TVMC (version of Kodi/XBMC for the Amazon Fire TV)

Forums › Online streaming services › TVMC (version of Kodi/XBMC for the Amazon Fire TV) - any thoughts?

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#173837 8-Jun-2015 12:37

Has anyone here used a version of Kodi/XBMC called TVMC? Apparently they've developed a version of Kodi that can be directly installed as an app on the Amazon Fire TV.

I saw this article (http://www.tvaddons.ag/tvmc-fire-tv/) on Google Now on my phone today, and given I'm about to set up a Fire TV on behalf of my sister (using Kodi) I thought it worth exploring it further.

It may be more straight-forward to install than the sideloading and using a different app to launch that's required with Kodi, but I'm a bit hesitant given I know nothing of this - is it stable? Will they release updates to keep it contemporary with new Kodi releases? Are there any limitations?

Will research this more when at home, but just wondered if anyone else has direct experience with this.

nolanz

83 posts

Master Geek

#1319349 8-Jun-2015 13:04

I installed TVMC on a laptop a few days ago.
Extremely simple installation.
XBMC is great, but it really does need a lot of work to fine tune it.
TVMC just does it, obviously only with selected sources, but they seem adequate.
I found it so easy, I got my no techy brother to install it while we talked on Skype. I hung up while he downloaded the file, and when I got back to him it was already installed and running. No problems worked straight away for him. I just had to explain how to download and save, and he was off and running.

I decided to install it on an Android TV stick which I hadn't used for quite some time, but whether it is a coincidence or not I am now having problems and am planning to reflash to TV stick, and try again.

NZtechfreak

4649 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1319373 8-Jun-2015 13:41

Why not just install/sideload Kodi itself? Why the need of an app to open Kodi once side-loaded? Is that a thing with the Fire TV?

I notice that Kodi is reportedly working well with the Shield Android TV, would have thought the Fire TV would be similar?

(curious, as my Shield Android TV coming next week)

Twitter: @nztechfreak
Blogs: HeadphoNZ.org

jonathan18

7413 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#1319394 8-Jun-2015 13:58

NZtechfreak: Why not just install/sideload Kodi itself? Why the need of an app to open Kodi once side-loaded? Is that a thing with the Fire TV?

I notice that Kodi is reportedly working well with the Shield Android TV, would have thought the Fire TV would be similar?

(curious, as my Shield Android TV coming next week)

"Sideloaded apps like Kodi, XBMC, and SPMC are inconvenient to launch since they don’t show up on the Amazon Fire TV or Fire TV Stick’s “Home” and “Apps” section. Instead you have to dig deep into the settings menu, requiring over 20 remote button presses, to launch a sideloaded app."

http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-launch-kodi-xbmc-spmc-and-other-sideloaded-apps-from-the-fire-tv-homescreen/

For our Fire TV, I used method two (using a 'sacrificial app' to launch Kodi - http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-launch-kodi-xbmc-spmc-and-other-sideloaded-apps-from-the-fire-tv-homescreen/#method2) but the problem with that is the icon doesn't match. No biggie, but it's not the prettiest solution...

razor2000nz

217 posts

Master Geek

#1319689 8-Jun-2015 20:12

For our Fire TV, I used method two (using a 'sacrificial app' to launch Kodi - http://www.aftvnews.com/how-to-launch-kodi-xbmc-spmc-and-other-sideloaded-apps-from-the-fire-tv-homescreen/#method2) but the problem with that is the icon doesn't match. No biggie, but it's not the prettiest solution...

connect to the FTV via adbfire and there is a button that will change the icon to a kodi icon for you

joff_nz

446 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1319692 8-Jun-2015 20:19

Note that you can now get kodi to show up with it's own icon in the 'recent apps' tab with no real messing around - no longer requiring a long stupid path to get into it.

I have a relatively simple install of Kodi on my ftv and love it - not sure that I would look for anything else.