a4kOfficial

Provider package for Seren which interfaces with dedicated add-ons for many popular streaming services. This package leverages JustWatchAPI to discover streaming services (from JustWatch) which offer the requested content, and defers playback to the respective add-on(s).

Supported Services

Service	Add-on	Plugin ID	Latest Tested Version
BBC iPlayer	iPlayer WWW	plugin.video.iplayerwww	Untested
CuriosityStream	CuriosityStream	slyguy.curiositystream	Untested
Disney+	Disney+	slyguy.disney.plus	0.12.1
HBO Max	HBO Max	slyguy.hbo.max	0.9.9
Hulu	Hulu	slyguy.hulu	0.2.1
Netflix	Netflix	plugin.video.netflix	1.18.8+matrix.1
Paramount+	Paramount+	slyguy.paramount.plus	0.5.2
Plex	Composite	plugin.video.composite_for_plex	0.9.5+matrix.1
Prime Video	Prime Video	plugin.video.amazon-test	0.9.5+matrix.1

Also included is a Kodi library scraper for local files, which needs no extra add-ons to be installed or any additional setup, and is enabled by default.

Requirements

• Kodi Matrix 19.0 or greater
• Seren 3.0.0 or greater

Installation

This package can be installed from "Web Location" in Seren, using the url: https://github.com/a4k-openproject/a4kOfficial/zipball/master.

Alternatively, open the URL above in any browser, save the resulting .zip file to some location, and "Browse" to it instead.

Configuration

When installed for the first time, a prompt is shown asking which providers you would like to enable, with default selections based on which of the corresponding add-ons you also have installed. These selections can be toggled at this time, or at any subsequent time from Seren's Provider Manager.

Recommended Settings for Seren

• Accounts
  • Enable Trakt Scrobbling
• Scraping
  • Enable Preemptive Termination
  • Terminate if Adaptive Sources are Found
• Playback
  • Enable Smart Play
  • Pre-emptive Scraping
  • Enable Playing Next Dialog
• Sort & Filter

  • Choose Items to Filter...:

    • Video Codecs
      • HEVC (Recommended)
    • HDR Codecs
      • DV (Recommended)
      • HDR (Recommended)
      • HYBRID (Recommended)
    • Audio Codecs
      • DD (Recommended)
      • DD+ (Recommended)
      • ATMOS (Recommended)

  • Max Resolution: 4K

Supported Add-ons

For most of the add-ons supported, there are a few settings which may require attention in order to maintain the best compatibility with these players. In general, the recommended settings for each add-on are meant to preserve the most functionality of both the playing add-on and Seren, ideally including the following where available:

• Progress tracking with the service
• Progress tracking with Trakt
• Auto-play next episode
• Skip intro and/or credits
• Highest quality sources available
• Fewest clicks to playback

The general approach to the recommended settings below is to enable any "progress tracking" features (so that tracking works properly with the service), disable any "next episode" features (so that Seren's Playing Next feature will work properly), optionally enable any "skip intro and/or credits" features (at user's discretion). Any settings which are not mentioned are either recommended to be left at their default value, or the value won't affect these providers (as in the case of enabling/disabling menus, etc...).

All of these add-ons require some kind of login process, which is usually initiated automatically whenever the add-on is opened for the first time, and will be the main requirement for any of them to playback sources (or, indeed, work at all).

iPlayer WWW

Installation

Offical Repository Install:

• Navigate to Settings -> Add-ons -> Install from repository
• Choose Kodi Repository
• Choose Video Add-ons
• Choose iPlayer WWW
• Choose Install

Recommended Settings

All defaults should be fine, though this one hasn't been tested yet.

CuriosityStream

Installation

Enable Unknown Sources:

• Navigate to Settings -> System -> Add-ons
• Change the settings level to either Advanced or Expert
• Enable Unknown sources
• (Highly Recommended) Change Update official add-ons from to Any repositories
• (Highly Recommended) Change Updates to Notify, but don't install updates
• (Recommended) Enable Show notifications

Add New Source:

• Navigate to Settings -> File Manager
• Choose Add source
• Add the source: https://k.slyguy.xyz/
• Name the source: repository.slyguy

Install Repository:

• Navigate to Settings -> Add-ons -> Install from zip..., and accept the prompt
• Choose repository.slyguy
• Choose repository.slyguy.zip, and accept the prompt

SlyGuy Repository Install:

• Navigate to Settings -> Add-ons -> Install from repository
• Choose SlyGuy Repository
• Choose Video Add-ons
• Choose CuriosityStream
• Choose Install

Recommended Settings

• Playback
  • Playback Quality: Best

Disney+

Installation

• Official Install Guide

Recommended Settings

• Look & Feel
  • Play Next Episode
  • Play Next Recommended Movie
  • Skip Intros (Optional)
  • Skip Credits (Optional)
  • Disney+ Sync Playback
• Playback
  • Playback Quality: Best

HBO Max

Installation

• Official Install Guide

Recommended Settings

• Look & Feel
  • Skip Intros (Optional)
  • Skip Credits (Optional)
  • Play Next Episode
  • Play Next Recommended Movie
  • HBO Max Sync Playback
• Playback
  • Playback Quality: Best
  • Dolby Digital (AC-3)
  • Dolby Digital Plus (EC-3)
  • Dolby Atmos
  • H.265
  • 4K
  • Dolby Vision

Hulu

Installation

• Official Install Guide

Recommended Settings

• General
  • Hulu Sync Playback
• Playback
  • Playback Quality: Best
  • EC3
  • H265
  • 4K

Netflix

Installation

• Official Install Guide

Besides the settings listed below, ensure that you've logged into the add-on using your Netflix credentials, and chosen a default profile. If a default profile isn't chosen ahead of time, a "Choose Profile" prompt will be shown before playback starts.

Choosing Default Profile

After successfully authenticating, the Profiles menu is shown. Highlight the profile you'd like to use for playback, open the context menu (C, right-click, or long-press), and choose Set for auto-selection. Repeat these steps once more, but choose Set for library playback. This ensures that the chosen profile will be used by default whenever one of our sources (or anything played by the Netflix add-on) is played. This menu can be reached again, if needed, by simply choosing Profiles from the root menu of the add-on.

Recommended Settings

• General
  • Synchronize the watched status of the videos with Netflix
• Playback
  • Remember audio / subtitle preferences
  • Prefer stereo tracks by default
  • Ask to skip intro and recap (Optional)

Paramount+

• Official Install Guide

Installation

Recommended Settings

• Playback
  • Playback Quality: Best
  • Dolby Digital (AC-3)
  • Dolby Digital Plus (EC-3)
  • Dolby Atmos
  • H.265
  • 4K
  • Dolby Vision

Composite

Installation

Offical Repository Install:

• Navigate to Settings -> Add-ons -> Install from repository
• Choose Kodi Repository
• Choose Video Add-ons
• Choose Composite
• Choose Install

Recommended Settings

• Playback
  • Stream from PMS: Auto
  • Intro skipping (Optional)
  • Always Transcode
  • Transcode > 8-bit
  • Transcode > 1080p
  • Transcode HEVC
• Advanced
  • Use full resolution thumbs
  • Use full resolution fanart

Prime Video

Installation

• Official Install Guide

Recommended Settings

• General
  • Playback with: Input Stream
  • Prefered Host: Auto
  • Intro/Recap scenes processing: Show Skip Button (Optional)