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Kodi for Android is a free, open-source media center APK that turns a phone, tablet, Fire Stick or Android TV box into an organised library of your own movies, TV shows and music.
Kodi turns an Android phone, tablet or TV box into a proper media center rather than just another video player.
It scans the folders you point it at, then builds a browsable library with posters, plot summaries and episode tracking pulled in automatically.
The Android build is the same software that runs on the desktop, rebuilt for touchscreens and remote controls.
Which Version You Should Take
Two builds sit on the download page, and the right one depends on your Android version more than on anything else.
- Kodi 22.0 alpha needs Android 7.0 or newer. It is a development build from the Kodi 22 branch, updated most nights, so it can crash or change behaviour between downloads.
- Kodi 21.3 Omega runs on Android 5.0 and newer. This is the finished version the Kodi team recommends, and it does everything described on this page.
BEFORE YOU INSTALL
If this is the box the whole household watches films on, take 21.3 Omega. You can get it from the same download page, or read more about it on our stable 21.3 Omega build page.
Kodi 22 is worth having if you enjoy testing early builds, or if you want to check whether a bug that annoys you has been fixed. Install it on a spare device rather than your main one.
Older hardware is covered too. If your device is on Android 5 or 6, only the 21.3 Omega and 20.5 Nexus builds will install, and the 22 files will fail with a parsing error.
What Kodi Does That a Video Player Does Not
A video player opens the file you hand it. Kodi keeps track of everything you own and presents it as a collection.
Point it at a folder on your phone, an SD card, a USB drive or a shared folder on your home network, and it fetches cover art, ratings, cast lists and descriptions from online databases. Half-watched episodes remember where you stopped, across every device sharing the same library.
Format support is broad enough that you rarely think about it. HEVC/H.265, AV1, MKV, MP4, FLAC and most things older than those play without conversion, because Kodi decodes them itself instead of leaning on system codecs.
AV1 is the one to watch on a phone. Whether it plays smoothly depends on your chipset rather than on Kodi, and our guide on getting AV1 playback working on Android explains what to check.
MP4 is a container rather than a codec, and what sits inside it is usually H.264. That is the format that plays on almost everything, which is why MP4 files rarely give trouble on any device.
Windows is where these formats get awkward, not Android. If the same files end up on a PC, see our guide to opening HEVC and H.265 files on Windows, or the free AV1 Video Extension for Windows.
If you are unsure what your device can decode in hardware, Codec Info lists every encoder and decoder the phone actually has. It takes a minute and saves a lot of guessing.
The official add-on repository adds subtitles, weather, podcasts, radio and live TV connectors on top, all free and all installed from inside the app.
Installing the APK
Android 8 and newer dropped the old global "unknown sources" switch, so any instructions telling you to flip it are out of date. Permission is now granted per app, to whichever app opens the file.
- Open Settings, then Apps, then Special app access, then Install unknown apps. Pick the browser or file manager you downloaded with and turn it on.
- Open the APK from your Downloads notification and read the permission summary before tapping Install.
- Open Play Store, tap your profile, then Play Protect, and run a scan. It covers sideloaded apps too.
Two minutes spent checking the file is worth more than any scanner afterwards. Our APK Checker reads the package name, version, signing certificate and requested permissions before anything reaches your phone, and the full walkthrough on how to install an APK safely covers what to look for.
Kodi on Android TV, Fire Stick and Tablets
Kodi was designed for a television across the room, and it shows. The interface is built for a remote and readable from the sofa, which is why it suits TV boxes and tablets better than it suits a phone.
Fire Sticks and most Android TV devices have no file manager, so the usual route is a sideloading helper such as Downloader by AFTVnews from the device's own store, then granting it install permission the same way.
Check the Android version on a TV box before you download. Plenty of cheap boxes still ship on Android 6, which rules out the Kodi 22 files and leaves 21.3 Omega as the only build that will install.
For a broader look at what runs well on a TV, our guide to the best video player for Android TV compares the realistic options.
Live TV and IPTV Inside Kodi
Kodi plays M3U playlists and tuner streams through its PVR add-ons, with a full programme guide and recording if your source supplies one. Setup takes more patience than a dedicated app does.
If live TV is the main thing you want, a purpose-built player is usually the shorter path:
- TiviMate gives you a cable-style channel guide built for a remote.
- IPTV Smarters Pro takes an M3U playlist or an Xtream Codes login and turns it into a browsable channel list.
- ProgTV for Android handles tuner streams and recording on the same device.
Our roundup of free IPTV players for M3U playlists compares them properly. To tidy a messy playlist before you load it anywhere, the Playlist Builder runs in your browser.
Who Should Look Elsewhere
Here is the tell: if you mostly open one video file at a time from a chat app or your Downloads folder, Kodi is the wrong shape. You will spend twenty minutes on library setup to get something a plain player does in one tap.
VLC for Android plays essentially anything with no setup at all. mpv for Android suits people who care about rendering quality and want almost no interface in the way.
BSPlayer for Android is the lightweight option with automatic subtitle downloads, and KMPlayer for Android handles DTS and AC3 audio natively.
For DTS and EAC3 on MX Player, the separate MX Player Custom Codec add-on fills the gap Play Store licensing leaves.
If it is only music you are organising, foobar2000 Mobile is a far lighter answer than a full media center. There are more players and tools in our Android APK section.
Keeping Phone and Desktop in Step
Kodi can share one library database across devices, so an episode you start on the TV picks up where you left off on your phone. It needs a shared MySQL or MariaDB database on your network, which is a weekend project rather than a toggle.
The simpler half works out of the box - the same add-ons, skins and settings exist on Kodi for Windows and Mac, so the interface you learn on one device is the interface you get on all of them.
Quick questions
Is Kodi free?
Yes, completely. Kodi is open-source software from a non-profit foundation, with no subscription, no account and no paid tier.
Should I install Kodi 22 alpha or 21.3 Omega?
Take 21.3 Omega unless you specifically want to test early builds. Kodi 22 also needs Android 7.0 or newer, so on an older phone or TV box the choice is made for you.
Which APK do I need, ARMv7, ARMv8 or x86?
Almost every phone and TV box sold in the last several years is ARMv8, the 64-bit build. Pick ARMv7 for older or very cheap hardware, and x86 only for the rare Intel-based Android device.
Why does the install fail with a parsing error?
Usually the file is built for a different Android version or chip than yours. Check that your device is on Android 7.0 or newer for a Kodi 22 file, then confirm the architecture with Codec Info.
Are Kodi mod APKs safe?
No, and there is nothing to unlock. Kodi is already free with every feature included, so a modified build has been altered and re-signed by somebody other than the developer for reasons that are not in your interest. Our guide on how to install an APK safely explains what that changes.
Will Kodi run on a Fire Stick?
Yes. There is no file manager on the device, so install a sideloading helper from the Amazon store first, then open the APK through it.
Does Kodi come with anything to watch?
No, and that is the point. Kodi organises media you already have or streams you already subscribe to, and ships with no content of its own.
Download Kodi for Android and see how it handles your library, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.
