After starting as the Xbox Media Center, Kodi eventually slipped away from the Xbox to other platforms. After a commitment to UWP, the popular open source app has returned, this time for Xbox One.
Kodi has finally come full circle. The popular open-source media player is again available for Xbox, but this time the newer Xbox One through the Universal Windows Platform.
Developers XBMC offered up the good news in a blog post, explaining that while the app was now available worldwide, there were still some features that needed to be added and bugs squashed. Those that have used the player on different devices will get the same look and feel in the UWP version on Xbox One, but with some limitations:
For those unfamiliar with Kodi’s history, it started as the Xbox Media Center on the original Xbox, although not an official Microsoft product. The player was eventually developed for other platforms, with the Xbox version suffering as the device obsolete. In 2010, they stopped development on the Xbox version, as technical hurdles made it harder to develop for Xbox 360, and by 2014, renamed XBMC to Kodi.
However, when Microsoft adopted UWP for Windows 10, there was new hope. With some help from outside developers, the Kodi team created a Win32 version that did very well on what was then the Windows Store. The popularity offered hope that a 64-bit Kodi could work if they figured out how to do it. Here’s a little bit on why:
Work on the UWP version was being done in conjunction with the 64-bit version, although few on the team were aware of it. With help from Microsoft, the infant UWP version was born in July. By November, UWP code was merged into the master Kodi code, with the end result finally appearing in the Microsoft Store today. Converting from 32-bit to UWP is a feat few companies have been able to accomplish, especially in such a short amount of time.
While Xbox One users will be happy that Kodi has returned as a media option, the difficult conversion to UWP means that any Windows 10 device will be able to use it as well, including Windows phones, Surface Hub, and even HoloLens.
While Kodi may be popular, some of that popularity is for the wrong reasons, as it has become a preferred app for pirates using nefarious third-party add-ons to get the media player to stream copyrighted material illegally. The company has implemented a low-grade DRM to try to deter piracy.
