EXPANDING KODI WITH ADD-ONS
Install Kodi add-ons
Kodi doesn’t stop at the content on your PC – it also lets you stream video and music directly from the internet. To do so you need to install add-ons that add new features to the core Kodi package. Kodi’s approved add-ons restrict you to legal content only.
The easiest way to install an add-on is to click Add-ons (on the left in the main menu screen) and then click Download (see screenshot below). You will see a list of add-on categories to choose from. Browse through these and click individual add-ons to see more info about them. If you want to go back to the previous screen, click the two dots (..) at the top of each menu. Press the Escape key to return to the main menu.
To install the Youtube add-on, for example, click ‘Video add-ons’ and scroll down the list to Youtube. Click the Install button (see screenshot below), and the add-on will be automatically downloaded. You’ll see a notification when it’s been successfully installed.
You will find your new add-on in the Add-ons section of the main menu. Kodi splits add-ons into categories: Photos, Videos, Music and Program. Select these sub-categories to find your installed add-on (Youtube’s will be placed in the Videos sub-category, for example).
The best Kodi add-ons Video add-ons
There’s a lot in there, so spend some time finding the content that you want. We installed iplayer WWW to get access to the BBC’S content. As we’ve already seen, Youtube is a great choice, too.
We’re also fans of the Nasa TV add-on (see screenshot above), which shows live interviews with astronauts as they orbit the globe onboard the International Space Station (ISS). TED Talks gives you access to recordings of lectures on a variety of global issues, while The Guardian’s add-on lets you watch daily news round-ups.
Music add-ons
There are tons of free music services to add in the Music add-ons section. The Apple itunes Podcasts add-on is a must if you listen to podcasts. If you enjoy hearing about the latest movie news and reviews then Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review is another great choice. We also rate Radio, a free add-on that provides live streams of thousands of radio stations from around the world.
Picture add-ons
The picture add-ons section is rather light on interesting content. There is a Flickr add-on but it is tricky to tie into your Flickr account, so it acts more like a search engine for photos. Fans of comic strips will find themselves well served by the Garfield add-on.
Program add-ons
Program add-ons furnish Kodi with extra features. For example, Dbmc provides access to your Dropbox account. You can also install the Facebook Media add-on to browse the social network’s images, while Match Center gives you live football scores and tables.
Services
This contains lots of useful add-ons for displaying extra information. Unpause Jumpback will rewind videos by a few seconds when you pause them so you don’t miss anything, while Stinger Scene Notification lets you know if the film you’re watching has a scene after the end credits (called a ‘stinger’ in the film trade). You can also add RSS feeds to Kodi using the RSS Popus add-on. Once installed click Addons, ‘My add-ons’, Services, RSS Popus, then Configure. Click RSS Feed Add to add a feed. Type feedsbbci.co.uk/news/ rss.xml to add BBC World News, for example.
Weather
Here you can download add-ons that display a weather forecast. Our favourite is Openweathermap Extended. Click it to install it, then click it again and click Configure. Click Location 1 and type your location, then click OK twice, then Use. Press Escape to return to Kodi’s main menu and click Weather to see the weather forecast. To change from °F to °C, click the cog icon, ‘Interface settings’, Regional,‘region default format’ then select ‘UK (12h)’.
Is Kodi legal?
In a word: yes. Kodi itself is completely legal and free, and there are no penalties for downloading and using it.
What is illegal, according to some definitions of the law, is creating an add-on designed to stream premium services (the very same content you’d usually have to pay for on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky and BT). Kodi officially distances itself from these addons, but it can’t stop them being created.
There’s even some question as to whether streaming paid-for content is illegal. In a landmark ruling in 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that streaming copyrighted material is not breaking the law. To paraphrase the judgement, it suggests that streaming (by an individual) is not illegal, because you only ever store a small, temporary copy of the file. That said, the copyright holders – like Fox, Netflix and Amazon – want Kodi add-ons banned and are fighting every ruling to make that so.
Our advice is that if some Kodi content seems too good to be true then, at best, it’s morally wrong to watch it, if not illegal (at least for now).
If you follow the steps to install customised builds below, you’ll be able to see an example of some of Kodi’s more dubious add-ons for yourself.