XBMC for Android specific FAQ

• Yes! This is a full port of XBMC! It is not a thin client or lite version!

Note: Hardware video decoding support is very limited right now, so most devices will have to use software decoding. Expect support for hardware decoding to improve with time.

• 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.

• Official APKs can be found here: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/releases/android/
• Nightly builds can be found here: http://mirrors.xbmc.org/nightlies/android/
• XBMC for Android will eventually come to the Google Play application store.
• Unofficial builds can be found here (but are not supported by Team XBMC). These include non-neon builds (i.e., Tegra 2):
  • http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=29737205
  • http://code.google.com/p/xbmc-android/downloads/list

• The current version of XBMC for Android is based on pre-Frodo (version 12) and is based on the same code as XBMC for all the other supported platforms. This is an unstable development version.

• XBMC main menu > System > Lower submenu > System info. Note the version and/or build date.

• 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)

• 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).

• 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.

• 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

See also: Android hardware

• XBMC for Android is still too early in development to have firm hardware requirements. As such, this is subject to major changes. A conservative estimate would be:
  • Something similar in spec to the Pivos XIOS (the development target for the initial Android port)
  • A NEON compatible ARM processor (for example: Tegra 1/2 probably won't be supported. Tegra 3 is okay.)
  • Android 4.0 or newer (might work on older versions such as 2.3, but this is a conservative estimate after all)
  • Hardware decoding support in XBMC is likely a must for HD video playback (720+). Don't expect this to work on any device until someone has specifically tested it and can confirm hardware decoding support for that device.
  • Avoid hardware that uses the Allwinner series of chips (such as the Allwinner A10). Development is not going well for these devices.

• Google TV devices are currently not supported.

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

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

• 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.
• Unlike most OSes, hardware decoding on Android isn't standard across different manufacturers and chip makers.
• Hardware video decoding is still under very active development in XBMC for Android, and it is expected that XBMC will be able to support a large selection of devices.
• Other players have hardware video decoding because they've signed NDAs or are using closed source code, which are not options for XBMC.

• XBMC for Android specific help forum
• #xbmc IRC chat channel on irc.freenode.org.

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/

• Be sure to have hidden folders set to be shown in your file explorer.

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

• Since Android v4 (aka, Ice Cream Sandwich), Android has changed how their navigation bar works. 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 or any other full screen videos.
• To remove the navbar:
  • You can use "HideBar" (Has a free version, and is open source if you wish to compile yourself)
  • A custom Android ROM can be installed to correctly handle the navbar on set-top-boxes.
  • There's some other tricks you can do if you have rooted the device  Editor note: I keep hearing this, but haven't found any of these tricks yet. If someone finds one, please note it here. 

• 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.

• XBMC has 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.

• NFS wasn't supported in early builds, but should now work as of v12 Beta 3 and later.

•  Note: Remember that hardware video decoding, which will be required on most devices for smooth video playback, is still very limited at this time. (see #Requirements) 
• Avoid using wireless. A lot of Android devices 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.
• Switch to a different network protocol to see if that has any effect, i.e. FTP, WebDAV, SMB, etc. Note that NFS currently isn't an option on the R-Pi yet.
• Try sharing the media on another device to rule out a device-specific (or network) issue.
• Turn off thumbnails, XBMC > Settings > Video > File and deselect 'generate thumbnails'.
• h.264 Hi10P will not work as there are no ARM processors powerful enough to software decode it, and no hardware decoders exist for it.
• If your TV/receiver supports it, enable various audio passthrough options to reduce the load on the CPU.
• If RSS feed is enabled, disable it in settings. This makes the main menu a bit faster.