solution. Kodi is certainly a very good option, but if you have more than 1 user you might need some media server setup in addition (emby server, er even server side plex). Edit: just updated on my shield. Does anyone know if Dolby Vision is supported now? Quickly tested it with a compatible movie - didn‘t work. Edit 2: just looked it up. Apparently dual layer mkv is not supported yet. Guess I‘ll keep using Plex for this use case for now.
clircle 6y ago
Kodi is very awesome, but never worked well for me. This bug rendered it unusable. Hope it has been or can be fixed. https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=344992 https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=344992
madaerodog 6y ago
Kodi V19 is going to give dyslexics readers like me shivers :P
faitswulff 6y ago
I just want to stream media from my main computer to my devices. Does Kodi cover this use case?
- stryan 6y ago
  Probably not, Kodi is designed more as a client. I think the classic setup is installing it on a HTPC or Raspberry Pi under the TV and it plays files either locally on it or from a NAS. If you want to stream stuff checkout Jellyfin or Plex. EDIT: To give more context since people are downvoting; yes you can theoretically stream from Kodi using various other apps, but it doesn't do any transcoding by default and isn't a strong choice. Quite frankly, I've also never gotten it to actually work but perhaps that's just me.
  - faitswulff 6y ago
    Thanks!
- Nullabillity 6y ago
  Yes.[0] You just need to share it from your main computer over whatever protocol you prefer, and add it to the Kodi library. If you're talking about streaming from Kodi, both the official web interface and Yatse[1] support that. Yatse will even update the Kodi library metadata based on it. That said, if streaming from Kodi is your primary use-case then Kodi is probably not a good fit. It doesn't really have a headless mode, and it'd be more efficient to just access the file share directly. Universal Media Server might be more up your alley then.[2] [0]: https://kodi.wiki/view/File_sharing https://kodi.wiki/view/File_sharing [1]: https://www.yatse.tv/ https://www.yatse.tv/ [2]: https://www.universalmediaserver.com/ https://www.universalmediaserver.com/
- Blackthorn 6y ago
  Yes, I do it with dlna (upnp).
- nkg 6y ago
  I have tried a few software, but I ended up using nginx with the directive "DirectoryIndex". It allows you to browse a folder from you main computer with a browser, you click some media, streaming starts, nothing fancy. :)
alibert 6y ago
If anyone has free time and is willing to, I think the Kodi team is looking for Android developers as the Android version is unmaintained. https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=360369&pid=3012332#pid3012332 https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=360369&pid=3012332#...
- ur-whale 6y ago
  Why would you want to run Kodi on Android when you can run it on Linux ? Not trying to be snarky, really want to understand.
  - xbmcuser 6y ago
    You can use streaming apps on the same device not so with linux. On Kodi android you can even get 4k hdr netflix with the input steam addon.
  - sosuke 6y ago
    Easy to install and use on several Android TV boxes out there. NVIDIA Shield perhaps?
  - kyriakos 6y ago
    Cause there are hundreds of cheap android TV boxes one can buy which don't run Linux. Also kodi for android runs on amazon's fire sticks and Googles new chromecast (the Google tv one)
  - covidthrow 6y ago
    Many people have Android TV on their TVs, or boxes like Nvidia Shield. While a Raspberry Pi is a pretty simple way to get Linux/Kodi on the TV, getting it to integrate well is a whole other story. (Remotes, CEC, other services like Netflix, etc.) I'm your typical Linux hacker of 20 years, but even I switched from Raspberry Pi to Nvidia Shield a couple years ago because the pain of using and maintaining it is so much lower for an interface that should be as simple as "pick and play".
    - 6y ago
2Gkashmiri 6y ago
it does not have an appimage. does it?
NortySpock 6y ago
I've been enjoying Kodi 18 "Leia" as both a NAS video client for the TV and as a game system emulator. Multiplayer arcade games from the early nineties have been especially well received when we have company over... Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles work great as 2-3 player brawlers. Raspberry Pi 3 is great for the sprite-based graphics but basically can't keep up with 3D graphics; no big deal though as long as you respect that limitation. I'll keep an eye on Kodi 19 Matrix and see if I spot a compelling reason to update.
hermitcrab 6y ago
Kodi is great. But each time I have upgraded it some things have improved and somethings have stopped working. Currently the guide doesn't show which items are being recorded and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop series record. But I am too scared to upgrade in case it breaks everything!
- covidthrow 6y ago
  Check the Kodi wiki for the plugins you use. Chances are most don't work in the new version and you'll be left with everything you're used to broken.
whalesalad 6y ago
Do people use this kind of software for anything other than piracy? Serious question.
- kyriakos 6y ago
  There are legit uses but I must admit piracy is the main one. On the other hand some activities are legal depending where you live.
- aidenn0 6y ago
  I use it via libreElec for my set top box. I have ripped my entire Blu-ray collection to mkv, and also watch disney plus and Netflix on it.
- Mediterraneo10 6y ago
  Kodi is a media center for playing whatever media you already have, even if it is your own rips or your own purchased downloads. Kodi was already a popular application for years before someone decided to sell prepackaged devices running Kodi that included a third-party pirate-streaming plugin.
  - kyriakos 6y ago
    Even if you don't use any plugins for streaming pirated content a lot of people use it as a player for downloaded torrents or streaming from seedboxes.
  - dogma1138 6y ago
    I’ve used kodi since it was XBMC, “backups” was always its main focus, the amount of content available as a DRM free download is extremely limited and if we are realistic the amount of people that do their own rips form movies they own can probably fit in a movie theatre. Kodi never went full on popcorn time but it’s pretty useless for anything but a large and quite likely pirated media collection.
    - forty 6y ago
tweetle_beetle 6y ago
Does anyone have a good overview of how the plug-in community is transitioning to Python 3 overall? I've only noticed one I regularly offer a new version ahead in anticipation of v19 and even that was fairly recently.
BuckRogers 6y ago
I've been using Kodi since 2007, my NAS is a USB 3.0 HDD plugged into an Asus router. Its been great and more independent than Plex. I won't be updating to v19 anytime soon though. Us FireTV users have been manually updating for ages, so its finally paying off now. Given from this thread I've learned that v19 on Android has no maintainer, and addons are broken, that double whammy means I'd recommend waiting until 18.9 or its addons stop working correctly. Sounds like for Shield users, the best option is to sideload the F-Droid apk to avoid having the same signature as the Play store version, to avoid having to disable all updates. Not much else to do, just yet another project that's a casualty of Python 3.

99 points by danfritz 6y ago

Has anyone migrated from Plex to Kodi who can weigh in on whether it was worth it? I have a solid little raspberry PI based home media streaming & download setup, with Plex as the central media app, but I’ve been curious about if kodi is wholesale better in some regards.

Vaslo 6y ago
I use both. Plex is better for the less technical members of my family. I burned all my wife’s Workout DVDs and she uses it with ease. For HDR movies I prefer Kodi. My understanding is that plex transcodes from the originating machine where as Kodi will transcode on the machine that receives it - so the HDR films get transcoded on a machine with a graphics card. For some systems they come as simple apps you can just fire up, or you can have the separate apps load up. Not hard to switch between them.
- oefrha 6y ago
  Transcoding on the receiving end doesn’t make sense to me. If you’re trying to save bandwidth, transcoding on the receiving end is obviously pointless. If you’re transcoding just to play an unplayable codec, well, why not just get a better player that supports the codec? What am I missing?
  - Nullabillity 6y ago
    Kodi doesn't do any transcoding, it's up to the player to support the codec.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
colordrops 6y ago
I couldn't figure out how to bypass logging into Plex with the latest version, so I dumped it and moved to Jellyfin which is fully open source. It does all I need, including having both Roku and Android apps, and supports DLNA so I can stream to various devices around the house. Don't miss Plex at all.
- kyriakos 6y ago
  Unfortunately there's no support for Samsung tizen TVs which is keeping me on plex
  - dexterdog 6y ago
    Samsung TVs are so horrible with spyware that it is best to keep them off the network and use an attached device like a Shield or Roku. This is also true with most other "smart TVs"
    - kyriakos 6y ago
      I understand the spyware part but one thing i noticed is that i dont get any ads which a lot of people I saw complaining about online. I think ads are location based and i'm outside their zone.
      - dexterdog 6y ago
        Do you have a pihole on your network?
        kyriakos 6y ago
        no but from what I read Samsung uses their own hardcoded DNS on their TVs to bypass DNS filtering
heyitsme 6y ago
I have a computer on my network that runs an nfs server and hosts media, then use kodi on nvidia shields (or other computers) to access it. It works extremely well... as in not even a single issue for years now. I should stress that this is at the level of just serving files, as I don't show any metadata associated with the media (as it's mainly personal home movies, etc).
- forty 6y ago
  How do you authenticate to the nfs server? Did you setup kerberos ? I have always been reluctant to go that path, it felt to complex for my home use case. I generally use ftp instead for this reason, but I guess it's not as efficient.
  - 29083011397778 6y ago
    I share my media on an Ubuntu server via NFS - all I've done is set the shared media library as read-only for the devices it's shared with, and specify the (local, reserved) IP it should be sent to. The only authentication is the fact that it's LAN-only, and being sent to the right (local) IP Kerberos would be far too complex to be warranted here - all that's needed is nfs-kernel-server and /etc/exports on the server side. Granted, my network is reasonably locked-down (MAC address filtering, (reserved) IP addresses available matching the number of devices on the network), but security beyond that has never really crossed my mind.
  - heyitsme 6y ago
    I don't password protect the media files on the nfs server - they are visible password-free from any machine on my local network. Of course if someone has sensitive material and/or the local network is shared, say, then some extra setup is needed. EDIT: another common use-case for me is basically grabbing lots of youtube videos/playlists via youtube-dl, which then lets me watch them on anything and everything than can run kodi commercial-free without jumping through hoops (i.e. browser addons or sideloading third party youtube apps, etc)
covidthrow 6y ago
We use Emby Server to maintain watch status sync and various not-Kodi-friendly devices in our house. The TVs use Emby through Kodi because of Kodi's superior interface and processing. Kodi 19/Matrix broke that, however, so now we're just streaming directly from the NAS until it's resolved on Emby's end. While the 2 experiences are nearly identical, we like the per-user/other device stuff that Emby brings in. (As well as outside-the-home streaming when we travel.) If you don't need or care about that stuff, just pulling from a central data store works very nicely in stand-alone Kodi. The Emby and Plex apps are trash compared to Kodi if you care about flexibility/customization.
v7p1Qbt1im 6y ago
Been using Kodi since 2017. it‘s running on an nvidia shield with the files being supplied via NFS from a Synology nas. Currently not using an actual media server like emby. It‘s been mostly rock solid. Kodi is more flexible in terms of interface. If you don‘t like plex‘s ui - tough luck. I‘ve actually started using Plex for my highest-end Dolby Vision MKV‘s because Kodi didn‘t support playback yet. Might be different now. Other than that I don‘t see massive differences tbh. Plex is certainly more of a „set it an forget it“ solution. Kodi is certainly a very good option, but if you have more than 1 user you might need some media server setup in addition (emby server, er even server side plex). Edit: just updated on my shield. Does anyone know if Dolby Vision is supported now? Quickly tested it with a compatible movie - didn‘t work. Edit 2: just looked it up. Apparently dual layer mkv is not supported yet. Guess I‘ll keep using Plex for this use case for now.

clircle 6y ago

Kodi is very awesome, but never worked well for me. This bug rendered it unusable. Hope it has been or can be fixed. https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=344992 https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=344992

madaerodog 6y ago

Kodi V19 is going to give dyslexics readers like me shivers :P

faitswulff 6y ago

I just want to stream media from my main computer to my devices. Does Kodi cover this use case?

stryan 6y ago
Probably not, Kodi is designed more as a client. I think the classic setup is installing it on a HTPC or Raspberry Pi under the TV and it plays files either locally on it or from a NAS. If you want to stream stuff checkout Jellyfin or Plex. EDIT: To give more context since people are downvoting; yes you can theoretically stream from Kodi using various other apps, but it doesn't do any transcoding by default and isn't a strong choice. Quite frankly, I've also never gotten it to actually work but perhaps that's just me.
- faitswulff 6y ago
  Thanks!
Nullabillity 6y ago
Yes.[0] You just need to share it from your main computer over whatever protocol you prefer, and add it to the Kodi library. If you're talking about streaming from Kodi, both the official web interface and Yatse[1] support that. Yatse will even update the Kodi library metadata based on it. That said, if streaming from Kodi is your primary use-case then Kodi is probably not a good fit. It doesn't really have a headless mode, and it'd be more efficient to just access the file share directly. Universal Media Server might be more up your alley then.[2] [0]: https://kodi.wiki/view/File_sharing https://kodi.wiki/view/File_sharing [1]: https://www.yatse.tv/ https://www.yatse.tv/ [2]: https://www.universalmediaserver.com/ https://www.universalmediaserver.com/
Blackthorn 6y ago
Yes, I do it with dlna (upnp).
nkg 6y ago
I have tried a few software, but I ended up using nginx with the directive "DirectoryIndex". It allows you to browse a folder from you main computer with a browser, you click some media, streaming starts, nothing fancy. :)

alibert 6y ago

If anyone has free time and is willing to, I think the Kodi team is looking for Android developers as the Android version is unmaintained. https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=360369&pid=3012332#pid3012332 https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=360369&pid=3012332#...

ur-whale 6y ago
Why would you want to run Kodi on Android when you can run it on Linux ? Not trying to be snarky, really want to understand.
- xbmcuser 6y ago
  You can use streaming apps on the same device not so with linux. On Kodi android you can even get 4k hdr netflix with the input steam addon.
- sosuke 6y ago
  Easy to install and use on several Android TV boxes out there. NVIDIA Shield perhaps?
- kyriakos 6y ago
  Cause there are hundreds of cheap android TV boxes one can buy which don't run Linux. Also kodi for android runs on amazon's fire sticks and Googles new chromecast (the Google tv one)
- covidthrow 6y ago
  Many people have Android TV on their TVs, or boxes like Nvidia Shield. While a Raspberry Pi is a pretty simple way to get Linux/Kodi on the TV, getting it to integrate well is a whole other story. (Remotes, CEC, other services like Netflix, etc.) I'm your typical Linux hacker of 20 years, but even I switched from Raspberry Pi to Nvidia Shield a couple years ago because the pain of using and maintaining it is so much lower for an interface that should be as simple as "pick and play".
  - 6y ago

2Gkashmiri 6y ago

it does not have an appimage. does it?

NortySpock 6y ago

I've been enjoying Kodi 18 "Leia" as both a NAS video client for the TV and as a game system emulator. Multiplayer arcade games from the early nineties have been especially well received when we have company over... Cadillacs and Dinosaurs, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles work great as 2-3 player brawlers. Raspberry Pi 3 is great for the sprite-based graphics but basically can't keep up with 3D graphics; no big deal though as long as you respect that limitation. I'll keep an eye on Kodi 19 Matrix and see if I spot a compelling reason to update.

hermitcrab 6y ago

Kodi is great. But each time I have upgraded it some things have improved and somethings have stopped working. Currently the guide doesn't show which items are being recorded and there doesn't seem to be any way to stop series record. But I am too scared to upgrade in case it breaks everything!

covidthrow 6y ago
Check the Kodi wiki for the plugins you use. Chances are most don't work in the new version and you'll be left with everything you're used to broken.

whalesalad 6y ago

Do people use this kind of software for anything other than piracy? Serious question.

kyriakos 6y ago
There are legit uses but I must admit piracy is the main one. On the other hand some activities are legal depending where you live.
aidenn0 6y ago
I use it via libreElec for my set top box. I have ripped my entire Blu-ray collection to mkv, and also watch disney plus and Netflix on it.
Mediterraneo10 6y ago
Kodi is a media center for playing whatever media you already have, even if it is your own rips or your own purchased downloads. Kodi was already a popular application for years before someone decided to sell prepackaged devices running Kodi that included a third-party pirate-streaming plugin.
- kyriakos 6y ago
  Even if you don't use any plugins for streaming pirated content a lot of people use it as a player for downloaded torrents or streaming from seedboxes.
- dogma1138 6y ago
  I’ve used kodi since it was XBMC, “backups” was always its main focus, the amount of content available as a DRM free download is extremely limited and if we are realistic the amount of people that do their own rips form movies they own can probably fit in a movie theatre. Kodi never went full on popcorn time but it’s pretty useless for anything but a large and quite likely pirated media collection.
  - forty 6y ago

tweetle_beetle 6y ago

Does anyone have a good overview of how the plug-in community is transitioning to Python 3 overall? I've only noticed one I regularly offer a new version ahead in anticipation of v19 and even that was fairly recently.

BuckRogers 6y ago

I've been using Kodi since 2007, my NAS is a USB 3.0 HDD plugged into an Asus router. Its been great and more independent than Plex. I won't be updating to v19 anytime soon though. Us FireTV users have been manually updating for ages, so its finally paying off now. Given from this thread I've learned that v19 on Android has no maintainer, and addons are broken, that double whammy means I'd recommend waiting until 18.9 or its addons stop working correctly. Sounds like for Shield users, the best option is to sideload the F-Droid apk to avoid having the same signature as the Play store version, to avoid having to disable all updates. Not much else to do, just yet another project that's a casualty of Python 3.