How to use Kodi to watch live TV

Kodi is a terrific cord-cutting tool, and it's really simple to watch live TV with it on your favorite Android.

To be clear, this isn't about watching TV channels delivered over the internet (IPTV) but actual over-the-air (OTA) channels. With the right hardware and matching plugins, adding your OTA TV to the main Kodi interface is a breeze. Android TV can integrate Live TV itself, but if you're a fan of having everything inside the Kodi interface then this one is for you.

For the purposes of this guide, we're using a HDHomeRun Connect tuner, but the process is the same for other supported PVR hardware. You also must have set up your hardware first before going into Kodi.

This isn't the same as just installing an add-on, either. HDHomeRun, for example, has an official Kodi add-on, but that works like a dedicated app. The third-party PVR client built into Kodi, by contrast, integrates the TV channels directly into the main Kodi interface, and there are numerous advantages to using it.

How to enable live TV on Kodi

1. Click on add-ons in the Kodi sidebar.
2. Hover over my add-ons in sidebar.

3. Select PVR clients.

   

4. From the list, select the relevant PVR client for your hardware.

   

5. Click install.

   

That's all you need to do to enable live TV within Kodi. It's a simple, seamless setup, and now you just have to go back to the main screen and click on the TV menu item in the sidebar.

All of your channels have been pulled into Kodi's main interface, and it's pretty damn slick. When you first go into your TV section in Kodi, it'll pop up a list of channels on the left of the screen with currently playing shows. To see more channels you just scroll.

There's also a neat TV guide for viewing everything that's on now and upcoming across your entire channel list. And whenever you're watching something live, flicking out to the full guide or even just the upcoming guide for that channel never gets rid of what you're watching. It always fades into the background.

As you watch, recent channels and favorites will begin to populate within the TV section for quicker access. The beauty of this setup is that any device you install Kodi on can integrate live TV in just a few steps using your local network. There's no additional antenna required.

If you have any tips and tricks for watching live TV on Kodi be sure to drop them into the comments below.

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