MrMC has just released their version 3.0 update with several nice new features. For starters, now that Kodi 17 has finally been released, MrMC’s developers made sure to make this new version compatible with Kodi’s recent database changes. This means you can have both apps use the same database, if you need to switch from one app to the other, without having to maintain two databases. While MrMC does still uses a skin based on Kodi’s old interface, don’t let that detract you, because under the hood, it has long been incorporating Kodi 17 into its code base, even before Kodi 17 was officially released.
Outside of the official Plex app, MrMC is the best way to access content from a Plex server on the Fire TV, and it has now gotten even better with this latest update. The new version now supports Plex transcoding, which means you’re no longer limited to only playing files directly.
Support for Plex transcoding will be most helpful for those of you who are transitioning from h.264 encoded content to h.265 content, and who own a mixture of 1st-gen and 2nd-gen Fire TV devices. Since the 1st-gen Fire TV and Fire TV Stick do not have h.265 hardware decoders, they are incapable of smoothly playing those files. With support for Plex transcoding, MrMC can request that those files be transcoded to h.264 on the fly for smooth playback.
MrMC’s version 3.0 update also now supports full DVD rips. This means that raw DVD’s which are stored as ISO files or Video_TS folders will play within the app with full support for the DVD’s menu, as if you were using a standalone DVD player.
MrMC is also now a 64-bit app on devices with a 64-bit operating system, which in the Fire TV line is only the Fire TV 2. While theoretically this means the app should perform a little better, because it is now using the full capabilities of the native system architecture, the improvement may realistically be unnoticeable. However, it’s still a welcomed improvement so the app is ready for potential future Fire TV models that might have more than 2 GB of memory, which would require 64-bit apps to take full advantage of.
As a reminder, MrMC is a forked version of Kodi that is developed by the two members of the Kodi team that originally ported Kodi to Android. The app does not support any add-ons at all, which is the only way it was able to be approved by Amazon into the official Fire TV appstore. Whether you think MrMC is worth buying or not, everyone who is a fan of Kodi should support the efforts of MrMC’s developers. By making MrMC open source from the start, its advancements eventually make their way into Kodi, which is doing more to improve Kodi on the Fire TV than anything else.
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EEEK.
I’m in a house with a mix of MRMC, OpenElec (kodi 16.1), and SPMC (also 16.1).
I was hoping all three would release Kodi 17 versions at the same time.
If I update one it will mess up my shared mysql database.
I can’t blame MRMC but…
EEEK!
I’m in the same boat as you, however, it does help that I’m testing MRMC on shield tv now. It has been stable enough to use that I have been phasing out my SPMC. I just need to get the openelec up to v17.
Does it support Trakt.tv yet?
How long should “Database migration in progress – please wait” take? It’s been like 30 minutes
I suspect yours got hung up. DB migration only took about 1 second for me.
If only it had Emby integration too I would be all over this. SPMC is great, but to have Kodi, Plex, and Emby in one would be awesome!
Go to MRMC forum and post in the Emby feature request. They are trying to see 8f there is enough interest.
Thank you, Rob! I’ll head over and do it.
What’s the benefit of having a MySQL database for Kodi? I see you can start and stop in different rooms, but is that the only benefit? It seems like “all clients must be on the same build of Kodi” is a huge drawback.
it’s only a “huge drawback” every second or third version when the database changes. The rest of the time it is a huge benefit to be able to have your watched status sync’d between rooms as well as stopping and starting between rooms.
Is there a way of installing an older version which is compatible with Kodi’s 16.x MySQL, or is this version compatible with both?