Recently Kodi is on everyone’s lips, the multi-platform media player has its merits but much of the success is due to the Kodi add-ons that greatly expand its capabilities. Add-ons allow you to use Kodi to download subtitles, view IPTV playlists, download torrents, as well as a large number of online services.
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The Kodi add-ons have become so famous that the Android TV box boom is due in large part to the interest these and Kodi are creating in the public. Of course, if you intend to use many Kodi Add-ons it would probably be better to use a particularly suitable TV Box and we have created an in-depth discussion on the subject:
This post aims to answer some of the questions that bounce online, the most common to which we will try to give a convincing answer are- What are Kodi Add-ons? How do they install? My add-on does not start, what did I do wrong? Are add-ons legal? Are add-ons safe?
As you can see the questions are not few we hope to give all adequate answers, let’s start from the first:
What are Kodi Add-ons?
Add-ons are compressed packages which, when installed, add capabilities and functions to Kodi. They work indistinctly on all the platforms on which Kodi runs, extreme portability is one of their great strengths. Add-ons are divided into two large groups. A group is that of the official Add-ons prepared by the large Kodi community, they usually offer access to famous web services and we list some of them as an example:
- Youtube
- dplay
- DailyMotion.com
- Rai On Demand
The Kodi add-ons managed and developed by the community include themes (skins) and languages.
There is also a second large group- that of third-party Kodi add-ons. Their number is constantly growing and it is on them that the attention of most users is concentrated. The reason is simple they really do everything and they are the ones that allow you to have access to the contents that people are looking for- TV series, movies, sporting events.
Some known examples are:
- Stream on demand – particularly loved because it offers access to many TV series and streaming movies in Italian.
- Dream world IPTV – famous because it offers the streaming of many Italian and foreign channels, including satellite channels.
- Evil King Plus – the King of IPTV add-on is back, always offering many channels, lots of lists and lots of sporting events.
- P2P Sport – owes its fame because it allows you to see the events available on Acestream.
- SportsDevil – Add-on for the famous sport that is often found pre-installed on Kodi in different TV boxes
How do I install an add-on?
It is not at all complicated, however, the procedure differs between Kodi 17 with the new Estuary interface and Kodi 16 and SPMC which have a Confluence interface. To avoid confusion, we will separate the two procedures by describing them in two different paragraphs.
Install Kodi Add-on 17
It’s simple and just a few steps, first you need to get the updated addon package you want to install, the Add-on packages are in zip format.
From the Kodi 17 home page, just click on Add-on (1) then on the icon in the top left corner of the box (2) and then on the item Install from a zip file (3).
At this point, you can browse your hard disk and go to the folder where you downloaded your zip add-on. Select it with a click or tap and the add-on will be installed.
At the first installation of an unsigned (and therefore non-EU) add-on, Kodi will inform you that installation is not possible for security reasons. In the window click on Settings (1), in the interface that will open enable the item Unknown sources (2) a dialog box will appear that warns you of the risks click on Yes.
Once the installation is complete you will find the add-on in the homonymous menu directly accessible from the home.
Install Kodi 16 and SPMC Add-ons
SPMC is not known by all but it is the best fork of Kodi for Android (if you want to know more, read our in-depth section).
Both Kodi 16 and SPMC have Confluence as their theme, so installing add-ons is slightly different.
Also, in this case, you need the zip file of the Add-on.
From the Kodi home, go to the last item on the right SYSTEM, then on the item Add-on and finally on Install from a zip file. Now just go to the folder where you downloaded the zip file and just click or tap to install it.
You will surely find your add-on under the heading Video add-on in the VIDEO menu.
Why won’t my add-on start?
The reasons could be different, and we must distinguish between Kodi add-ons maintained by the community and those produced by third parties. Those produced by third parties incur more often in malfunctions and sometimes crash. In this case, we recommend first to restart Kodi, sometimes it seems that it is the Add-on to drive you crazy and instead the fault is all of Kodi.
If the problem persists after restarting Kodi, and the Add-on continues undaunted not wanting to know about starting, there can be three reasons:
- there is something stored in Kodi’s cache that makes it crash;
- the Add-on has been installed incorrectly;
- the Add-on is not compatible with your version of Kodi;
In the first case a variable in the cache can crash your Add-on, it is always a good idea to clean the Kodi cache often, to do so you can consult our in-depth analysis.
In the second case, repeat the installation, perhaps re-downloading the package first, the incorrect installation could be derived from that.
If the first two solutions do not work, you are certainly in the third case. To solve, you need to look for a more updated version of the Add-on, the one in use may not be compatible with your version of Kodi, or simply be bugged.
Are add-ons legal?
The answer is it depends- as some those maintained by the community certainly are. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of those developed by third parties. Not even all the Kodi add-ons developed by third parties are to be considered illegal, yet they certainly are those that allow access to- TV series, films, sports events (league games and Champions).
As it is in England, sports networks see Kodi as the first threat to their income and their rights. We strongly urge you to avoid Kodi add-ons that offer illegal content, as even those who use them are liable to report them. Use only legal add-ons!
Are Kodi add-ons safe?
A million-dollar question. Those maintained by the Kodi community should not have security problems. Turning to the panorama of those developed by third parties, the situation tends to become quite complex- some certainly offer illegal content, so those who use them are not entirely safe from legal action.
But in fact, it should be emphasized that often Add-ons are much safer than the sites from which they take content, so if you want to use content that violates copyright it is often preferable to add Kodi to venture on sites full of advertising and very dangerous.
Some try to protect themselves from possible legal actions by using a VPN to hide their identity, this is extra protection but not as effective as is believed (we invite you to consult our in-depth information on this):
VPN- what they are and everything you need to know
Our Kodi Add-on Guide has come to an end, we hope you have clarified your doubts and answered your questions, making you understand that Kodi is a legal instrument but often leads to illegality due to third parties.
Don’t use illegal add-ons, I recommend. If you have more, don’t hesitate to leave us a comment.
