Kodi has quickly risen in the ranks as the go-to media center application. Its open-source nature allows extreme customizability and addons, making it the front-runner for any media lover. It’s a comprehensive solution that can combine stored media, streaming content, and even live sports in one application. You have the opportunity to download and install add-ons separately, but can also download a build, which is a pre-arranged set of very useful add-ons, with a complete skin and layout. If budgeted for typically consuming media, you can get a build that has all of those elements. The same is true for movies, music, and more DIY elements. This list will go through some of the best builds, so you can get the most out of your Kodi media center.
What is Kodi and Why Use Kodi Builds?
Kodi is a robust open-source platform that lets people aggregate and distribute multimedia content. It can play just about any type of file format you throw at it and is very easy to navigate, making it the go-to media player for many home theater PC setups. The platform is also “skinnable,” letting people go full Marie Kondo and visualize their collection of MP3s, TV shows, and movies however they see fit. Think of Kodi as a digital jukebox (made of pie!). There are several ways to install Kodi on a Pi—I recommend installing OSMC (a version of Kodi made specifically for Raspberry Pi) by following this guide. You can load whatever other software you want onto your Pi (you do have 32 GB to play with, after all!), but at the very least, I recommend OSMC and Steam.
Top Features of the Best Kodi Builds
A great Kodi build is one with a user-friendly interface that allows users to select the desired content easily. In other words, the layout of the build should be intuitive so that new users will not have too much difficulty navigating within Kodi. This is the first step to promoting Kodi to a wider demographic. The next thing about the build is that it should come with pre-installed streaming addons for movies, TV shows, live sports, or music. That way, if users do not like the look of the pre-installed skin that comes with the build, they can choose to switch over to another skin. This would allow the user to customize the look and feel of the build to his personal preference, which should make the overall streaming experience more enjoyable. It is essential to choose a build that is being updated regularly by the developer and has an active community that can offer tech support or provide instructions in case users are lost in some part of their streaming journey. These characteristics would allow for a continued and lasting relationship of users with the build.
Best Kodi Builds for 2023
Kodi builds have come a long way by the year 2023 and offer a lot more smoothness and finesse in streaming when compared with older versions. Some of the best examples are No Limits Magic which has a great, user-friendly interface with an exhaustive list of the best add-ons. This Kodi build is the perfect place to find all kinds of movies, TV shows, and live sports in one place. The Misfit Mod Lite build is famous for its speed of access and performance. It’s a lightweight build and has some fantastic and most popular add-ons like The Crew and Seren. The individual quirks and features of all the different builds generate a wide variety of viewing experiences. There’s one available for everyone, whether they are casual viewers or binge-watchers, so take your time to figure out which Kodi build you like the most.
How to Install Kodi Builds
Downloading and installing Kodi and certain builds can make your media streaming experience a whole lot better. Downloading the Kodi application is simple. Go to the official Kodi download page and select the version you need for your specific device. After that, you need to go to settings to install third-party builds by enabling “Unknown Sources.” Afterward, you can add the repositories or repo for short. This is where you can download and install custom Kodi builds, which can dramatically change your Kodi interface while also offering better functionality. Always read instructions on how to download and install these builds. I cannot give you a guide on how to install them correctly because I don’t know what technology or device you are currently nestled in with. The best way to get help would probably be to search for common troubleshooting questions you might have. For example, some of our builds might not function on certain devices, so you could start there.
Best Kodi Addons to Enhance Your Streaming Experience
When taking your Kodi to the next level, addon selection makes all the difference. You’ve got your mandatory addons like Exodus Redux for sourcing movies and TV shows, The Magic Dragon for its extensive list of categories, and Seren for those sweet, sweet premium links. These addons will all go into improving your Kodi in their own small (or not so small) ways. Their task could be as simple as setting you up to watch live cable TV to as complex as managing a giant personal library of legally grey on-demand content. And there are plenty of places to download these addons from. Official places like the Kodi Addon Repository are safe and sound but a bit lacking on the selection side of things while larger, riskier third-party repositories like the Lazy Kodi Repo have…wait, what was I talking about? Oh, right. Addons. Addons are great. Addons are basically just apps that aren’t allowed on the App Store because Apple doesn’t like competition.
Kodi Tips and Customization Options
You can make your Kodi setup look and act however you’d like by customizing it deeply. To reflect your personality, you might want to start by exploring different themes. But a skin is just a skin. Here are our favorite Kodi add-ons (like USTVNow, NetfliXBMC, Twitch, YouTube, ThePirateBay, and PseudoTV) for super-streamers. As a best practice, you may want to periodically purge your setup to clear the cache, get rid of old add-ons, and make sure your video settings match your display’s capabilities. If you find yourself buffering too much, it might be because the server from which you are pulling content is overladen with requests. Close your VPN to see if that makes any difference. Always make sure you download and install — or update to — the latest stable version of Kodi to ensure you have the latest features and security settings. To uninstall, learn how to navigate to the actual application folder for an add-on and delete it from the root.
Which Kodi build is right for you is integral to your Kodi media player experience because the build will lay out each of the next things for you: the next-to-use Kodi media player “skin” or Kodi background, the layouts, a comprehensive set of the top video addons and television addons you want to install, and the electronic program guide you prefer. Here on this web page is a sample of the best Kodi builds available today—each customized with a Kodi user’s varied radio and television broadcasting or streaming needs in mind. Most readers also use this web page to not only upgrade, reinstall, or start enjoying Kodi by jumping to our list of best Kodi builds; they also scroll to our comments section below to review our other web page for their entertainment genre Kodi addons viewed content.