Archive:Android FAQ

Android

Android FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions for Android.

General FAQ

See also: XBMC all platforms FAQ for FAQs that apply to all versions of XBMC.

Will this really do 1080 and all that stuff the desktop can do? Link Yes! This is a full port of XBMC! It is not a thin client or lite version! Note: Hardware video decoding support requires a nightly build. The initial aim for the Android port is to get XBMC working on inexpensive Android set-top-boxes. Phones and tablets will be supported as well for those who want XBMC on-the-go.

Installing/getting XBMC for Android Link Main page: HOW-TO:Install XBMC for Android Nightly builds for Android should now have hardware video decoding for most Android devices. A basic v12 build of XBMC for Android (APK) can be found here: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/android/ . XBMC for Android will eventually come to the Google Play application store once there is support for more Android devices. Nightly builds can be found here: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/android/

Is XBMC for Android different from normal XBMC? Link The current version of XBMC for Android is based on XBMC v12.3 Frodo, and is based on the same code as XBMC for all the other supported platforms.

How do I find out what version of XBMC am I running? Link XBMC main menu > System > Lower submenu > System info. Note the version and/or build date.

Video and audio formats XBMC for Android can playback Link XBMC for Android supports all the same formats that other platforms do (such as desktop OS). Due to the weak processing power of most ARM processors, for smooth playback most Android hardware will require proper hardware decoding. (See #Requirements below)

Accessing media Link See also: Adding videos to the library and File sharing You can connect to media that's being shared from a computer, HTPC, or NAS device on your local network. You can access media on the internal memory, SD cards or from USB ports (hard drives, USB stick drives, directly or via hubs, etc).

Add-ons and skins Link XBMC for Android is a full version of XBMC and will be able to use all non-platform specific add-ons and skins. More feature rich (CPU demanding) skins like AEON Nox might not run smoothly on lower powered systems, so keep to "lighter" skins for those boxes. If you are using a touch screen device and the build you are using did not include it, you can manually instal Add-on:Touched for better touch screen support.

Remote controls Link Some Android set-top-boxes come with a remote and an IR port which XBMC can use. Any Keyboard such as wired, wireless, bluetooth (if supported in your Android ROM). This includes "keymotes" such as a Rii, Boxee remote, most "air mouse" keyboard remotes, and others that appear as a normal USB keyboard to the system. Web interfaces, including add-on interfaces. XBMC smartphone and tablet remote apps. Other IR remotes can be used with IR receivers such as the Flirc. Some Android devices support CEC

Requirements Link See also: Android hardware 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).

Google TV Link You can install XBMC on Google TV devices that have the Android 4.2 update.

Launching Android apps from within XBMC Link XBMC can launch other Android apps by going to "Programs" (on the home screen) and selecting the app you want to run.

Automatically start XBMC Link You can automatically start XBMC when your Android device boots up using an application such as Startup Manager (free)

Why can other players work with HD video but not XBMC? Link HD video (720 and 1080 resolution files) requires what's known as hardware video decoding, using special chips that handle video playback, in order to run smoothly on most ARM/Android systems. Some Android systems have powerful enough CPUs that they can playback some HD video without hardware decoding, but most will require it. XBMC nightly builds and the upcoming v13 "Gotham" now has hardware video decoding support that should work with most Android devices and the most common video codecs. See Android hardware for more details.

Performance tips

Main page: Android#Tips and tricks

Performance: video buffering, stuttering, choppiness Link On Android TV 11 or higher to allow Kodi access to local files you need to manually set files permissions. On Android TV go to "Settings -> Apps - Kodi -> Permissions -> Files and Media" and select "Allow all the time". 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, Kodi -> Settings -> Video -> File and deselect 'generate thumbnails'. H.264 videos encoded with Hi10P profile will not work on some Android hardware as some ARM processors are not powerful enough to software decode it, and no hardware decoders exist for it. However, some newer/faster processors are able to playback Hi10P video using software decoding. 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?

Troubleshooting

See also: Troubleshooting

Getting more help with XBMC for Android Link XBMC for Android specific help forum #xbmc IRC chat channel on irc.freenode.org.

Userdata folder and logs Link The userdata folder and debug log is located on external storage/sdcard at one of the following locations (depending on your device): userdata folder /Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/userdata/ /sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/ /data/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/files/.xbmc/ debug log /Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/cache/temp/xbmc.log /sdcard/Android/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/cache/temp/xbmc.log /data/data/org.xbmc.xbmc/cache/temp/xbmc.log Crash log Download the SendLog app from the Google Play store. It allows you to send your system log to an email address. Email it to yourself and show us where the error happened. (requires root) Alternatively, you can use your computer. Plug your device, download and unzip the Android SDK and run ddms.bat in the tools folder. There you have it under LogCat. The logfile is kept on a phone for a while, so you don't need to reproduce a crash in order to get the log. Be sure to have hidden folders set to be shown in your file explorer.

How to hide the Android navigation bar Link Since Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) the way the navigation bar works has been changed. On some Android devices that do not have physical buttons the navbar cannot be normally hidden, but only “dimmed”. Some Android set‐top boxes have this “no buttons” flag set and will not hide the navigation bar when using XBMC. To remove the navbar: You can use "HideBar" (Has a free version, and is open source if you wish to compile yourself) The app "Full!Screen" is free and should also work. A custom Android distribution can be installed to correctly handle the navbar. Replicant, CyanogenMod and some others offer an “extended desktop” mode which hides the navigation bar and, optionally, the status bar too. Template:Gotham note

XBMC uses the battery too fast on portable devices Link This is a known issue. The main effort right now for XBMC for Android is set-top-boxes, but expect power usage issues to improve in time.

Issues with audio volume Link XBMC v12 "Frodo" had its own volume level in addition to the Android system volume level, so be sure to check that both are up if you are having issues hearing audio. Template:Gotham note

Audio sync/delay issues Link Is some or all of your audio out of sync with the video? Try these tips: Some AMLogic Android devices will have issues sync issues if the device is not rooted. Check for firmware updates for your specific Android device. If you have a delay that is consistent regardless of the file, you can manually adjust the delay: Open any video that has audio playing. Bring up the on-screen-display and select the audio options. Select Audio offset and then adjust the audio until the delay is corrected. Back in the OSD audio settings, scroll down and select Set as default for all videos.