HOW-TO:Install Kodi on Fire TV

From Official Kodi Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Home icon grey.png   ▶ Amazon Fire TV ▶ HOW-TO:Install Kodi on Fire TV

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.


Install Kodi without a PC

See: How to sideload apps like Kodi onto the Fire TV — Using nothing but the Fire TV and FireStarter

Enable Debugging on the Fire TV

In order to install apps from outside the Amazon app store, we need to enable these options:

  1. From the Fire TV Home screen, select Settings
  2. Go to System -> Developer Options
  3. Enable both the ADB Debugging and the Apps from Unknown Sources options.
  4. Go to System -> About -> Network, and take note of the Fire TV's IP address

adbLink (Win/Mac/Linux)

adbLink is a companion program for FireTV and Android Kodi & forks. It allows you to sideload Kodi (and other apps) without the bother of downloading the Android SDK and other tools. Additionally, it allows you to copy files to and from Kodi, backup Kodi, root the FireTV, mount USB drives and more.

Download website link: http://jocala.com


Tutorials for using adbLink to install Kodi:


ADB command line

These are steps to manually install Kodi using the ADB command line tool, as an alternative to using an app like adbFire.

General Steps

  1. Setup the ADB Utility via OS-specific instructions below, or install the Android SDK for your platform: https://developer.android.com/sdk/index.html
  2. Follow these instructions to connect ADB to your Amazon Fire TV: https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/connect-adb.html
  3. Follow these instructions to install the Kodi app onto the Fire TV (using the ADB tool): https://developer.amazon.com/sdk/asb/app-install.html

Setup ADB on Your Host

Note: Your host must be connected to the same network as your Fire TV.

Template:ADB setup

Download Kodi

  • Current stable version: Kodi v20.5 Nexus
  • Download link: '

Install Kodi to the Fire TV

Note: If your APK file name contains spaces, make sure you put quotes around it in the adb commands. On OS X and Linux, you may need to prepend ./ to the adb commands.

  1. On your host (PC or other Android device), download your desired Kodi APK
  2. Open a Command Prompt (Windows), Terminal (OS X/Linux), or Terminal Emulator app (Android)
  3. Navigate (CD) to the directory with your Kodi APK (In Terminal Emulator on Android you only need to run the adb commands)
  4. Run the following commands
    >adb kill-server
    >adb start-server
    >adb connect <ip-address-of-fire-tv>
  5. ADB is connected when it reports the message "connected to <ip-address-of-fire-tv>:<port>"
  6. Run one of the following commands
    >adb install <apk-file-name>
    (or if you are upgrading from a previous Kodi install, use this instead)
    >adb install -r <apk-file-name>
  7. Installation is complete when it reports the message "success"

(Note: For Android you need to type in the full path. e.g. >adb install /sdcard/Download/apk-file-name.apk)

Launch Kodi on the Fire TV

  1. From the Fire TV Home screen, select Settings
  2. Select Applications
  3. Find and select your Kodi installation (it may be named "Kodi" or "SPMC")
  4. Select Launch Application

' Note:' Users have reported that you can autostart Kodi after boot using an Android automation apps such as Tasker, AutomateIt, or Llama. Alternately, you can use Autopilot to autoboot to Kodi.

Launching Kodi from Fire TV Homescreen: You can also have Llama (and probably others) launch Kodi when a native Fire TV app like Flixter is launched from the Fire TV homescreen. Some apps work better than others.

Upgrading Kodi

Kodi can be upgraded through ADB without losing your settings. To do this, you must use a newer version of the package already installed on the machine.

  1. Download the package to your machine
  2. Make sure ADB is connected to the Fire TV
  3. Run adb install -r <apk-file-name>
  4. Installation is complete when it reports the message "Success"

Kodi will still go through the "first run" screen the first time it is launched but your settings will remain intact.

Downgrading Kodi

If you wish to downgrade your version of Kodi (because you installed a test version that didn't work properly, for example) and keep your settings, the following commands will allow you to do so.

adb uninstall -k org.xbmc.kodi
adb install <apk-file-name>

If you are downgrading using an Android device, you will need to use the "shell" command.

adb shell pm uninstall -k org.xbmc.kodi