Kodi Media Center

Category

Description of App

Kodi™ (formerly known as XBMC™) is an award-winning free and open source (GPL) software media center for playing videos, music, pictures, games, and more. Kodi runs on Linux, OS X, Windows, iOS, and Android, featuring a 10-foot user interface for use with televisions and remote controls. It allows users to play and view most videos, music, podcasts, and other digital media files from local and network storage media and the internet.

Version

14

Free or Paid

Free

Version Of macOS App Was Tested On

10.10.4

Accessibility Comments

fully accessible with this screen reader Addon, which is located at:
http://ruuk.github.io/service.xbmc.tts/
To install, download the repository and Addon from the site above. Note: Look under "advanced". Once downloaded, press CMD-SHFT-G and type the following, after opening Kodi for the first time:
~/library/Application Support/Kodi/addons
Extract the two zip files and paste the contents into this folder. Congratulations, you now have a talking, accessible Kodi!

Usability

The app is fully accessible with VoiceOver and is easy to navigate and use.

Other Comments

I struggle with the usability, as it's not technically VoiceOver doing the work here, is an add-on using the System Voice. Still, I hope that is reasonable enough.

Developer's Twitter Username
KodiTV

Recommendations

2 people have recommended this app

Most recently recommended by Orinks 3 years 4 months ago

Options

Comments

By Ekaj on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

Will this app play MIDI files? I ask because I tried going into the MIDI setup utility to configure playback, but I am having a heck of a time in there. The utility seems to be accessible, but I don't think I'm technical enough at least quite yet. Preview won't work with the MIDI files I've tried either.

By Cliff on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

I've heard that this app is one way to have an accessible way of using spotify on the Mac.
Can anyone explain how to get the addon for spotify installed? It should be called something like SpotIMC.
I've downloaded the extra addon repository from super repo, but I still can't find the spotify addon.
Any help would be highly appreciated! :)

By JDawg on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

i installed the screen reader addon, but can't figure out how to start it. I go to the apps folder, click on kodieathen all VO does is busy, then when I hit cmd shift g, and paste in the library/application support thing, i hit enter, and all i get is a noise. no screen reader. What am I doing wrong?

By Orinks on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

Hi,
You have to put the addon and repository in the addons folder, found under ~/library/application support/Kodi/addons.
Hope this helps. Just move them out of the main Kodi folder you put them in and put it in the addons folder there.

By chad on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

hi app works for me but i seem to not be able to access items altering entering
like if i download a Haddon i hit enter and it don't launch
and when i exit the app a error always occurs
it says Kodi quit unexpectedly

By Orinks on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

Have you confirmed your System Voice is working correctly? The repo should download the latest update if not the latest version and restart the addon.

both the service.xbmc.tts and the ruuk.addon.repository are extracted into the aforementioned folder, but there is an addon.xml file in both folders. one's dated dec 17 2014, and the one in the screen reader's dated april 15, 2015. what one should i use? and all i get when i up and down arrow are the clicking sounds, no voice. and the system voice is working.

By John Dowling Jr. on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

hi there I can't find the repossitory the folder I got was named service.xbmc.tts-master. what should I do?

By Cliff on Friday, May 22, 2015 - 07:30

Hi all! I had the same problem! I tried pasting the files from the 2 downloaded folders into the ~/Library/Application support/Kody/addons/ folder, but that didn't work at all.
So I twisted my brain for a moment, and found out what was wrong.
What you will have to do, is to paste the 2 folders you downloaded into the addons folder, not the content of the forlders.
If you've already have pasted the content of the folders into the addons folder, I suggest that you just clean it up first, by deleting the whole addons folder. It will be created again when you start Kody. So try this:
1. Delete the addons folder within the kody folder
2. Start Kody to have the addons folder recreated in it's original form.
3. Quit Kody.
4. Find the 2 folders you downloaded, they should be named Ruuk.addon.repository and service.xbmc.tts. Copy them and paste them into the addons folder found at ~/library/Application support/Kody/addons/
5. Open Kody again, and enjoy!

Hope this helps! :)

By Moopie Curran on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - 07:30

Hi, I love the add-ons for this media player, but I have a question. are there any shortcuts for playing local media files on an external hard drive using Kodi? I know itunes or VLC can do this, but vlc takes forever to load large playlists, and I don't use itunes for my dvs movies, I just use itunes for music. Since Kodi seems to be a library-based media player, amongst other features, I was just wondering if there were any hotkeys to play, pause, fastforward, rewind, and shuffle the various files on the drive. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Moop

By Apple Khmer on Tuesday, December 22, 2015 - 07:30

Fastforward is f, rewid is r, pause is space. You can look up the others on the internet.

By Cheryl on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

I had a terrible time with this on my imac and spent a couple of hours figuring it out so i'm going to post the steps here.
1. Install kodi.
2. Open the application so that the needed directories are created, etc.
3. Close Kodi (may not be necessary).
4. Download both the service.xbmc.tts folder and ruuk.addon.repository folder. This is where I had my problems. By following the instructions in the original post and going to advanced I was able to download the service.xbmc.tts folder but I couldn't find the repository; it's probably there in plain sight but I couldn't find it. I finally did a separate search for ruuk.addon.repository and also with the word zip and i finally found it. I'm a bit concerned as to whether what I found is outdated but it was the only one I could find to download and it seems to be working.
https://code.google.com/p/ruuks-repo/downloads/detail?name=ruuk.addon.repository-1.0.0.zip&can=2&q=
When you get to this link do a search for zip and you should be at the file. Use the context menu ctrl-option-shift-m and download linked file. Again, I hope this is up-to-date. If this is outdated and somebody has a current one please post it. I think the main problems people have been having are finding the repository zip file and the issue in step 7.
6. if the folders are not automatically unzipped, unzip them.
7. Copy both the service.xbmc.tts and ruuk.addon.repository folders, not the zip files and not just the contents of the folders but each unzipped folder, to your user's Library/
application Support/Kodi/addons folder. if you somehow have both a service.xbmc.tts folder and a service.xbmc.tts.master folder don't copy both of those; I originally copied both and got no speech but when I removed the .master folder the problem was solved.
8. Open Kodi again and try arrowing down. You should have speech.
9. If you don't like the voice, you will need to change the system voice in System Preferences > Dictation and Speech as it is the system voice that is being used.
Hth.

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

I am really lost as to what I am doing wrong. I downloaded the ruukaddon and the other folder as well and opened Kodi first, closed it and then added those folders to library/applications.support folder under kodi and the add-on folder. When I open Kodi I get a beep/or tone that I didn’t get before but still I get no speech. i hear clicks when moving around, but no speech. What am i doing wrong. As I said, I followed the person above instructions and seemed to get a tone or beep upon launching Kodi when moving around but no speech., just clicking sounds.

By Apple Khmer on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

After the tone, you should start to hear it say "Windows." After that, you should be able to navigate.

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

That is just it, I just hear a tone and get no speech of any kind. As I said, I do hear clicks when moving through the window, no speech though.

By Cheryl on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

In reply to by thunderhorse82

I don't have further suggestions other than:
(1) make sure your Internet connection is working. I would think that would be needed if the repository has to update.
(2) Make sure your system voice is set and working in System Preferences > Dictation and Speech.
(3) Double check that you pasted in the right location: your home directory's Library/Application Support/Kodi/addons.
(4) Make sure that the pasted folders are service.xbmc.tts and ruuk.addon.repository. No .zip extension.
(4) make sure you are arrowing and not trying to use voiceover combinations. Sometimes I actually turn voiceover off when using Kodi.
Sorry I don't have more suggestions at present.

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

I have a xbmc.tts master folder, not one without master. Could that be the issue. If so, how do I get the folder without it being master.

By Cheryl on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

Although it isn't recommended to edit the sources.xml for Kodi, it is possible to do so and may be sometimes necessary given our limited access. I wanted to add an Internet source that has an installer/config wizard. I tried to use File Manager but I wasn't sure if just typing on the computer worked or not since I couldn't ever find the field to enter the name I was giving to my added source though I could find the place to enter the url. The onscreen keyboard is accessible but I searched and searched and while I could find some symbols I never did locate the colon so I couldn't try that. I made a working copy of my sources.xml rather than editing the one being used. I first changed my addons to install from zip files since this particular source requires that. I then closed Kodi and carefully followed the pattern for my entry. Then after making sure I had a copy of the original in case something went wrong, I copied my edited version into ~/Library/Application Support/Kodi/userdata and then opened Kodi. This worked to add my new source and I was then able to follow the instructions for that particular installation to download the config wizard and run it. Proceed with great care and never do this without having an original available.

I also find that when exitting I often then get a problem report saying that Kodi quit unexpectedly. This happens even if I exit the proper way through Power Options > Exit and has been happening from the beginning of my work with Kodi. Since nothing else seems to happen that is a problem I just dismiss the dialog.

By Cheryl on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

In reply to by thunderhorse82

Yes, recall that in my post I said that I had to remove the .master folder and that turned out to be the problem. Try unzipping the zip file again if you still have it after getting rid ot any of those folders in your Downloads. Otherwise re-download the zip file and unzip it again unless it unzips automatically. You only want the one without the .master extension. Make sure you are downloading the service.xbmc.tts.zip from the advanced section.

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

every time I download it I get the master folder, I don’t know how to get the xbmc.tts folder without it being master. lol this is to confusing.

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

Is there anyway that anyone can share the xbmc.tts folder to download through dropbox. I for the life of me can’t find the folder that doesn’t have the master extension.

By Cheryl on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

In reply to by thunderhorse82

i am not sure what the difference is but you could try changing the name by deleting .master from the name before pasting and see if that works. If the dcontents of the folder are different, that won't help you but if they are the same except for the addition of .master, this should work. I just tried a couple of times to download and also ended up with .master so I am not sure what makes the difference or what different process you use to get just the plain folder vs the .master. Btw somehow i saw the repository folder right away this time and I couldn't find it there yesterday. Go figure!

By thunderhorse82 on Friday, January 22, 2016 - 07:30

That did the trick. Thank you very much indeed. :)

By John Dowling Jr. on Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 07:30

hey guys. the subject says it all. where do I get the super repossitorry. do you no if I can get Iheart radio from the super repossitory? also, do I paste the super repositorry folder in the same place I pasted the screen reder add-on?

By Apple Khmer on Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 07:30

You may find the Super Repo online, along with instructions on how to get it on to Kodi; howeer, I wouldn't use it, and it doesn't have an iheart addon.

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 07:30

Hello to all. I read the comments and am a bit confused. I downloaded the 1.6 version of the tts add on but where can I get a better set of add ons that are better then the genesis ones? Also how do I install said add on? Thanks.

Update: I got the program running but man does it cause my system to lag like crazy. Is this normal? If so is there a fix for this? Also, how do I speed up the TTS it's way way way too slow.

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 07:30

One more observation. I notice that when I go to update the add on repository I get 0 updates afterwords. I had to do a reset of kodi to get everything back to the way I had it before. That really sucked. I'm using the version from mac update modified march 2016. Any advice here?

By Apple Khmer on Sunday, May 22, 2016 - 07:30

Which addons are you wanting to install? What was Genesis is not Exodus.

By trey on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

hi all, firstly I've tried both the authors download link and shekels download link all i found was a file called "service.xbmc.tts"

I didn't find any thing about a reapo, when i unzipped the file I copied it the koi add ins folder.

when I opened koi i herd a bleep VO said "music 5 items" but when i tried to navigate the window all i found was the close zoom and minimise buttons please does any one know what's going on?

your help with this question would be most welcome, kind regards trey.

By Apple Khmer on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

Well, first, you got it to work. Now, after you open Kodi, you must turn off Voice Over. Leave it off until you are finished using Kodi.

By KE7ZUM on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

I actually use it with voiceover on. Also the person I heard use the software had over 200 add ons in music. I have 63. How did they get over 200 add ons including rDio, and all of that stuff. It looks like they have the whole tune in directory as I think I even saw some MLB stuff. But I can't remember. It also still lags my system and is as slow as ever. Also the voice is way way way too slow for my liking.

By Apple Khmer on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

I think you may have to go in to system settings to change the speed of the voice.

By trey on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

hi, thanks to thoughs who helped with my question.

how do you brows for files in kodi's file browsers? I've been able to find the place to type the file path but i can't find a way to actually brows for files.

any help with this would be most welcome kind regards trey.

By KE7ZUM on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

Yep it's still way too slow for me. I work at about 4-500 wpm and the speed was at 100 percent. It's still way tooslow, even in kodi. Actually the speed is different in kodi then what I have set up in system prefs.

By Apple Khmer on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 - 07:30

Hmmm, I can't think of anything at the moment to possibly fix tht at the moment. Kodi is using the system voice, but it seems to not follow any settings in System Pref.

By Blind Joe on Monday, May 22, 2017 - 07:30

Hey guys. I got the screen reader working no problem on version 14.2 helix, but when I try the same approach with 17.3 krypton, it doesn't work. Does anybody know how to get it working on the newest version? Thanks in advance. :-)

By Apple Khmer on Monday, May 22, 2017 - 07:30

I'm trying to find an answer to that too.

By Earth on Saturday, December 22, 2018 - 07:30

any update on getting it to work with the new version? because I tried to follow everything and it still doesn't work and until the end I found out that it doesn't work with the new version. or how can I get the old version? how old do I have to go back to for the voice to work?

By Orinks on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 - 07:30

I wonder if the author of the screen reader just abandoned Kodi on the Mac side. You might have to follow what the latest comment says on my podcast about it. He gives Windows instructions, but once inside Kodi it should be the same on all platforms.

I need to get back into Kodi again.

By kool_turk on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 - 07:30

Those instructions work for the latest version, 17.6 or later.

By kool_turk on Tuesday, January 22, 2019 - 07:30

I was the one who wrote those instructions in that podcast thread.

Kodi should feel the same on most, if not all platforms, so getting speech to work shouldn't be an issue, unless the screen reader doesn't work on that platform.

The website says it won't work on android or iOS, and I'm not brave enough to try and fiddel about with it on those platforms.

It uses the system voice on windows, and I know the mac also has a system voice, but since I don't own a mac, I can't test it.

One of my friends tested it on a firestick, but didn't get any speech, so obviously the screen reader won't work on all platforms, but there's no reason why it shouldn't work on a platform that has a system voice.

If you're on a mac, give it a try, worst thing that will happen is it won't work and you'll have no speech, in which case you can give feedback on the thread.

It's rather a long thread, so you probably will want to just skip to the last page.

https://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=196757&page=40

By JC on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 - 07:30

Hi,

I got Kodi to work on MacOS Big Sur, but no speech. The last time I used it was when I was on MacOS Catalina. I'm not sure how to enable speech, but sound still works. Plus, this thread hasn't been updated. If someone still uses Kodi on Big Sur and has figured out how to enable speech, that would be great.