Kodi has a fantastic built-in web server you can use to control it remotely from any browser. David Ludlow explains how to use it
The Kodi smartphone app is a great way to get all the features of a remote control for Kodi (and a little more). However, the media software also has a built-in web server that gives you even more control over Kodi from any device that has a web browser.
For example, you can use the web interface to browse all your audio and video content and select what to watch or listen to. There’s currently no support for photos, but that’s the only thing that’s missing.
From the web browser, anything you select to watch is played on your Kodi device. You’ve got full control over playback, using the on-screen controls, and the web interface can send your keyboard commands to Kodi to control the box remotely.
If you’d rather just watch the content on the remote device, you can do that, too. In this guide, we’ll show you how to set up and configure the web browser in 'Set up the web interface' below, and tell you how to get more from it.
How to use the web interface
The Kodi web interface gives you access to all the music and video you can access from Kodi, from any device with a browser. The display is designed to be used close up, so it includes more options and controls than the TV-screen version, making it easier to navigate. You can even use it to access Kodi over the internet, as we show you in 'Control Kodi from the internet', opposite.
Play content
To play content, choose a section from the left-hand menu, such as Movies, TV Shows or Music. Once you’ve selected a section, you’ll get a thumbnail view of your content, along with further categories to narrow your choice. For example, selecting Music lets you browse by Genres, Artists, Albums and more.
Hovering over any thumbnail gives you a pop-up Play button. Select this and the content will play immediately on your Kodi box. You can use the playback controls at the bottom of the browser to play, pause, fast forward and rewind through your content.
Get more info
If you click a thumbnail, rather than the Play button, you get more information on the content you’ve selected. In the case of video, this means a plot synopsis and more cast details. If you click an album, you get the full track listing, so you can pick which track to play.
Queue content
On the right-hand side of the screen, if you click the Kodi button, you can see the current playback queue with selectable headers for Audio and Video. Playing an album puts every song into the queue automatically. You can add other audio tracks or create a video playback queue. Just browse to the music or video you want and click the Queue button.
Select any item in the queue to play it immediately. You can drag and drop queue items to reorder them. Hovering over an item and clicking the ‘X’ icon removes an item from the queue.
Stream and download from Kodi
You’re not restricted to playing content on the device you have Kodi installed on, because you can stream live to your web browser, too. This works best over a local network, although you can open up Kodi to the internet and stream music remotely, too.
Stream content
Kodi can stream content directly to your device. Just navigate to the content you want to play (audio or video), then click the Stream button and Kodi sends it straight to your browser. Video content requires you to connect to a local network and plays in a pop-out browser; music is contained inside the main browser and you can use the controls to manage playback.
Manage a video stream
The default settings for the video stream should work well, but there are a few settings in the pop-out window that you can change. First, you can use the dropdown menu on the left-hand side of the screen to select the video stream: HTML5 is the default and best option, but you can switch to VLC stream if you’re having problems. To go fullscreen, click the icon to the right of the remaining time indicator.
Download for later
If you’re on a slow connection or want to make files available for offline use, Kodi’s web interface has a download option, too. Just browse to the content that you want to watch. For video files, click the More button. Select Download from the menu and the original file will be saved to your hard disk.
Music downloads work in a slightly different way and Kodi doesn’t provide a method for downloading whole albums. Instead, you can only save individual files to your computer. Browse to the album, hover over a track, click the three dots (‘...’) and select ‘Download song’. The original file will be saved to your hard drive.
Set up the web interface
1 On your Kodi device, go to Settings, Services, then click the Control tab. Turn on the ‘Allow remote control via HTTP’ option. Make a note of the port (8080) and username (kodi) – you’ll need these later. Add a password for security, so that your Kodi box can only be controlled by an authorised user.
2 Next, find your Kodi box’s IP address, so you can connect to it from another device. The easiest way to do this is to go to Settings, ‘System info’, Summary. Make a note of the reported IP address.
3 To connect to the web server, you need to be using another device on the same network. In a browser, type the following code http://<kodi_IP_address>:8080 replacing the middle section (including brackets) with the IP address. The bit after the colon is the port number that you noted down in Step 1. Press Enter. If you made a password in Step 1, enter it now.
Control Kodi from the internet
1 We’ve only got room to cover remote control and streaming music here – it’s harder to get streaming video working. Set up a password on your Kodi web server and find out its local IP address as in Step 2 of the 'Set up the web interface'. You’ll also need to know your external IP address or use a dynamic DNS service such as No-IP (bit.ly/noip420).
2 Log into your router’s webmanagement page and look for the port forwarding or virtual servers setting. Add a new rule and set the external port as 80 1 (so you don’t have to type in the ‘:8080’ bit to connect); the internal IP address as the one you use to connect to your Kodi box; the internal port as 8080; and the protocol as TCP.
3 Save your settings. Now, when you’re out and about, you can type in your home’s IP address or your dynamic DNS address, and you’ll be able to access Kodi from anywhere in the world.