XBMC 12 Frodo beta 2 now out with Android app

The developers of the popular media client XBMC have announced the newest version of the software. The update brings with it a bunch of fixes along with a new feature in the form of support for the Xbox 360 controller.

Along with all the new fixes and features, the developers have also finally announced an XBMC app for Android devices. According to the blog, “As you know, XBMC currently supports OSX, Linux, Windows, iOS, and the ARM-based Raspberry Pi. That’s a great list, but anyone paying attention could tell you that a massive, critical platform is still missing.” This dilemma has now been remedied in the form of the release of the Android version.

XBMC app for Android is now available

The Android app needs a fairly modern device, according to the blog. Any device that doesn’t include the NEON extension is said to be too slow for the app to be useable.

There have also been fixes to the Audio, among other things. The number one reported issue with the first beta of the latest version of XBMC was the lack of sound when running on Windows. The issue has now been fixed. There are also other fixes, such as fixes to nodes and smartplaylists, the volume range of Airtunes in Windows, a speedup of EPG data importing, solving a minor files issue, and others.

The developers had announced an Android app for XBMC back in July through a blog post. The Android version is said to have the entire feature-set of the desktop versions of XBMC. The blog said, “Running your favorite media-center software on small, cheap, embedded hardware is about to become a hassle-free reality. And as Android-based set-top-boxes are becoming more and more ubiquitous, it couldn’t be a better time.”

Primary development of the app is said to be done on a Pivos XIOS DS set-top box. The blog continues, “And that is no coincidence; you will notice that Pivos is now listed as an official sponsor. XBMC is stable and works great there, as well as on various tablets and phones. Though with Android, as many of you probably know, that is only the beginning of the story.” The developers stated that they had been working for Pivos for the last few months.

The developers were tackling the problem of having a proper UI for small-screen devices such as phones. “Typically, XBMC skins have been designed for use on a TV, so use on a small phone can be clunky. But there is nothing keeping skinners from creating more functional touch-oriented skins, like the included “Touched” skin from Jezz_X.”

XBMC is very popular with owners of home theatre systems where they can hook up their computers to their TV. The media client makes browsing through a video or music collection very easy on a large screen. There are also a variety of skins available for the client. One of the main reasons for the popularity of the client is that it has every video and audio codec one might need to watch movies and shows in different file formats.