Chris Browet, the creator of SPMC, a popular forked version of Kodi, has announced that he is joining the team behind MrMC, another popular forked version of Kodi. As a result, development of SPMC is coming to an end so that Browet, also commonly known by the handle koying, can concentrate on his new role of maintaining MrMC’s development for Android and Fire OS devices.
MrMC and SPMC are easily among the most popular forked versions of Kodi, a media center app that is used by many Fire TV owners. MrMC was created by former Kodi developers Scott Davilla (a.k.a davilla) and Željko Ametovic (a.k.a. amet). They were the two who originally ported Kodi, then called XBMC, to the Android platform. When Davilla and Ametovic left the Kodi team, Browet stepped up to handle much of Kodi’s Android development.
The Kodi team has had trouble attracting new Android developers in the past. They’ve relied heavily on advancements made by both MrMC and SPMC, which are both open source apps that have taken Kodi’s original code to new levels on mobile platforms like Android, Fire OS, and iOS. The merger of MrMC and SPMC is great news because it puts the top Android media center developers under one roof to work on the same app.
Fans of SPMC will certainly be sad to see the app’s development come to an end, but there is a free version of MrMC called MrMC Lite for those who do not want to pay $2.99 for the full version. Of course, there is also the option to switch to Kodi, which will undoubtedly continue to benefit from Davilla, Ametovic, and Browet’s development at MrMC by integrating their open source code into Kodi.
The MrMC team has also informed me that they’ll be introducing Python support into their app in conjunction with Browet’s arrival on the team. MrMC notably removed support for Python from its original Kodi base code because Python was unnecessary since the app does not support 3rd-party add-ons. Once support for Python is added in a future release, MrMC will continue to not allow user-installed add-ons in order to remain in the Amazon and Apple appstores. MrMC will, however, be adding highly requested Python-based add-ons to MrMC, starting with the Plex add-on and some more powerful skins that require Python helpers.
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I donated to the SPMC developer, more of you people should have too. This is unfortunate news.
Why is this unfortunate news? This is big gain for continued support in Android.
Its unfortunate because whereas there were previously three viable projects, there are now two. That’s actually a net loss in support.
I gave to SPMC too, sorry to see the project fold. SPMC had more features than both KODI(ie. framerate switching (or at least I haven’t found it yet, maybe the current beta…)) and MrMC (free, add-in support, skins)
No, its loss isn’t a gain for us.
Correction: Upon reaquainting myself with Kodi, I found framerate switching, so I retract my earlier complaint.
Still sorry to see the SPMC project end, but it’s looking like Kodi’s Krypton build might work out nicely as a replacement. Time will tell.
(Current SPMC user here)
So….
If I want to continue to use 3rd party addons on my fire stick I will eventually need to install Kodi?
Any idea how long SPMC will continue to work OK before I need to change over?
Any other light, android centric Kodi build like SPMC out there?
I appreciate these guys trying to get paid for their work but the lack of user add-ons will always keep them behind the eight ball.
MrMC is not available internationally, at least on the Fire TV 3 used in Colombia.
I would pay the $2.99 that it costs in order to have a Kodi alternative, but the Amazon App Store does not want me to use it
MrMC availability issues should be posted on MrMC forums, we can’t fix what we do not know about :)
Oh, i thought it was not available because Amazon App Store didnt have an official store for my country.
I Will Go to the forum if it can be solved
Good news! I have paid for MrMc but still user Kodi because of the nice skins and parental controls. If MrMc can get these basic add-ons I will start using it gladly.
I’m a big fan of MrMC on the Apple TV and I totally understand why add-ons were pulled from that platform but I have to disagree with not supporting add-ons (except the “baked in ones”) on Android.
I hope MrMC reconsiders and at least provides a side-loadable version that supports all add-ons. I’m happy to still pay/donate for it. I’d even pay extra for that “feature”.
Addons = banned from Amazon App Store = no easy FireTV install.
(I get that sideloading is not hard for many of us here, but for the average use, it’s not a viable alternative.)
They could still develop a seperate app called “Ultra MrMC” or such that wasn’t offered in the app store. I think that is what was being suggested.
Exactly! I’ve no issue with pulling add-ons in the app store version but power users need to be given a version that supports add-ons. Even if we pay more I’m ok with that.
Why would you pay more to get addon/have to side load MrMC, when this is exactly what Kodi is and it is free.
MrMC is nothing but a stripped down version of Kodi, and any features it has extra Kodi will eventually get. Considering how easy it is to side load, I dont see any reason why anyone would ever use MrMC regardless of the plugins.
You’re essentially saying they should put in the work to release an alternate version for free that has more features but does not benefit them in any way. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make any economic sense. It’s the same as asking me to make http://www.UltraAFTVnews.com that has no ads at all but also has more articles.
Before you say that they could charge for the “Ultra MrMC” version, there is no market for a paid sideload-only APK. Saying “paid sideload” is pretty much an oxymoron. Google Play is the only place they could sell an “Ultra MrMC” but I suspect that the vast majority of their profit comes from Fire TVs and Apple TVs.
Like myself, the MrMC team are trying to make a living doing something they love. While it would be wonderful if people like us could make all decisions in a way that 100% benefits the community, we both have to consider what makes economic sense in order to keep doing what we’re doing.
Something that many people don’t realize is that MrMC is not simply a “crippled Kodi.” They aren’t just taking the latest version of Kodi, ripping out add-on support, and calling it their new release. MrMC forked off from Kodi long ago and has been growing further apart ever since. Supporting add-ons in MrMC is not an insignificant amount of work for the team, so it doesn’t make sense for them to do it when there is zero benefit to their bottom line.
Rather than release it for free, they could make it require a purchase of the origional mrmc to function.
So you still have to purchase mrmc officially to be able to run “Ultra MrMc”.
In terms of benefit to them, it could reduce some of the complaints about mrmc.
Correct. While we ‘could’ enable side-loading for Google Play, this is what would happen.
MrMC would become tainted the same way Kodi is tainted from all the pirate addons. We start getting becoming associated with piracy addons because we do nothing about them (just like Kodi does).
The next thing is Amazon gets nervous and MrMC gets kicked out of their App store. Then Apple does the same thing. Nice, we just lost our primary revenue streams. No one gets paid, we can’t pay server and licensing bills. Development grinds to a halt and stops and we start to bit rot.
Donations ? Ben there, done that before as has Koying. SPMC has had 500k-1M downloads, if all those users had donated $1, even 50 cents. We would not be having this discussion. Donations don’t work, never will. Users just don’t make the effort to donate. And what you get just does not cover the bills. Not even close.
So we charge a nominal fee to cover dev, server and licensing. And it’s for a lifetime, no silly subscription thing. Buy once, you get the most recent version and all future updates. Pretty good deal for $2.99 USD.
Would we like to allow users to pick their skin or favorite addons. Sure but there is no way to keep out the pirate addons at the same time. So catch-22. We do the next best thing, bundle in a selection of popular skins and addons. Sorry but the best we can do at the current time.
No one said do it for free.
The above reply was to AFTVnews, not MrMC like it appears to be. I understand your reasonings MrMC, free or not free isn’t going to change your mind. Understood. But I still wish there was add-on ability even if you had to police them by manually approving them before they show or something.
Do they allow you to install the official hd homerun yet?
Both hd homerun methods are supported. The older one was yanked from Kodi/SPMC long ago and MrMC brought it back for users with older hd homerun devices.
How do I install the Hdhomerun add-on. I don’t want the pvr.
Will Emby be added as a built in add-on? I don’t use plex
There is all ready an existing internal Emby client which works quite well. Including the offical Emby addon is still being discussed.
MrMcI bought MrMc after it was first added to the Amazon app store, but gave up on it because I want custom menu items I can use to point to a specific network share folder which I can easily do with a Kodi skin. Any chance that feature will be added to MrMc
Yep, that was one of the decision points to bring back python.
Thanks for the response. So will that mean we can add a skin, or you’ll have that feature built in?
depends, we will be bringing in some of the more popular skins.
There is a section on our forums dealign with skin requests.
Ditto
Great news.
Any easy way to transfer my Addons to Kodi from SPMC??
You might try using a backup/restore add-on. Take a backup in SPMC and restore in Kodi. Be prepared to reinstall Kodi if something goes wrong.
Excellent news. Consolidation yields a superior product. Let weak products die.
as long as third party apps can still be installed (you know the type I mean)
Apparently NOT on MrMC.
As I understand it 3rd party addons are not allowed so you would need to install Kodi then add your add-on(s).
As far as 3rd party apps (like T********?) I don’t think having MrMC on a stick/box will prevent sideloading anything, pretty sure MrMC won’t interface with them but I’d like to hear if if I’m misunderstanding that.
So is Mr mc made for local content in my external storage ?what can one do to play media etc.does it do any legit add-ons…
My understanding is that since(currently) python is neutered in MrMC you cannot install any additional add-ons. However you can use IPTV clients to get certain streaming channels.
Correction, python is not neutered. Side-loading of addons is not allowed.
Sorry, just reading directly from the article above where it states “MrMC will be introducing Python support” which let me to believe that Python currently does not exist.
I run stock Kodi, sideloaded.
However, I paid for MrMC as soon as it became availalable. I hope SPMC shutting down and the development resources moving to MrMC turns out to be a good thing. I think MrMC is a good thing. If it doesn’t meet your use case, it doesn’t make it bad —just not for you.
I wish all the MrMC devs the best of luck. If you are using android devices to run a Kodi variant, you should probably wish them luck also.
so they are coming out with an app the will not let you load 3rd party addons. why should i install it? why not just use Roku or Firestick on netflix or hulu which will have tons more comtent? why purchase a android box or anything else?? i will uninstall SPMC and go back to KODI.