Amazon Echo Show 15: how to watch digital terrestrial channels with Kodi

A few weeks have passed since the arrival of the update that added Fire TV features to Echo Show 15. In describing the first impressions of use, we underlined how one of the shortcomings found compared to the software platform of the other Fire TVs was the inability to activate how to install APKs from unknown sources. This circumstance has compromised the possibility of installing a useful app like Kodi which, among other things, also allows you to manage digital terrestrial television channels.

In this period the community has not remained idle and has taken steps to offer alternative methods to installing Kodi and therefore also TV channels.

Note: the following are two of the many guides available on the net to install Kodi and digital terrestrial channels on Echo Show 15 – to be exact, the free-to-air Italian digital terrestrial channels. We do not exclude that there are even less articulated methods than the following and we do not claim merits that we do not have. We report the instructions that in our case worked correctly with the sole purpose of simplifying the information retrieval activity for our people. The sources of the guides can be reached via the links at the bottom of the article. Any further suggestions to improve the method are welcome and can be communicated for the benefit of our community using the space dedicated to comments.

Preliminarily: Verify that you have received and installed the update that introduces Fire TV features on your Echo Show 15. To check for new updates simply follow the path Settings > Device options > Check for software updates. Our unit is currently running Fire OS software version 7.5.0.1 (PS7501/4107). Then follow these steps:

• Recall the Fire TV section of Echo Show 15 (either by icon or by remote control)
• Navigate to the “Find” tab, select the “Search” option, type “Developer Tools Menu” and proceed to install
• An interface will open in which you will need to verify that you have selected “On” in the “Developer options” option

• Activate the back key on the remote control (physical or virtual), select and install “Taotlus Launcher” from the “Developer Tools Menu” screen. Also select and install (always from the same screen) “File Explorer”.
• Go back to the “Search” option of the Echo Show 15 Fire TV section, search and install the “Downloader” app
• Launch the “Downloader” app, enter the following address in the top bar: https://kodi.tv/download/android and start downloading the Kodi ARMV7A (32BIT) apk
• At the end of the download the app will try to install the apk but the operation will not be successful. A dialog box will appear stating that installing from unknown sources is not allowed. Then select “SETTINGS” from the dialog to make it disappear and select “done” in the above “Downloader” window which shows the download status.
• Go back to the Fire TV home (using the back button on the remote control), call up the section that contains the installed apps and select start “Developer Tools Menu” and then “File Explorer”.
• In “File Explorer” navigate to the “Downloader” folder, cut the Kodi ARMV7A (32BIT) APK file – the exact name varies depending on the version but can be found during download – and copy it to the “Downloads” folder. Be careful not to get confused because there are two folders with similar names but the APK must be moved to the second one (Download without er the final).

• Return to the main screen of “Developer Tools Menu”, start “Taotlus Launcher” (in fact it’s an alternative launcher), locate the folder containing the downloaded files – it’s white on a blue background – open it and select the Kodi APK file you copied earlier. Then select it , start the installation and select the “Continue” button from the dialog.
• Return to the Fire TV section home and open the app section: if the steps have been performed correctly, you will notice the presence of the Kodi icon.

The steps described above are taken from this video guide which is included for further clarity.

Preliminary note: Both Kodi and the Kodi Live TV add-on are neutral tools in themselves, any unlawful use of them involves the user’s responsibility. In this regard, we report what the same managers of the WorldLiveTV repository underline: “WorldLiveTV does not make all of the add-ons contained in this repository and is not responsible for their content, nor is it responsible for your use of the add-on.”. We can only sign and approve what has been declared. In the specific case we clarify again that the add-on was used for view in Italy only Italian free-to-air digital terrestrial channels, without infringing any broadcasting rights – these are in fact the same channels that can be viewed for free with any DTT receiver. However, we cannot guarantee that this is the only use that the end user will make of these tools.

• Launch Kodi
• Enable installation of add-ons from unknown sources:
  • click on the Add-on menu and then on the gear icon located at the top
  • from the “General” screen activate the installation from “Unknown sources” and confirm by pressing “Yes”

• Install the KodiLiveTV repo and Kodi Live TV addon:
  • from the main screen of Kodi click on the gear icon (top left)
  • the “System” menu will open
  • click on “File” > “Add Source”
  • click on the item
  • from the window that has opened you must enter the URL http://worldlivetv.github.io/repo and press OK
  • give the repo a name, e.g. DTT repo
  • return to the Kodi main screen and click on the Add-ons menu
  • click on the first box-shaped icon (the first one at the top left), select “install from zip file” and then select the worldlivetv repo – we assigned the exact name previously
  • select the .zip file of the repo repository.wltv-1.0.0.zip and then press OK
  • a message will inform you that the installation is complete
  • select “Install from repository” > “WorldLiveTV Add-on Repository”
  • select “Add-on Video” > “WorldLiveTV Helper”, click on install and wait for the procedure to finish
  • go back to the Kodi home, the add-on “WorldLiveTV Helper” you just installed should be present in the add-on section. Open it, select the “List selection” item and give it a name, e.g. DTT channels, click on OK and select the list of our interest, i.e. that of Italian digital terrestrial channels identified as DTT.
  • go back to the Kodi home, to access the TV channels simply select the TV menu

Keep in mind that the use of Kodi on the Echo Show 15 Fire TV is mainly via touch since the functions of the remote control are supported to a limited extent – the back key is used to return to the previous screen and the volume keys can be used to adjust the ‘audio.

Was it really necessary to follow an articulated procedure to have digital terrestrial channels available on the Echo Show 15? It can be answered that in this way there is the advantage of having enclosed in one place such channels that could otherwise be followed (not all) or to other Fire TV apps (e.g. Timvsiion for broadcasters like La7) or by using the integrated browser (more inconvenient to use than Kodi) as in the case of Rai channels which cannot currently be viewed via the Rai Play app – still not downloadable on the Echo Show 15 Fire TV. Is it worth tinkering a bit? You have the last word.