Articles about Kodi

If you were expecting the full and final release of Kodi 18 to arrive before the end of 2018, you’re going to be disappointed as it's now scheduled for very early 2019.

However, the Kodi Foundation has rolled out the fourth and final release candidate today which should tide you over nicely until then.

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Kodi is an excellent open source media player, allowing the user to have an immersive experience with both music and video. While the software gets a bad reputation due to people using it for piracy, many folks only use it for legal media consumption. As more and more illegal Kodi add-on maintainers face legal trouble, and streaming services like Netflix and Hulu remain competitively priced, fewer folks may seek pirated content. In fact, the LibreELEC developers claim the "Kodi piracy scene continues to decline."

Not familiar with LibreELEC? Please know it is a Linux distribution that exists solely to run Kodi. It supports many hardware configurations, including traditional x86_64 for PC and ARM for devices like Raspberry Pi and WeTek. Following the release of Kodi 18 'Leia' RC3, LibreELEC 9.0 (8.95.1) Beta 1 becomes available for download. Its most significant change is a clever way to handle Kodi start up crashes due to buggy add-ons. After five consecutive crashes, the OS will boot without any Kodi add-ons, allowing the user to at least have a usable device.

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We are edging ever closer to the full and final release of the next major version of Kodi, codenamed Leia.

Coming two weeks after RC2 arrived, the third release candidate drops today. Work is now underway on RC4, which does mean the full release likely won’t occur until January.

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We are edging ever closer to the full and final release of the next big version of Kodi, codenamed Leia.

The second release candidate drops today, meaning the Kodi Foundation is still on target to release the final build this year.

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It’s been two years in development, but the next big release for Kodi is nearly here.

Today the hugely popular home theater software hits a major milestone, with the arrival of the first Release Candidate for Kodi 18 'Leia' -- RC1. This release should be much more stable that the five previous betas, and the Kodi Foundation shares the following stats:

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The recent roadmap for Kodi 18 'Leia' planned for four beta versions, followed by two release candidates, and then the finished thing.

That plan has gone slightly out of the window, however, as today the Kodi Foundation releases a fifth beta. This is the final beta release and fixes a number of issues.

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The Kodi Media Center has developed something of a reputation as a platform for pirated content. Although the Kodi Foundation has tried to distance itself from this, it seems other measures are having an effect.

The anti-piracy coalition, Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE), along with new anti-piracy rules in the EU and UK, plus bans on Kodi boxes being sold via online marketplaces, has seen interest in Kodi decline sharply.

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The Kodi Foundation is busy finishing off the next major release of its hugely popular home theater software, and has made a fundamental change.

In Kodi 18 'Leia', the binary add-ons will be removed, reducing the size of the installer significantly. When you download the program, you’ll get just the basics and can install additional features as required through the binary repository. There’s another benefit besides avoiding bloat.

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Development on the next big version of Kodi, codenamed 'Leia', is well underway, with new pre-release versions arriving on a regular basis. The full version of the software is expected to be ready by the end of this year.

The Kodi Foundation has today released the fourth Beta for Kodi 18, and as you would expect the focus is on squashing bugs and fixing usability issues.

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There’s a lot of fantastic media content on Reddit, although finding it isn’t always easy. The new Reddit Browser for Kodi scrapes subreddits for video, live streams, audio, images and discussions.

The add-on has been in development for almost a year, and while it’s still very much a work in progress, it’s easy enough to use.

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Development on the next big version of Kodi, codenamed 'Leia', is progressing nicely. It’s expected to be released by the end of this year.

For those who can’t wait, you can install pre-release versions, and the newest of these -- Beta 3 -- is available to download and install today.

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Taking a leaf out of the Lumen Database, unofficial Kodi add-on provider TVAddons has been maintaining a list of blacklisted Kodi Addons in a regular transparency report.

This blacklist is not the result of DMCA takedown notices, but rather is compiled based on Kodi addons that were submitted to its index but judged not to meet the company’s own verification standards.

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Users of the Kodi media center may already know that the Netherlands-based repository for third-party add-ons, XvBMC, was recently shut down due to copyright violations.

Researchers at security company ESET have discovered that the repository was also part of a malicious cryptomining campaign dating back to December 2017. This is the second instance of Kodi being used for cryptojacking this year.

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It’s exciting times for fans of Kodi, as there’s a new, major release of the insanely popular home theater software in development. Two weeks ago, the Kodi Foundation rolled out the first, stable beta release, giving users the chance to try out the new version without fear that it might trash their systems.

Today, a new, even more stable release arrives, and you can -- and should! -- download it now.

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Let's be honest -- in a world with easy legal streaming thanks to inexpensive services like Netflix and Hulu, Kodi media center is probably used mostly by pirates. It is not likely the average consumer is storing video and music files locally to play on their TV -- it simply isn't worth the hassle these days. With that said, not all Kodi users are thieves -- I am sure some are legally buying media for playback on the media software... maybe...

Regardless of why you use Kodi (I'm not judging), the best way to experience it is through a Linux distribution that focuses on it. LibreELEC, for instance, is a lightweight distro that exists only to run the Kodi media center. It is quite popular with Raspberry Pi owners, but it runs on other hardware too, including x86_64 and WeTek boxes. Kodi 18 "Leia" recently achieved Beta 1 status, and as a result, LibreELEC 9.0 Alpha has been updated with it. In other words, the most bleeding edge LibreELEC now runs the most bleeding edge Kodi.

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