• Unlike a regular personal computer or gaming rig, HTPC/Media Center systems aren't usually process intensive. If you only want to watch regular DVD video.
• Home Theater, Media PC guide. Learn you to build your own HTPC. Check our configuration and shopping guides.
• When choosing the best Kodi skin for your media center, what’s the most important thing you should do if you want to make sure your HTPC is easy to use?
• Turning your Android device into the place to play your media is harder than it looks. In this roundup, we'll look at the best Android media center apps!

Android. Our smartphones are quickly becoming the center of our media experience. We use them to watch videos, listen to music, view images, and all kinds of other stuff. You can turn any Android device into a media center with a variety of available apps. Here are the best media center apps for Android. It has support for a variety of platforms, including Apple TV, Roku, Chromecast, Xbox One, some types of smart TVs, and other devices.

It works fairly well and it also has support for other types of media aside from video. The free version lets you try it out while the full version gives you all of the features. Additionally, you can turn any Android device into an All. Cast device using All. Cast Receiver. It’s one of the more solid media center apps. It’s also one of the more solid media center apps. Like other apps in this space, it can stream to a variety of devices including Chromecast along with any device that has DNLA standards.

It also supports a number of files types as well, including MKV and FLAC, among others. It also has support for cloud storage and some streaming sites, such as Tidal. The free version gives you a good idea of that this app can do while the paid version gives you unfettered access to the features. Google Home is the app that kind of handles that. Using the app, you’ll be able to set up your Google Chromecast or Google Home device. You can also use the app to find other apps that support Chromecast and Home so you can build your collection of media apps. Using it does require the purchase of at least one device.

Got a media center? Ever get tired of fumbling around with a full sized keyboard and mouse while trying to watch Hulu or Netflix? Kodi (XBMC) is a media player jukebox and entertainment hub for all your digital media. XBMC is a cross-platform and open source software (GPL) available for Linux.

However, millions of people have bought Chromecasts for a reason. It gives the entire home screen a new interface that makes it easier to access video, music, and photos. There are also plugins that you can use to find additional content.

You’ll likely want to use this on a larger screen like a tablet or perhaps an Android device that is plugged into your TV via HDMI- out. It’s completely free to download and use. Download Do Filme Roubando Vidas Legendado Online. It also supports streaming to any DLNA devices that are running on your network. It can stream almost any file, but whether or not it works on your Chromecast depends on its compatibility. Additional features include SMB support, the ability to cast PDFs onto the screen, and some types of subtitles will work as well.

It’s a bit more simple than other media center apps, but it’s not a bad way to go if you need something simple. It has support for video streaming from three total sources. You can stream your local media, your cloud storage media, and it even has support for some live TV providers.

It also uses on- the- fly media conversion so most file types should work with this one. You an also manage a DVR and use parental controls. You will have to make at least one purchase to stream video while subscribing to the service will offer more features. It has a few issues, but it’s one of the more decent media center apps. The app lets you to access your Plex server on your Android device.

That means you’ll have to install the Plex server on your own computer so that you can stream from it. Don’t worry, it’s not difficult. You can also subscribe to Plex Pass for additional streaming features. It’s a rock solid app that includes modern features like Android TV support. It’s pretty decent and a good place to start.

You will have to either subscribe to Plex Pass or make a one- time purchase to unlock all the features. This one connects to your PC similar to Plex.

It has a lot of features that you don’t generally see, such as the ability to surf an EPG grid, browse TV channels, and record DVR. It’s meant for use on computers that have been turned into HTPCs and can also receive a TV signal. It works better on Windows 7 or 8 although it will work on Windows 1. It’s something a little different. It has a ton of features and can play most types of video content.

On top of that, it can play live streams as long as you have the link to the live stream itself. It also features a clean interface, support for most file types, support for multi- file types, and even support for subtitles. It’s a really solid experience that has a very loyal fanbase. It’s also free and open source. Most of them are built for specific devices, including Microsoft’s Xbox, Sony’s Playstation, and various smart TVs.

The apps allow you to stream media and control the device with the app. You can also play files that are on your Android phone to the devices. They don’t support everything and some of them seem to be pretty buggy. However, they’re worth a shot if only to see if they work for you. They’re all free so that’s a plus. Related best app lists: If we missed any of the best media center apps for Android, tell us about them in the comments! To see our complete list of best app lists, click here.

Windows Media Center is dead – here are the best alternatives. Microsoft recently announced that after a dozen years, it would no longer include support for Windows Media Center (WMC) in the upcoming Windows 1.

WMC was novel when introduced as a special edition of Windows XP in 2. The premise was to leverage the power of PC hardware to enable an all- in- one media center, capable of playing DVDs, videos, photos and music with a 1. Perhaps the biggest feature, at a time when not everyone had a DVR, was the live TV recording functionality it offered when paired with PC TV tuner devices. While WMC never really became hugely popular, it has a dedicated and vocal community. The user interface was clean, relatively simple, and one of Microsoft’s better UI implementations.

The DVR capability let you own your own recorder with the expandable space of a PC hard drive, as well as not having to pay a fee for the electronic TV guide as either the TV providers or Ti. Vo charge. Over time, WMC also added a number of improvements that extended its functionality: plug- in support, extenders (Xbox and third party set- top boxes for viewing), access to online content, and extensibility (via Windows Media Player) to support formats not supplied by Microsoft. Despite these improvements, the focus in home entertainment shifted to consumer electronics (CE) devices.

The cost and simplicity of renting a plug- and- play DVR from the TV service providers outweighed the benefits of WMC, and streaming services starting around 2. Blu- ray players and other devices that were easier to set up and maintain than a full fledged Windows PC in the living room. WMC ceased development in 2. Windows 7 release. A port for Windows 8 was offered based on requests from the WMC user community, but it offered no new features. Microsoft has moved a lot of WMC- like capability into the Xbox platform.

The Xbox One will have live TV viewing capability that will support third- party, over- the- air tuners from Hauppauge and presumably others in the future. It also offer the ability to feed cable or satellite video into the Xbox One and use Microsoft’s One.

Guide program guide. But there’s no return of DVR functionality, or at least not yet.

So if WMC is a dead platform, where do you go from here? PC- based alternatives. WMC has always had competition, on both Windows and other platforms. Perhaps the biggest contender is Kodi, which is the new name of the open source XBMC (Xbox Media Center). XBMC started as a hack of the original Xbox, which was essentially a locked- down, Intel- based PC in its first incarnation. Over the years Kodi has been tremendously extended in scope and platform support. It offers playback of just about any type of audio and video file, an extensive plug in architecture, heavy customization of the UI through skins, and the all- important DVR functionality with third- party TV tuners.

Kodi/XBMC now runs on a great variety of operating systems and hardware. It supports ARM and Intel processors, Windows, OS X, and several shades of Linux. There’s even the Linux variant Open. Elec, a purpose- built version of Linux for running Kodi that’s light enough to run on a Raspberry Pi. With all the ports available, Kodi can run on old hardware (with some limitations on performance), like the first generation Apple TV, and newer boxes like Amazon Fire TV and the current Apple TV.

Part of the beauty of Kodi is that it can run in this hardware while coexisting with the original software. Among its long feature set, Kodi even supports Apple’s Air. Play, albeit in a reverse- engineered way that doesn’t work with protected content like Netflix. Plex is a fork of the original XBMC open source project that first became available in 2.

Originally finding traction on the Mac as a media server, it has since been extended to Windows and Linux. It consists of the free Plex Media Center, and various clients that now include Windows, OS X, i. OS, Android, Xbox, Roku, and Smart TVs from Vizio, LG, and Samsung. Like Kodi, the Plex Media Center automatically organizes photos, movies, and TV shows, and can present media on various clients with a 1. It does not support DVR or live TV capability. While very useful parts of it are free, there are paid features that extend the functionality to mobile and other devices.

Among the Plex Pass features ($3. Gracenote music metadata, and Vevo music videos.

Media. Portal is another free open source media center, but this one is exclusively for Windows. It is designed to be a relatively lightweight application that can run on lower powered Windows machines. It has a clean 1. Windows Media Center. If you bought a Windows media PC in the past decade, you may have one floating around your house.

Similar to Kodi, Media. Portal organizes all your music, video, and photo content and can add metadata for commercial content.

It can play DVDs and Blu- rays, and virtually any content format. It also has built- in DVR functionality when paired with a PC tuner. It also has a plug- in architecture and skins, but there is not as much available in this regard as there is for Kodi. JRiver MC is a mature media player that has a long history. Like the others, it can play and organize all kinds of media formats.

It distinguishes itself in a few ways from others. MC has very extensive tweaking capability for audio, and is prized by audiophiles for the ability to extract the best sound quality from music on Windows, usually feeding an external DAC or a high- end sound card.

It is paid software, but does have a free trial period. Unlike some others, JRiver has a normal full desktop Windows interface along with a 1. WMC remotes. On the video side, they have also curated the codecs to make it easy to play just about any combination of stereo and surround audio with movies. It also supports TV tuners and DVR capability. Game Consoles. Both Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s Play. Station have long offered extensive media capabilities.

Both the Xbox 3. 60 and Xbox One have a large amount of the mainstream media streaming services like Netflix and Hulu built in. While they can stream local content over the network or play it from an attached drive, they are more limited in the audio and video formats they support directly. However, if you run a DLNA server on your network, these devices can handle content formats they may not support through server transcoding. Kodi and Plex offer that, and there are many more specific DLNA servers, free and paid.

Sony’s PS3 had DLNA built- in, and the more gaming- focused PS4 can have similar capabilities with the right apps. Neither is a direct replacement for a HTPC, but both the Microsoft and Sony Consoles offer lots of media streaming options. Sony’s $5. 0/month Vue over- the- top TV service has been running in Chicago and Philadelphia, offering cloud based DVR functionality that brings live TV into the available media choices. The Big Four Streamers — and Tivo. I’d be remiss to not mention the current crop of popular streaming devices here. They are also not direct replacements for a HTPC, but they are part of the reason that WMC is discontinued.

As the hardware platforms for these devices have become more powerful, handling HD video and multichannel audio (well some of it) easily, they offer simpler ways to get your non- cable TV media fix and are staple devices for cord- cutters who have little interest in having a PC in the living room. Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast, and Amazon Fire TV offer a plethora of streaming choices including free, paid, ad, and subscription- based, as well as local media capabilities through either apps like Plex or connected to other home servers. These inexpensive devices also have their hacks as well. You can sideload Kodi into both Apple TV and Amazon Fire, extending their media capabilities without affecting their stock software. Firecore offers a paid version of software to jailbreak Apple TVs with more flexible media support, including integrating Kodi as an app.