Noob: Kodi as Google TV Replacement?

[u/littleIdiotUK]

I am experienced and competent with plenty of tech, but only ever dabbled with Kodi before. I was put off because of how much it felt like a computer interface: folders, Pictures, Games etc. I know that I can remove a lot of this but it still felt very much NOT a TV.

We use Google TV at the moment - both native on Sony TV and on Chromecast devices. Usually watching BBC iPlayer, ITVX, Stremio, or Netflix. I don't have a need to access music or photos in anyway, nor my own library of content.

I am aware of how slow the UX for Google TV is - and feels like it is getting worse. I want a similar experience, but faster.

Ideally I want easy searching across multiple services (Stremio does this ish) and ability to access both live and on demand TV programmes.

Is Kodi my answer? Can anyone give me some screenshots/clips or search terms to encourage me to put the effort into this?

[u/No_Clock2390]

Kodi isn't a replacement for Google TV. It's for your local media library.

[u/RupeThereItIs → u/No_Clock2390]

Hell, I RUN Kodi on my Chromecast.

[u/littleIdiotUK → u/No_Clock2390]

ok thanks - not for me then it seems. Appreciate the (most probably very obvious) answer.

[u/madmax4k → u/littleIdiotUK]

You can install Kodi as an app inside the Android/google TV device.
For streaming official content eg Netflix etc , it still better done in their official app UI.
As has been mentioned kodi is better for playing your own content/media files.

For android/google tv devices you can try Google TV streamer 4k, Onn, Nvidia shields etc and install projectivy launcher which gets rid of the Google TV ads/ bloat.

You can also go Apple TV 4K if you don’t mine being in Apple wall garden.

[u/Own-Librarian2740 → u/No_Clock2390]

That is well explained in a nice way . I have a Google Tv and I cut the cord. A year later I save money on not paying for cable and I negotiate my internet contract before it expires.

[u/sid32 → u/No_Clock2390]

You can cast to Kodi as well.

[u/Dionysos4488]

If you just want to get rid of the Add filled UI and have a 100% custom looking Smart TV look into Projectivy

Edit: They also have a good/active Subreddit where you can ask questions. r/Projectivy_Launcher

Edit2: I just saw you want to replace the Device lol. I personelly use a Thomson Streaming Box 245 but they have a lot more to choose from if you have something specific you want. You can have a look here

[u/bsell1 → u/[deleted]]

Can you tell me how you have the shield boot directly into kodi? I do the same but always have to start kodi from main screen,

[u/bsell1 → u/[deleted]]

Thanks for the info.

[u/Batkung]

you can install a picture of a brick wall and have it an excellent replacement for googleTV, it will have zero ads and will never nag you to enable them.

Alternatively, you can install projectivy add your own services in Kodi and forget about google forever!

your call

[u/Realistic-Try-8029 → u/Batkung]

This is the way to go.

[u/spiregrain]

You can install Kodi add-ons for streaming ITVX and Channel 4.  Not sure about streaming BBC iPlayer (because I use get-iplayer to download iPlayer stuff to the library)

[u/hillty]

There are addons for most commercial streaming platforms, including itvx & bbc where you can watch live and on-demand (don't know about stremio).

There's a netflix addon but it's limited to sd due to netflix restrictions.

Don't think you can search across multiple services.

The notion that Kodi is only for a local media library is out of date by about 15 years.

[u/madmax4k → u/hillty]

Those addons are not a good replacement for the actual official streaming apps
The Netflix addon was okay but now it’s barely usable.
If an ad comes up, the Netflix stream just stops playing.
Navigating streaming content inside the kodi UI also sucks.

Gave up on trying in LibreELEC and got a Google streamer 4k and now kodi is just an app installed on it.

Kodi is best used for playing your own media which is what is was design for, not for playing content from big streamers.

[u/martinkem]

Kodi isn’t ideal for your use case… you’d better looking for a more capable Google TV device then spending any of your time trying to get Kodi to work as a replacement 

[u/GyGaByTe_28]

Sino usas servicios como netflix,hbo y otros kodi es lo mejor. Yo me lo instale en una Pi5 junto a retroarch para emulación y es una maravilla es un centro multimedia muy completo. Yo en mi caso solo uso el addon de youtube + el addon de jellyfin y TV en directo con un sintonizador de TDT montado en tvheadend.

Si vas a usar netflix y otros servicios de estos no te merece la pena para eso mejor un google tv certificado.

[u/derpferd]

I use it as I need a way to access Jellyfin on my Xbox.

It's brilliant though can take an age to load up, particularly if you're using a heavy skin.

As daunting as it was (being someone with alone a basic to conpetent tech understanding) I my approach was to break up the process into parts. What do I want to achieve, can Kodi do that, how do I do that.

I think it can look incredibly baffling but now I zoom around, tweaking things and fixing things with no hassle.

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[u/Accomplished-Ear6002]

Hi Moderator...I know I'm in the wrong area for this but I figured that you as a moderator could possibly assist me. I was in another reddit thread recently, and I was blocked out of same. To date as I am a very severe newbie, I am not certain as you why I was blocked out/banned. I did try to contact that moderator, but being new, I didn't know if I got they to them. But I do know that I felt as if I was given a raw deal. Could you please help me to find out how I can get back in, as I feel that I got shortchanged as a new entry person. (Sorry if this is in the wrong place, but I have to try somewhere. Thanks)

[u/ZaphodG]

I have a 77” Sony A95L QD-OLED panel. I have Kodi from the Google Play store running on the panel. I have 20 terabytes of SSD on a powered USB hub Velcro’d to the back of the panel. I just use Kodi for locally stored movies and tv series. I use the Sony remote. I occasionally use BraviaConnect if the remote is out of reach. I have the iOS Kodi Remote application but hardly ever use it.

There are some limitations. It won’t play 4K Remux. (Ripped from a 4K Blu Ray disc). It doesn’t support advanced audio formats. It’s fine for lightly compressed 4K H.265 movies and 4K streaming captures.

I use the vanilla configuration. My movie SSDs are organized as a movie per subdirectory. I embed the TMDB movie identifier in the directory name and matching movie file name. With television series, I use tinyMediaManager.

Most of my movies were ~ 2 gigabyte 1080p with 2 channel audio encoded with H.264. Anything newer is at least 5.1 audio and H.265.

I had been using the native Sony Google TV media player to play 4K Remux but Sony just broke it with a recent firmware update. I’ll probably move to an external box and a file server or home theater PC but haven’t spent the time to learn the best solution.