HOW-TO:Install XBMC for Android

Installing applications on Android is quite easy compared to many other platforms, although it is somewhat different from other platforms. Below we list the steps needed for basic installation an uninstallation.

Enabling installation
At the moment XBMC isn't available yet through the Google Play Store. To be able to install apps that do not originate from Google Play Store you will have to do some steps to allow this. By default this is disable however it's quite simple to turn this on.

First located the settings menu on your Android device and search for the "security" menu. Once you enter it you will see the image below. Now enable "Unknown sources" option. This will allow you to directly install XBMC as easy as you would install it from Play Store.

Once XBMC is available from Play Store you don't have to enable this any more unless you want to try out our monthly or nightly builds.

Download
First download XBMC for Android from our servers. Official stable builds can be found here: http://xbmc.org/download/, though we highly recommend that Android users install the current nightly build: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/android/arm/

Install
Installing the XBMC app package is as simple as just finding the .apk you just downloaded and click on it. Either though the dropdown menu which you saw in previous screenshot or browsing to it using an explorer. After clicking on it this will open the Android app installation menu asking you what you want to do. In this case I could choose to scan it first or just install. This behaviour may differ from your device depending on your installation.

After that you will get the question if you are sure you want to install XBMC on your Android device. Ofcourse you will click on "install".

After that you will get the "installing..." dialog. Once installed you are asked if you want to return to your Android menu or you want to open XBMC.

If you click on "open" XBMC will be started. First run will take a little longer due to some needed caching to speed up next starts. Once started you are on XBMC home menu just like on any other platform. All the functions are the same like any other so from now on you can just use the getting started wiki to customize XBMC to your liking.

See XBMC_Quick_Start_Guide

Tidy up
After XBMC has installed you can delete the downloaded XBMC package to save some disk space.

Update
To update XBMC for Android simply follow the normal install steps with the newer version. All your settings and files will be preserved as they are located in a different place in the userdata folder. Be sure to make a backup of the userdata folder when doing updates in case something goes wrong.

Note: Since XBMC for Android is signed with our own signatures you will be able to install all succeeding versions without a problem. If you are using a non-official version not signed by us you may be required to un-install XBMC and you will loose all your settings due to this. Be warned before trying.

Uninstall
To un-install XBMC just go to your Android settings menu and select "apps". From there you will be able to un-install XBMC like any other Android app.