Less than 24 hours have passed since the Kodi Team released a new version of their media center. One of the new features is Kodi 21.0 for webOS, the operating system installed on most LG smart TVs. Since I bought one in 2019, I decided to try it out to see if it works. Is it worth installing? For those who have no other option , absolutely; it elevates mid-range televisions to a whole new level.
However, webOS devices are not usually as powerful as a computer or a TV box, and that's something to keep in mind. While you can install webOS on a Raspberry Pi, I don't think it's the best option considering it also has the option of using Android or Linux ARM distributions. Kodi already feels sluggish on some computers, and on webOS, well, I'd say it works. Just barely, but enough to make my laptop/TV box run a little less.
Installing Kodi on webOS 4+
Installing Kodi on webOS is easy for almost everyone. It's not for everyone, though, because you need a PC, an application to manage developer mode, and a developer account. It takes a bit of effort, but the result is worth it. The process is also explained on the Kodi Wiki.
- Let this link I create an account or use our LG account. You have to follow the instructions.
- Once the account is created, we will this other link and we download webOS Dev Manager. It is the PC application that we will use to upload the app to our device. For Linux, it is as AppImage.
- From the Kodi page, we download the latest version – or the one we need – of Kodi for webOS. It is a file with an IPK extension. It is also available from webOS Dev Manager.
- From the TV or device with webOS, we go to the application store, search for Developer Mode and install the application.
- We start it and enter the developer account that we created in step 1.
- We activate the developer mode by clicking the switch. It will ask us for a reboot. We accept.
- We go back in and activate the “Key server”. It should look like the following image (edited to do more than pixelate the information):
- We open the webOS Web Manager application on our PC, which has to be connected to the same WiFi network as the device on which we want to install Kodi.
- If we don't know what to put in the welcome window, we choose "Developer Mode".
- We look at the steps that must be followed and we mark the check boxes in all the steps that we have completed.
- When we are done, we click Skip or Next.
- We complete the configuration. The name is only to identify the TV, and both the address and authentication appear in the webOS Developer Mode application. The ID matches the Passphrase.
- Once paired we will see a window like the following, and all that remains is to click on "Install" and search for the IPK file which is the version of Kodi for webOS or search for it in the "Available" section. Installation takes just under a minute.
It is better not to abuse
Kodi for webOS is officially available, but it's not worth assuming it can handle everything . For example, nothing that relies on the Torrent network has worked for me, although some add-ons have. Also, keep in mind that an older TV might only have enough RAM to run, but the application could close to free up memory. My recommendation: try a few add-ons that work and stop there.
And a couple of things to keep in mind: if something goes wrong, you can delete the problematic content or the entire configuration folder from the PC application by going to the path " /media/developer/apps/usr/palm/applications/org.xbmc.kodi/.kodi ". This is similar to deleting the .kodi folder from your home directory in Linux. And when you first launch it, it's like the Flatpak version: you have to add or decline the activation of a bunch of add-ons.
It is an option that will be better or worse depending on how modern the television is, and I recommend, at least, trying it.