Kodi alternatives ?
Kodi alternatives ?
Searching for an alternative that can access your local library without needing a host or server, offering a media center interface. Currently using VLC but lacking its media capabilities. Looking for something similar to Kodi that meets these requirements.
Right now I'm having Kodi do on the fly transcoding/upscaling on a ShieldTV Pro. I only need it on one TV for now ergo the no server/host.
I fixed the playback issue with certain episodes last night but the library not fully importing despite numerous changes to names, formats, etc, I'm fed up.
Plex worked perfectly but again, that requires a host PC to do the transcoding.
I haven't used Kodi in years because Plex is significantly better, as you mentioned. I know you can set up Plex on a ShieldTV Pro, though the non-pro model doesn't seem to work. This might help with your issue?
I personally use Jellyfin—it's simpler than Plex and it handles internet drops better. In my experience, internet outages make Plex unreliable, but with Jellyfin you can still get it to work, though all users become admins. You can still use hardware transcoding even without an active connection, which is great! Jellyfin functions well no matter what. However, you'll need a suitable CPU or GPU if your device doesn't support the format natively. You might also try Kodi to view content from Jellyfin; I've done this before but don't recall the exact steps. There are likely more options out there for Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby. Good luck!
Plex functions solely as a client, unfortunately I couldn't use it, it doesn't handle local files. All the examples I wanted to avoid are disappointing. I don't want a PC handling the tasks. I need a media frontend that runs on Android. So far Shield and Cube 3 work fine with Kodi, but Kodi isn't perfect. Even my 40GB Rips of Blurays play smoothly without issues. It's just that Kodi is really slow.
"Plex Media Server" will definitely index your local files on a local system.
Requirements for Plex Media Server
If you plan to run your Plex Media Server on a regular computer, you’re considering using a dedicated machine,...
support.plex.tv
The sole reason I avoid it is that it doesn’t handle straight DVD rips. For example, ISO files.
Changing ISO, Video_TS, and Other Disk Image Formats
Plex does not allow the use of ISO, IMG, Video_TS, BDMV, or other “disk image” formats. If you want to...
support.plex.tv
Interesting. It seems I didn't bother checking anything since no other Android-based device was used (like Fire or Android on Phones or Tablets).
Luckily I extracted them all as mkvs for compatibility reasons.
That's not related to your use-case or decision.
I keep them in ISO or Video_TS format since it maintains the original DVD's features.
Well that wasn't exactly intuitive. But hopefully it assists someone else. Initially, I wasn't aware of a dedicated Media Server App. It didn't appear on the Shield interface but showed up in Google search results, so I added it to the Shield. When I opened it, nothing happened—no icon, no action. Then I tried the Plex app that was already installed. There was no media server there either. After removing the standard Plex app, reinstalling and restarting it, suddenly the server interface appeared. It would have been much better if they had made this setup more straightforward and provided clearer instructions in the web guide. No surprise that I never discovered the server feature before.