Gaming has been Samarveer’s greatest passion, and the Literature graduate in him takes immense joy in dissecting games for their themes, messages, and impact. Samarveer holds a deep appreciation of gaming, and considers the platform to be the most immersive and impactful across all media. He can be found engaging with gaming communities online, always ready to debate the finer points of ray tracing or itching to write an 8-page collegiate thesis on any game that impacts him emotionally.
Over the past two years, I've spent plenty of time tinkering with my Jellyfin server. It's certainly been enough to know that getting my media library in order has only been half the battle. The other half has been enjoying it from the comfort of my couch, preferably without navigating a clunky interface or dealing with playback quirks that shouldn't be a problem in 2026.
I appreciate Wholphin on my Google TV because it gets the job done, but I've always felt there was room for something better. Enter Kodi, the media center that can do considerably more than play files stored on my local network. With a little tinkering, I brought my Jellyfin library into Kodi, and the difference was immediately worth exploring. Turns out, a fresh coat of paint was only the beginning.
Getting Jellyfin and Kodi to play nicely took some work
The setup wasn't as plug-and-play as I'd hoped
I thought getting Jellyfin into Kodi would be pretty simple, but then I actually tried it. I started by installing the Jellyfin for Kodi add-on through its ZIP repository on a USB drive, then configured the official Kodi Sync Queue plugin for Jellyfin to keep my library in sync. So far, so good, except getting the two applications to talk was only half the battle.
Kodi eventually synced my Jellyfin libraries, but I had to go through some more tutorials to get my movies and shows to display on the home screen. After a couple of forced restarts and some manual configuring, the Kodi home screen finally began looking like the media center I wanted.
Now, Jellyfin remains my server, and it makes my entire media collection available across devices. On my TV, however, Kodi now acts as the new front end, using its own local library database to organize and present synced metadata.
The initial setup took me a little more patience than simply running Wholphin, but it definitely paid off once everything clicked together. Without migrating my files or rebuilding my server, I found a better way to interact with my Jellyfin server.
Skins are only half the reason I prefer Kodi
To be fair, Jellyfin's TV interface is perfectly serviceable, but Kodi lets me turn my media library into something that feels considerably more personal. With the right skin, I can build a home screen around my Jellyfin libraries, complete with artwork-heavy layouts, recently added titles, and shortcuts to the content I actually care about. Now, I can make my collection the star of the show instead of navigating through a series of menus.
Kodi's skin support is another fantastic reason that I'm now only using this app instead of Jellyfin. Kodi's skins support different layouts, widgets, and navigation structures. It even lets me decide just how much info I want to see before I open a title and run a movie. This new front end makes my entire media center feel like something I have configured myself meticulously.
There's also a practical advantage to using Jellyfin for Kodi. The official add-on (Jellyfin for Kodi) synchronizes library metadata into Kodi's local database. This allows it to browse that information without constantly retrieving it from the server. Depending on the device and setup, that can make navigating a large collection feel pretty responsive.
Best of all, I haven't had to rebuild my server or reorganize my files. Jellyfin still does the heavy lifting, while Kodi gives me a more flexible way to enjoy the collection.
Kodi has a more robust playback feature set
It fixes the playback annoyances I learned to live with
A prettier home screen isn't nearly enough to switch over to a new app. Thankfully, Kodi offers more than that. Its playback controls are where this makeover really earns its keep. When subtitles drift out of sync, I can adjust their timing directly from the playback menu instead of fixing the SRT file myself. I can even tweak subtitle positioning, depending on the format and playback interface.
Audio handling in Kodi impressed me, too. Kodi's Center Mix Level setting lets me increase the center channel's contribution while down-mixing multichannel audio to stereo. Since dialogue usually lives on this center channel, this feature often makes voices easier to hear through my TV speakers—a boon at a time when most movies come with infuriating sound mixing.
Kodi's add-on ecosystem is another reason I've been warming up to it. The official repository offers extensions for everything from subtitle downloads to music services, while third-party add-ons can expand its capabilities considerably further. Naturally, not every add-on is worth installing, and third-party repositories require some scrutiny, but the sheer flexibility is hard to ignore.
Like Stremio, some add-ons even stream content from online sources without requiring me to download an entire file beforehand. Of course, add-ons that pull content from legally grey sources are the ones that give Kodi its reputation as a piracy app. Community-made add-ons shouldn't affect Kodi's reputation — though they do make life easier when you connect them to the right sources.
Jellyfin isn't going anywhere, but Kodi has earned a spot on my TV
I'm not about to dismantle a media server I've spent countless hours configuring just because another application does certain things better. Installing and configuring Kodi on my TV lets me keep my familiar infrastructure while I find new ways to enjoy it.
Would I recommend this to everyone running Jellyfin? Probably not. If you're perfectly happy with its TV app, Kodi's setup process might feel like solving a problem you never had. But if you've ever wished your media center were more flexible, spending an evening tinkering with Kodi might be the most worthwhile upgrade you haven't tried yet.
Kodi
Kodi isn't really a media server as such, but it's a great way to access video files stored on your network. Thanks to plugins, too, you can use it with Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby.