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How to Stream Kodi to Chromecast form Android or PC

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Google Chromecast is great for streaming media and it will work with media aps that support Google. Kodi, unfortunately does not support Google, but ways to overcome this obstacle. There are three ways that you can stream Kodi to your television through your Chromecast device. This will enable you to use Kodi on your Personal Computer, Mac, Tablet or Android Smartphone.

Below are the ways that you can use Kodi with your devices to make them compatible with Chromecast. After reading the options, you can choose which is best for you with what you have available to you.

Running Kodi in the background on your Android Smartphone.

This is considered by far the best way to stream from Kodi to Chromecast. This is for a few very important reasons.

First is that it is easy on the battery on your Smartphone, this will allow you to use it longer. Second, the connection is great for streaming and it will play the smoothest on you Television through your Chromecast device. This option also allows you to add videos to the queue and the other two methods do not.

Below Are the Simple Steps to Set Up You Smartphone to Use Kodi with Your Chromecast Device

This will surprise you by how simple and easy it really is.

  1. Start by installing three new apps onto your Android Smartphone. Of course, Kodi is the first, LocalCast and then an app that allows you to view hidden files. One that is highly recommended for this is ES File Explorer.
  2. When the above apps are installed you need to download the .xml file named PlayerFactoryCore. After it is successfully downloaded, you will need to open “ES File Explorer” or whichever app you are using for that purpose and go to the navigation menu. Click on “Settings”, it will open “Display Settings”. Click on “Show hidden files” to enable this function.ES-File-Explorer-display-settings
  3. After you have enabled your device to show hidden files, you will need to go to the “Downloads” folder to find the PlayerFactoryCor.xml file that you just downloaded. You need to copy this file and then paste it into the Kodi user data folder. Open “Android”, click on “Data”, go to “org.xbmc.kodi”. from there you will open “files”, then “.kodi” and finally you will open “user data folder”, this is where you will paste the PlayerfactoryCore.xml file.Kodi-Chromecast-Best-Method-ES-File-Explorer
  4. When the file has been pasted, you can open the Kodi App to play your videos. If you have more than one Casting App, Android will ask you to choose one now. You need to choose “LocalCast”. If you only have “LocalCast” it will automatically load the video without the prompt for you to choose.Play-Video-Kodi-Chromecast
  5. You will then choose your Chromecast device and the video will play on your television that the Chromecast device is connected to.Kodi-Chromecast-LocalCast

You can now add more videos to be played by choosing the option “Add to Queue”. This will allow you to play multiple video without interruption.Kodi-Chromecast-streaming-LocalCast

This is the only method where you can lock your Smartphone and still use Kodi with your Chromecast device. That also makes this the best method if you can do it this way.

Using the Chromecast App on your Android device

The Google Chromecast App has a feature called Screen Mirror that allows you to use Kodi on your Android Smartphone. Screen Mirror means that whatever you play on your phone will also play on you TV. Below are the steps to use it.

  1. First you will need to download and install both Kodi and Google Cast Apps for this to work with your Smartphone.
  2. Open Google Cast and then open the drop-down menu in the top right hand corner. Choose the “Cast screen/audio” option. You will have a window pop up saying “Screen is not optimized for this device; your experience may vary”. Don’t worry about this and press “ok”.Google-Cast-mirror-stream-Kodi-Chromecast
  3. The App should automatically search for your Chromecast device. Once they are connected you will see the same video on your Smartphone and on your TV thanks to the Screen Mirror feature. All you must do now is open Kodi and play a video.

Please note that using this method can cause a bit of lag when streaming to your Chromecast device. That means that the video may stop to buffer often if the connection is slow. While using this method, you will also not be able to use your Smartphone for anything else. If you answer the phone or open another App it will interrupt the streaming video.

Using Chromecast on you PC or Mac

This way of streaming Kodi to Chromecast is almost the same as the last method but it uses your computer. All you must do is follow the simple steps below.

  1. You will need to first download and install Kodi Client and Chrome in addition to Google Cast Chrome extension. If you have a Windows OS, you may need to download Chromecast setup client to connect for the first time.
  2. Open Chrome and Click on “Google Cast Extension”. This will open a new menu called “Cast This tab to…”. Click on the button in the upper right across form that. When the drop-down menu opens pick “Cast screen/window(experimental)”.Google-Cast-Extension-Cast-screen
  3. The option to share your entire screen will come up and you will select “share”.Google-Cast-share-screen-options
  4. Open any video with Kodi and it will play on the PC and your Television.

Please remember that you can lock or turn off your computer while you are streaming videos with this method.

The above choices should give you everything you need to stream from Kodi to Chromecast.

While the first option is the best way to go as far as uninterrupted streaming, the others are also great options if you need to use them. I hope that this was useful and don’t forget to share this article with your friends for family who may also find it helpful.

The post How to Stream Kodi to Chromecast form Android or PC appeared first on Tech PC Tricks.


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