Kodi 19 Matrix Release: Compatible Addons, Features and Install/Update Guide

It's undoubtedly thrilling to see the advent of new Kodi 19 Matrix for all the new features and stuffs, however, for the time being,

we advise users to stick with Kodi 18.x Leia for more stable using experience and a whole lot more compatible addons.

• Reasons not to update Kodi to 19 Matrix:

First and foremost, Kodi has migrated to use the Python 3 for its many addons, and that makes most of the Leia addons (that include popular video addons like The Crew, Venom, Tempest and The Magic Dragon, program addons and Kodi builds), which use Python 2, incompatible with Matrix. On the other hand, MOST of the addon developers are too busy on current works and haven't migrated their addons to Matrix.

If you update Kodi to Matrix with installed Leia addons, you'll see a message on startup saying “The following add-ons are incompatible with this version of Kodi and have been automatically disabled:” followed by your unsupported Leia addons.

Please note that for those that have installed Kodi from Google Play Store on Android devices, Kodi 19 Matrix will be pushed to Play Store after the stable release, and Kodi on these devices will be automatically updated to Kodi 19 Matrix.

So if you don't want Kodi Matrix yet…

• Disable Automatic Google Play Store Updates Right Away!

To do so, disconnect your device from network (like turn of router if it uses Wi-Fi) > open Google Play Store app on your device > click the account icon from the upper-right corner > hit Settings > hit Auto-update apps > select Don't auto-update apps. Then connect your device to the internet and launch it.

Kodi has already been auto-updated?
- Older versions of Kodi can be found here: http://mirrors.kodi.tv/releases/
- Additionally, you may find our guide on How to downgrade Kodi 19 to 18 helpful.

Kodi doesn't do much without addons, there we've rounded up best working addons that have successfully migrated to Kodi Matrix (all of them still compatible with Kodi Leia).

• Seren 2.0 – Best Real-debrid addon derived from Seren by Nixgates

• The Oath – Currently the best free scrapers addon for Kodi Matrix

• The Boys – A new Shadow based addon that offers both free and debrid streams and decent live sports.

- For full list of Kodi Matrix addons, please see our list of: Best Kodi 19 Matrix Addons

More migrated addons can be found here: https://mirrors.kodi.tv/addons/matrix/

As you can see, currently there are only limited third-party addons for Kodi Matrix, besides, there's only a handful of addons from Officialy Kodi Add-on Repository working properly on Matrix, so it would be a better idea to still use Kodi Leia if you rely on addons for streaming.

What's the best installation choices for Kodi Leia lately: Best Kodi Leia Addons List | Best Kodi Leia Repositories List

Of course, if you look forward to new Matrix features, enjoy tinkering and are happy being a test subject, then now is the perfect time for you to update your old Kodi to Matrix.

You can follow our installation guides below to get started! These guides can be used to update your older version of Kodi as well, but bear in mind you may lose your old settings and configurations from overwriting.

To avoid data loss, learn how to backup Kodi.

• How to Install Kodi Matrix on PC

Get Kodi installation file from: https://kodi.tv/download > select an installation file according to your device to download > launch and follow the wizard to install.

• How to Install Kodi Matrix on Android Boxes, Phones, etc.

Method 1. Open Google Play Store on your device > Search for Kodi > Install Kodi Matrix

Method 2. Download, install and open Downloader App > enter URL: https://kodi.tv/download in the box and click Go > Select an installation file according to your device to download > install Kodi with the installation file.

Method 3. Use your to PC to download Kodi installation file from https://kodi.tv/download to a supported USB drive, make sure to download the correct file for your device's Android system > plug the USB drive into your Android boxes USB port > use the file explorer on your Android device to locate and select the installation file from your USB drive > install Kodi Matrix.

Stepwise illustrated guides can be found here:

• How to Install Kodi in Windows PC
• How to Install Kodi on Fire TV/Stick
• How to Install Kodi on Android Boxes
• How to Install Kodi on Android Phones

Summary of to Official Kodi Matrix release news:

Playback

1. Significant improvements across the board to metadata handling.
2. AV1 software decoding, HLG HDR and static HDR10 playback on Windows 10, static HDR10 and dynamic Dolby Vision HDR support on Android, and more OpenGL bicubic scalers.
3. Kodi will now fetch and display related album and artist information from the music library, where appropriate.
4. Integer scaling implemented to improve the viewing quality of Pixel Art games across the board

Skin/Look-and-Feel

Screen redesign, especially for music; new metadata displays; changes to playlist views; a new "now playing" view; artwork and image file improvements; both new and updated GUI controls.

Subtitles

Timestamp overlays get fixed, plus you can now select a dark grey colour and set an opacity for the captions.

Addons and Scrapers

1. Made the wholesale move to Python 3 and ported official addons across.

2. Kodi 19 replaces the old XML metadata scrapers with new default Python for movies and TV shows; there are also new Python scrapers for music, Generic Album Scraper and Generic Artist Scraper. Binary addons in general get improvements to system documentation, cleaned up settings dialogs, and better help text.

PVR and Live Television

PVR reminders, home screen widgets, group/channel manager enhancements, navigation and dialog controls, context menus, New/Live/Finale/Premiere tags, channel numbering and sorting, performance improvements, API improvements.

Security

1. Kodi will now enforce the origin of installed addons and their dependencies, which prevents third-party repositories from overwriting code of unrelated add-ons.
2. Broken or deprecated add-ons are now highlighted in the add-on list.
3. The binary addon system now has higher security around data exchange between Kodi and addons.
4. Default requirement added to password-protect Kodi's web interface, plus better information around the security implications of enabling external interfaces given if you do choose to enable them.

Platform Specifics

1. New support for tvOS.
2. Specific TopShelf support and fixes on AppleTV.
3. Better logging and notch support on iOS.
4. A move to a single Linux binary for multiple windowing systems (X11, Wayland, and GBM) versus the previous three.

Behind the Scenes

API changes to feed subtitle URIs to the player; multiple updates to various core modules; improvements to API calls and actions, and many more.

I hope that page helps you get a clue on the latest Kodi and please share if your like it! And you can also also bookmark the page to check back later for updated info, there will be time for us to update Kodi to Matrix without hassle.

And if you have any questions or further issues on installing or using Kodi Leia/Matrix, drop me a line on Twitter | Facebook and I'll be glad to help.