Last Updated on June 30, 2020 by Husain Parvez
Ever wondered how does Kodi work and bring you all of the multimedia playback support and popular add-ons from all over the place? Here’s an explainer for the curious minds who wish to find out what makes the Kodi media player tick from the inside, making it the most popular open-source media platform in the world.
We live in a day and age where all kinds of entertainment are just the touch of a button away, no matter what screen you’re looking at. We’ve come a long way from dial-up modem connections with high-speed fiber-optic broadband connections, and the advancements in wireless cellular connectivity have reshaped the way billions of people all around the world not only communicate with each other but enjoy their fair share of entertainment at home and on the go through the means of mobile devices.
With premium subscription services such as Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, and Netflix being all the rage right now, it is easy to forget that the cord-cutting revolution began all the way back in 2002 when none of these brands existed in the first place. It was just a handful of gaming enthusiasts who wanted to do more with their original Xbox console and use it as a media center for home entertainment. Once known as the Xbox Media Player, then branded as the Xbox Media Center (XBMC), the service is now famously known all around the world as Kodi Media Player.
What is the Kodi Media Player?
Developed as an open-source platform that acts as a virtual media center to collaborate all of the content you store on the cloud platform, physical hard disks of devices, and other smart devices that are capable of running Kodi. The liberating factor about the Kodi media player is that there are limitations to which devices you can run it on, since it not only supports computers and mobile devices, but smart TVs, media center devices, gaming consoles, and Raspberry Pi as well.
With almost two decades of development that has led to the slow, yet steady growth of Kodi, the media platform boasts its very own interface that is built for simplified use. The Kodi media player by itself is capable of playing every audio, video, and alternative media formats that you can throw at it. Everything from AAC, MP3, OGG, to complex video files such as ISO, 3D, and even H.264 can be played on Kodi without a hiccup while allowing the ability to easily import additional graphics such as video trailers, poster images, fan art, and more.
But the most sought-after feature of the Kodi media player has to be the add-ons available not just on the official Kodi platform, but several homebrewed Kodi add-ons and repositories as well. The growing support for Kodi media player has led to an entire community of unofficial Kodi add-ons, that have enabled users to enjoy aspects of live TV, the latest roll of blockbuster movies, and entire seasons of TV shows in high-definition, everything for free!
How does Kodi Work Exactly?
Once available as software that required manual installation, Kodi media player has now become easily available across almost a dozen platforms. Here are the platforms that Kodi media player actively supports:
- Windows
- MacOS
- Linux
- Android
- iOS
- Raspberry Pi
If you’ve ever wondered how does Kodi work in connecting all of your media devices under one umbrella and enjoy premium content for – it’s not rocket science. The fluidic layout and user interface of the app makes easy to add content from physical and virtual drives, connect official Kodi add-ons such as Plex to import your personal files over the internet, and even install repositories from not-so-legal sources that bring the ability to watch premium media content for free.
Can you Replace Cable with Kodi?
Even before there were services out there that could complete with Kodi media player in terms of content media streaming, Kodi has been slowly becoming the cable connection replacement for several users. If you have a stable internet connection at your residence, there are plenty of live TV Kodi add-ons that you can install and turn your humble TV into a live channel media center by itself.
However, even if you’re stuck with a cable connection, there’s a way to use Kodi media player as a PVR, allowing you to record and watch TV shows at your discretion. You would need additional hardware to connect the cable network connection to the Kodi media player, official Kodi add-ons for PVR will allow you to pull the cable transmission directly to Kodi and easily allow you to view the entire list of channels that are available, and record the shows you wish to watch later.
What is the Latest Version of Kodi?
The latest version of the Kodi, if your account only the stable version that is available for the platforms of Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and others, is Kodi v18.5, which has been codenamed “Leia”. Based on the release notes from XBMC, here are the improvements that you can expect from the latest version of Kodi:
Playback and Display: There was an error related to the subtitle playback on the older version of the Kodi media player. The latest version update has fixed the problem with the external sources for gathering the subtitle files.
PVR: The two important issues with the PVR feature of Kodi media player, especially the EPG database storage problems, along with the PVR Start/Stop Service problems have been fixed.
Interface: Some changes to the Estuary and the GUI of the Kodi media player has been made, which includes the label changes, icon names, scroll bar and more.
How does Kodi Work Best with ExpressVPN
For those of us who have been using Kodi media player for years now, you must be aware that the service has been under fire for harboring add-ons that are deemed illegal. While there is no shortage of Kodi add-ons to replace the lost ones, they seem to work better when connected to a dedicated VPN service. The easiest way to get past browsing restriction by using a VPN service such as ExpressVPN so that you never hit the pause button when it comes to high-quality streaming entertainment.
Bypassing Geo-restrictions – If you reside in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other regions where there the federal authorities have blockaded access to a Kodi add-on, you won’t be able to access the service through Kodi either. Whether the functionality of the add-on is censored in your region or the service is entirely unusable, ExpressVPN allows you to push forward with hundreds of remote servers across the world for you to connect to.
Avoid ISP Logging – Even if the service is not explicitly banned in your region of residence, the ISP (internet service provider) can still keep tabs on your usage. The online activity that you perform when using Kodi media player can be logged, which poses not only a privacy threat but the problem of the ISP fining you for unauthorized usage as well. With ExpressVPN and its military-grade encryption to secure your online activity, rest assured that your online browsing experience is 100% secure.
High-speed Streaming – Although you can find plenty of free and barely-secure VPN services out there that can help you connect with Kodi and make the most out of Kodi add-ons, most of them offer sub-par streaming quality. When using ExpressVPN for Kodi media player, you are automatically recommended servers which offer top upload and download streaming speeds, so you don’t ever have to sit in front of the screen, waiting for the buffering circle to load up.
Final Words
Gone are the days when viewers would sit around the home TV screen and be subjugated to the content that the almighty cable company wanted the users to watch. Apart from the relief of never having to go through a long advertisement break ever again, the cord-cutting revolution has brought users the freedom to enjoy all types of media entertainment anywhere and at any time. Since the number of smart devices, we carry around these days isn’t on short supply, Kodi media player has found unprecedented success all across the board. Albeit the platform is battling off copyright protection agencies who would like to paint it with a broad brush, the service isn’t going away any time soon.
Now that you’re aware of the how does Kodi work and what makes it such a favorite among users who want to consolidate their media entertainment experience, will you be giving it a try as well? If you want to find out anything about Kodi media player that hasn’t been detailed above, be sure to ask it in the comments section and we’ll get back to you promptly.
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As a person who is currently debating whether I should use streaming platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, or use a free platform such as Kodi, this article really helped to make up my mind. On the other hand, I still don’t trust any free platforms that stream content (since once I got hacked by using it), so I’ll probably get Kodi and use it with Surfshark. We’ll see how it goes!