Guide to Installing Kodi: Beginner's Edition

Kodi, A Guide for New Users

This next article is going to be an all-in-one guide on how to set up Kodi from where to find it to how to install an add-on. This guide will serve to partner with the theme of creating helpful articles for the everyday, new Kodi user. We will focus on keeping the language understandable and hope this article helps teach you something new. By the end of this article we will have answered the what, where, and how to install Kodi, along with a repository, and an add-on.

You may or may not be aware; however, the community is ever changing especially in the recent 12 months. More and more developers and groups have been shut down, received cease & desist letters, or have grown frustrated by treatment from other community members.  This has made it tougher to find the reliable all-in-one build as your go-to builder could hang it all up.  So our goal is for this guide to help you sit in the driver seat.

The What

As we said we are going to tackle a little of everything in this start-up guide. Yet to start at the beginning we must as “What is Kodi”? Kodi (Originally XBMC) has been in existence since 2002 and is an open-source platform for streaming/viewing media.

What does that mean in English? Kodi is a media player allowing you to use your own content to easily navigate your pictures, music, videos, and much more. However, you can use Kodi for much more. Kodi has the ability to install third-party add-ons for streaming content and improve your ability to keep up-to-date.

Kodi is also available across several different operating systems including: Android, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Raspberry Pi. We are going to break down how to install Kodi on your device.

The Where & The How

Now that we know a little about what Kodi is how do we go about installing it? You can download and install Kodi from a few places depending on your operating system. In this section we are going to focus on the where to install from.

Windows

Let’s begin with installing Kodi on Windows. To do this we are only going to need a browser to download the file. We always suggest going to the source to download Kodi or from a reputable group. I can tell you we do have a special Resources section on Ares Forum for installing apks; yet, we will talk about that later.

Bring up a new browser and type in this address, http://kodi.tv/download and this will take you to the Kodi downloads page. From here you will be greeted with the following screen.

This is where you can select the operating system you are looking to add Kodi to and in our case we will click the windows symbol. After you click the Windows symbol you will receive a pop-up that gives you two options for install:

• Windows Store


• Installer (32bit)

You will want to choose the Installer version for this exercise.  Experience has shown it is a cleaner install and has less problems.  Once you chose the Installer method sit back and relax because your download will begin.  On the bottom of the browser you will see the file pop up and it will start downloading.  Once the file is complete you will need to click on it to open it.

 

Android

Depending on what Android device you are using you can download the file from a couple of places.  Of course, as we stated earlier, you are always best to go to the source.  In this case the source is the http://kodi.tv/download link we provided.

Yet if you are looking at installing Kodi on your Android smartphone, tablet, or android box you have other options that are reliable.  The first option would be to visit the Google Play Store.  One thing to remember if you do download from Google Play Store is to turn off the automatic updates.  This is important because sometimes Google Play can push the update sooner than necessary, i.e. when they updated from Kodi 15 Isengard to Kodi 16 or from Kodi 16 Jarvis to Kodi 17 Krypton.

While the Google Store is great for devices that have access there are other devices not so lucky. For example, the Amazon Fire Devices do not come equipped with the Google Play Store so you need to find another way to install Kodi.  There are several ways to do so and one of the easiest ways is to download a program called ‘Downloader‘.  This add-on is available for free; however, we must mention the account must have a credit card on file and one-click enabled on the account.  If you need a fake credit card so you don’t have to use your real data visit http://fakenamegenerator.com you can get all the information you need to set this up.

Once you have your account set up and have installed Downloader you can visit the Ares Forum and navigate to the resources page.

 

Opening Kodi for the First Time

Now that you have Kodi installed, there are a few steps that need to be completed before moving on to installing a Repository and Add-ons. At this point, it doesn’t matter what Device or Format of Kodi you are using, the following guide will appear exactly the same.

 

 When you open Kodi for the first, you will see the Main Home Page. This will be the main Hub from which you’ll be able to open the different sections within Kodi. So from here we need to do some preliminary ‘housekeeping”. Select the Cog Icon located in the top left corner to continue.

 



 

You have now opened the Settings page, from here you will need to click on System settings.

 



While many of you may consider yourselves Neophytes to Kodi, in order to continue we must change the Settings found in the lower left corner from Basic to Expert. The easiest way is to  simply click anywhere in the Blue Area until it reads Expert. Look at you ! an Expert already !

 



 

Enabling Unknown Sources

 



Those of you who own a mobile android phone are familiar with security settings that must be changed when installing Apps. Kodi is no different. In addition to having the ability to install Add-ons from with Kodi itself, there also many more Add-ons/Repositories available that are listed as 3rd Party. To Enable this setting please do the following:

1. As a result of changing the mode from Basic to Expert there are now more options and settings made available.


2. Move the cursor up to and hover over Add-ons. You will notice the main window to the right has changed slightly.


3. Slide the cursor to the right and up to Unknown sources. To enable these option, click anywhere in the Blue Highlighted area.

 



Click YES to enable and return to the Main Home Page for the final few steps of the Guide.

 

Updating Pre-Installed Add-ons

 



Kodi Krypton comes with the Kodi Repository pre-installed. Some of the programs associated with it will require updates. The following method can be used for all future Add-ons/Repositories you may add later on as you get the hang of it.

1. Hover or move the cursor over Add-ons.


2. Then move up to Available updates. And Click to continue.

You are now in the Add-ons Section of Kodi where we will be discussing more later on in the guide. But for now we need to complete the updates. As you can see there are 7 Updates available in the top left corner. Please click there to continue, so far so good right ?

 



You will immediately be show the above screen, indicating all the Add-ons that need Updating. The fastest and easiest method is to click on Update all.

 



As each Add-on/Program completes updating, there will be a confirmation notification in the top right corner as shown above. I was a little slow if getting this screenshot, but as each one is completed, it will be removed from the list. This normally takes but a few seconds.

Congratulations ! you have successfully Installed, Opened and Updated your first version of Kodi.

End of Part 1

Please click Here to continue to part 2 of the Guide, How to install a Repository from File Manager and Zip File.