Alternative keymaps for most remotes

Remote controls

Alternative keymaps for most remotes

Alternative keymaps for most remotes, as suggested by the community. This includes MCE/RC6 and keyboard type remote controls.

Installing keymaps

There are a few methods to load custom keymaps on Kodi.

File manager

Kodi's built in file manager can be used to copy files from a network file share (such as SMB/Windows sharing), or a USB thumb drive, to the userdata folder.

1. Save the keymap you want to use as a plain text file as "keymap.xml" (it can be anything as long as it ends in .xml) on the file share.
2. Go to the File Manager in Kodi. For the default skin, Confluence, highlight the "System" tab and then select the submenu "File manager" option.
3. Add the file share as a source in the "A" window, then navigate to where the keymap file is.
4. In the "B" window go do the Profile directory which will be the userdata folder, then open the keymaps folder.
5. Highlight the keymap file from the "A" window, then press menu, and then select copy. This will copy the selected keymap to the Fire TV's userdata folder.
6. Now just restart Kodi to load the new keymap.

Copy directly to userdata folder

1. Save the keymap you want to use as a plain text file as "keymap.xml" (it can be anything as long as it ends in .xml)
2. Use a file manager of your choice, such as the one build into your OS, and copy this file to the userdata folder within the keymaps folder.

The Userdata folder is a subfolder of the Kodi Data Folder and is located as shown in the table below.

Operating system	Userdata Folder
Android	Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata/ (see note)
Flatpak	~/.var/app/tv.kodi.Kodi/data/userdata
iOS	/private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/
LibreELEC	/storage/.kodi/userdata/
Linux	~/.kodi/userdata/
macOS	/Users/<your_user_name>/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata/
Nvidia Shield (SMB)	smb://<nvidiashieldurl>/internal/Android/data/org.xbmc.kodi/files/.kodi/userdata
OSMC	/home/osmc/.kodi/userdata/
tvOS	/private/var/mobile/Library/Preferences/Kodi/userdata/
webOS	/media/developer/apps/usr/palm/applications/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi/userdata/
Windows	%APPDATA%\Kodi\userdata
Windows Portable	<Install location chosen by you>\portable_data\userdata\
Windows via Microsoft Store	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\XBMCFoundation.Kodi_4n2hpmxwrvr6p\LocalCache\Roaming\Kodi\
Windows Xbox	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\XBMCFoundation.Kodi_4n2hpmxwrvr6p\LocalCache\Roaming\Kodi\

Note: In some Android setups the path may be slightly different to the one stated above.

Keymap 1 - SmallStepBack

Cut and paste the following into a new text document and save as remote.xml and place in userdata/keymaps/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<keymap>
  <FullscreenVideo>
    <remote>
      <back>seek(-7)</back>
    </remote>
    <keyboard>
      <back>seek(-7)</back>
      <backspace>seek(-7)</backspace>
      <escape>seek(-7)</escape>
    </keyboard>
  </FullscreenVideo>
</keymap>

What it does

• Back durning full screen playback is changed to SmallStepBack (-7 seconds)

Keymap 2 - stop a video when backing out of it

Cut and paste the following into a new text document and save as remote.xml and place in userdata/keymaps/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<keymap>
  <FullscreenVideo>
    <remote>
      <back>stop</back>
    </remote>
    <keyboard>
      <back>stop</back>
      <backspace>stop</backspace>
      <escape>stop</escape>
    </keyboard>
  </FullscreenVideo>
</keymap>

What it does

• Back durning full screen playback will stop the video and return you to the file/library lists.

Keymap 3 - move cursor on keyboard instead of buttons

Note: As of Kodi v15, you can use Tab ⇆ to toggle between selecting keys on the on-screen-keyboard and moving the cursor.

Cut and paste the following into a new text document and save as remote.xml and place in userdata/keymaps/

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<keymap>
  <virtualkeyboard>
    <keyboard>
      <left>CursorLeft</left>
      <right>CursorRight</right>
    </keyboard>
  </virtualkeyboard>
</keymap>

What it does

• Left/right arrow keys will move the cursor when entering text with the on-screen-keyboard, rather than select different keyboard buttons. This restores the behavior previously seen when "Remote sends keyboard presses" was turned off.

Remotes with only a few buttons

See: Alternative keymaps for low button remotes

HOW-TO:Use SMS-style text entry for remotes

See: HOW-TO:Use SMS-style text entry for remotes