Do you have an old Android device that you no longer use? If it’s functional, you can give it a new life as a media server. All you have to do is configure it to stream your favorite music and movies to all the devices in your house. For us to understand each other better, what the multimedia server will do is allow all the content stored on your Android device to be played remotely (via WiFi streaming) on your mobile, PC, Smart TV or console connected to the same WiFi network.
That said, let’s see how exactly you should configure your Android to turn it into a multimedia server with the Kodi app, which is the best to carry out these types of configurations. You are ready? Let us begin…
Steps to turn your Android into a multimedia server with Kodi
Any Android tablet or mobile will be useful for this tutorial as long as it can be connected to a WiFi network. That is really the only indispensable requirement. Do you have an Android-like that? Then turn it into a media server by following these steps:
- If you don’t have it yet, download the Kodi app.
- Open Kodi and go to Settings (tap the gear).
- Enter Services
- Go to the UPnP / DLNA section.
- Activate the Enable UPnP support and Share my libraries options.
Clever! In this way, your Android will have already become a multimedia server and you will be able to access all its content remotely from another device. How? Well, using the Kodi app on your other devices as we explain below.
How to play the content of an Android media server with Kodi
To be able to access the content of the media server that you just created on your old Android, do the following:
- Install Kodi on the device from which you will access the media server (both devices must be connected to the same WiFi).
- Once installed, open Kodi and go to Videos> Files> Add videos.
- Then, tap on the Browse option.
- Select UPnP devices.
- Your Android should appear as a multimedia server with its respective IP. Choose it and press Ok.
- Repeat this process, but from the Music option, if you also want to access the music that you have on your Android configured as a multimedia server.
- Finally, to play the content from the media server, simply go to Videos or Music > Files and select the server. Thus, you will be able to see the entire content catalog and reproduce whatever you want.
As you will see, it is not difficult to turn your Android into a multimedia server thanks to Kodi. Of course, we recommend that you keep the device you are using as a server always connected to the charger for better performance and forget about possible battery problems.
