Android: Difference between revisions
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| '''Ted (Text Editor)''' || Free and open source text editor that is useful for editing various XBMC files, such as [[keymaps]] and [[advancedsettings.xml]] || {{no}} || [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xgouchet.texteditor link] | | '''Ted (Text Editor)''' || Free and open source text editor that is useful for editing various XBMC files, such as [[keymaps]] and [[advancedsettings.xml]] || {{no}} || [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=fr.xgouchet.texteditor link] | ||
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| '''XBMC Launcher''' || Set XBMC (and various forks) as a Launcher without having to mod the APK || {{?}} || [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.blunden.xbmclauncher link] | |||
| '''XBMC Updater''' || Easily update or install XBMC without having to manually sideload || {{no}} || [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.ollan.xbmcupdater link] | | '''XBMC Updater''' || Easily update or install XBMC without having to manually sideload || {{no}} || [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.ollan.xbmcupdater link] | ||
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Revision as of 22:54, 23 August 2014
Devices | Android |
- Looking for information on the XBMC remote control app for Android? See Official XBMC Remote/Android.
Read this page and still need help? Check out the XBMC for Android support forum. |
XBMC for Android is a full port of the complete XBMC application to Google's Android operating-system. With the Android NDK (Native Development Kit for Android) XBMC runs natively under Android as a Native Activity application. The initial aim for the Android port is to get XBMC working on inexpensive Android set-top-boxes. Phones and tablets have limited support as well.
Main topics
Other Android-specific wiki pages for topics, guides, and advice. For everything else standard XBMC pages will normally apply.
HOW-TO:Install XBMC for Android HOW-TO:Install XBMC for Android |
Android FAQ Android FAQ | ||
Android hardware For most high-definition videos (1080p or higher resolution), hardware video decoding is necessary for smooth video playback on most Android devices. Therefor this article contains a list of SoC chipset hardware, (SoC stands for "System on a Chip" which contain the CPU plus GPU and VPU circuits combination, and is also known as a "chipset"), as on Android platforms this SoC chipset is what can playback common video codecs smoothly using Kodi/XBMC. |
Developing XBMC for Android Developing XBMC for Android | ||
How-to's |
Tips and tricks Boost performance, troubleshoot, enhance, and more. | ||
Helpful applications |
Device specific info | ||
Touch controls Touch gestures can be used to control Kodi on touch screen type devices such as those for Android and iOS and is installed preconfigured with default touch actions. |
Random notes
|
Requirements
It is highly recommended for users to not make any hardware purchases in anticipation of running Kodi on Android without first researching the device you want to buy. Before you do buy, make sure multiple people have verified that it works! If in doubt, do not buy any hardware! |
- Kodi v17 and later requires Android 5.0 or higher.
- x86 (Intel) or a NEON-compatible ARM-processor, (for example: Nvidia Tegra 3 and newer are fully supported by Kodi, while Tegra 2 and older are not).
- The main aim for the Android port of Kodi is to foremost target media-players/set-top-boxes/sticks that connect to a large screen television and uses a standard remote control as its main interface device, (that is the same market as for HTPC).
How-to's
Assorted how-to's related to the video library that have been added to the wiki:
This page describes how to install Kodi, either from an app "store" such as Google Play, or manually from an APK file.
To use an external player on Kodi for Android you simply need to make a playercorefactory.xml file in the userdata folder.
As of v14, Kodi supports a backdoor to specify the location of your settings folder, which includes the userdata folder and add-ons. It is the equivalent of using environment variables on other platforms
This page describes some of the methods to install Kodi onto an Amazon Fire TV (box) or Fire TV Stick. The Fire TV uses Kodi for android and does not require root. All Fire TV products allow sideloading, so no hacking or modification is required to install Kodi.
Android apps can be launched from within Kodi by going to Programs -> Android programs. It is even possible to launch Android apps from shortcuts on the main menu for skins that supports custom home items.
Tips and tricks
- Note: Remember that hardware video decoding, which will be required on most devices for smooth video playback, requires XBMC v13 or higher.
- Avoid using wireless. A lot of Android boxes and "sticks" have weak wifi, even those that advertise as being wireless-n. It may be possible to use a USB-to-ethernet dongle on some devices, or even a USB wifi adapter that has a better wifi radio than what is built-in.
- Switch to a different network protocol to see if that has any effect, i.e. SMB/CIFS, NFS, FTP, WebDAV, etc.
- Try sharing the media on another device to rule out a device-specific (or network) issue.
- Turn off thumbnails, XBMC -> Settings -> Video -> File and deselect 'generate thumbnails'.
- H.264 videos encoded with Hi10P profile will not work on most Android hardware as some (most?) ARM processors are not powerful enough to software decode it, and no hardware decoders exist for it. As faster ARM CPUs come out this will get better, but don't expect miracles from the average Android box.
- If RSS feed is enabled, disable it in settings. This can make the main menu a bit faster.
- Running out of disk space storage, or want to try tweaking caching and other performance settings to achieve faster response times? See HOW-TO:Reduce XBMC disk space for help on modifying how XBMC handles images.
- Running a Rockchips device? Maybe check out SPMC.
Helpful applications
Some helpful XBMC related Android applications, as suggested by the community. This list should not be seen as any kind of official endorsement by XBMC.
Name | Description | Requires root? |
Link | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Link2SD | Good for moving XBMC userdata to the external SD card, in case you are getting low on internal memory. | Yes | link | ||||
full!screen | If you are using XBMC on a Android 4.3 or lower, you can use full!screen to hide the "nav buttons", allowing for full screen playback of videos. (Note: XBMC on Android 4.4 should support immersive mode, allowing this switch to full screen to happen automatically) | Yes | link | ||||
AnTuTu CPU Master (Free) | Allows for disabling CPU power saving features for some Android devices, which could speed up the device. | ? | link | ||||
Rescan Media ROOT | Some Android firmware have a media scanner enabled, which can slow things down on some devices. This application will allow you to disable/enable the media scanner. | Yes | link | ||||
Startup Manager (Free) | Allows XBMC to open at startup. | ? | link | ||||
SendLog | Useful for sending system logs to XBMC developers when trying to troubleshoot issues. If someone asks you for a "Log Cat" or a "crash log", this application will get that log. | Yes | link | ||||
Ted (Text Editor) | Free and open source text editor that is useful for editing various XBMC files, such as keymaps and advancedsettings.xml | No | link | ||||
XBMC Launcher | Set XBMC (and various forks) as a Launcher without having to mod the APK | ? | link | XBMC Updater | Easily update or install XBMC without having to manually sideload | No | link |
Device specific info
Here are a few device-specific guides/help areas that the community has provided.
Random notes
Feel free to place various notes, tips, and links here. As this section of the wiki gets more organized, those notes will be properly sorted. Consider this like a dumping ground for when you're not sure where to put something.
- Make "dummy" XBMC add-ons for launching Android apps. XBMC can do this without the dummy-add-on, but some skins might require it for home screen placement: https://github.com/elmerohueso/nnxbmcnetflix