Kodi is a high-end open-source media center that allows you to access your favorite material instantly. Using any of the hundreds of Kodi addons available, you can watch live TV, sports, movies, and TV series.
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While you can add and delete Kodi add-ons to get what you want to watch, the interface may become tedious. Fortunately, Kodi’s developers made this highly customizable, as you can easily switch to a new Kodi skin and make it visually appealing or suitable to use on an ultra HD television set.
The Estuary skin, Kodi’s default skin, is functional, yet it offers little in the way of personalization.
You can easily customize your entire Kodi experience by using great Kodi skins. If you’ve ever used a Kodi Build, you’ll know that they give Kodi a fresh look by including a variety of different skins. Builds, unfortunately, have many downsides and install repos and add-ons you may not want. (Learn How to Delete a Kodi Build)
In our guide, you can learn how easy it is for Kodi users to setup Kodi and change to different skin rather than sticking to the Kodi default skin.
How Do I Install Skins on Kodi 18?
You will find some creative developers who come up with a great skin for Kodi. By default, Kodi comes with the Estuary skin, but there are plenty more. Here’s how to use the official way to install Kodi skins.
How to Install Kodi Skin?
- Open Kodi and make sure you’re on the Home screen
- Head to the top of the main menu. Select the System Settings icon (the gear icon) at the top of the left side of the screen
- Select Interface
- Inside Interface Settings, select Skin, followed by Skin beneath Look and feel.
- You have 2 skins installed, Estuary (default skin) and Estouchy. To install another skin, select Get more.
- In the new window, select a skin you want to install
- After you select the skin, it downloads and installs skin dependencies and the skin.
- When asked to use the skin, select Yes
- You will have your new skin
You can find many skins in the official Kodi add-on repository.
Change Kodi Skin Using ZIP File
Here’s how you will change a selected skin on your Kodi app if you have downloaded the skin in a zip file format.
- Download one of the available skins and keep it in the ZIP file format.
- Ensure your Kodi setup allows files from unknown sources.
- Open Kodi and click “Add-ons” on the main menu items.
- Click the open box icon in the top-left corner.
- Select ‘Install from ZIP file.’
- When a pop-up appears, navigate to the location of your downloaded ZIP file. This would be the location on your device the file has been saved.
- Wait for a few moments as the new skin installation continues.
- Return to the Kodi home screen, and then select “Add-Ons” on the main menu.
- Select “My Add-ons” from the left side of the screen.
- On the right-hand side menu items, click on “Look and Feel.”
- You will see all the skins you downloaded listed here. Select your desired “Skin” from the available skins, and your new skin will be installed.
How Do I Install Chroma Skins on Kodi?
The official Kodi repository now has a new Kodi skin named Chroma. The popular Kodi skin is full-featured, modern, and optimized for Full HD TV screens. Using this add-on with Kodi on a Fire TV makes this one of the best Kodi skins and most popular Kodi skins you’ll find. (Learn How to Delete an Addon on Kodi)
To Install Chroma Skin:
- Open Kodi and select “System” from the home screen
- Select Add-Ons
- Select Install from Repository or Get Add-ons
- Select the Kodi Add-On Official Repository
- Select Skin and then select Chroma
- Select Install
- Select Yes and then Yes, a second time to save changes, and you can now use one of the best Kodi skins for large screens.
How Do I Restore The Original Kodi Skin?
Depending on your installation, such as if you still use Kodi Jarvis, you could find Kodi has updated, and you don’t have the best Kodi themes or interface for your installation. It’s easy to change skins and go back to the default skin settings and return to the default Kodi skin.
- Navigate to the Settings (gear icon) at the top of the menu bar.
- Select Interface settings.
- Select the Skin field, which displays Estuary by default.
- Click the “Get more” button.
- Select the Confluence skin.
- Wait for the Confluence skin to download.
- Press Yes to keep the skin.
Best Kodi Skins
Here is a selection of the top Kodi skins you can choose from.
Confluence
The Confluence Skin uses an easy-to-use menu bar for great browsing categories. You can find it used in many Kodi Builds. (Learn How to Install Placenta Kodi)
Aeon Nox
The Aeon Nox Skin sits above most skins in popularity. The Kodi skin is easy to use and comes with many Kodi Builds, including the No Limits Magic Build. When installing the Aeon Nox Skin, the Aeon Nox sub-menu items need time to build, as it is a larger skin than many.
Amber
The Amber Skin is perfect for anyone wanting to customize their home screen. You can change the main menu to show any high-definition images by uploading them to your device. You can edit settings to have horizontal or vertical menus.
Mimic
Mimic is a lightweight skin that, at first glance, appears like the original Estuary Skin. You can edit fonts, background and more. Since it is so light, it is ideal for any streaming devices, especially the Amazon Fire TV, FireStick, or Android TV.
Black Glass Nova
Black Glass Nova is a high-definition skin like Chroma. The skin has many options to offer a great Kodi experience.
BOX
Many Kodi users like to change skins for something less complicated yet customizable. BOX offers this and more, as it’s a combination of older versions of Kodi skins. The main menu is arranged for movies, TV shows and music. You can customize the Kodi skin, enable visualization, play video on the high-quality background, hide touch controls, and change color of the theme.
fTV
One of the most popular and oldest skins on Kodi is fTV. It makes things simple as it’s a copy of the Fire TV and Firestick interface. It is easy to find in the official Kodi repository, so you know it’s safe to use.
Revolve
Revolve is a creative skin as it features a rotating disc that contains favorites, video, programs, music, pictures, and lots more.
It does, however, still offer customization of the skin where you can change the main menu and animation in this fun skin.
Eminence
If you want simple and functional features, Eminence is a lightweight download designed to accommodate many add-ons.
In addition, all the menu items fit on the main screen as the vertical menu makes it easier to use for many Kodi users.
Xperience1080
Xperience1080 has a user-friendly interface that reflects neat and organized visualizations. Because of this, you can find the skin provides a smoother experience using Kodi. It does away with many distracting graphics and layout many skins opt for nowadays. Xperience1080 is a great choice for a new Kodi skin, yet it doesn’t work with a mouse.
Aura
The Aura skin offers some significant features and lots of functionality. The skin is highly customizable and retains a minimalist appearance, so it doesn’t bog down your interface. It is speedy in use and can Kodi Krypton, or even if you still use Kodi Jarvis and change skins.
Other Interface Options
Kodi users can modify a few more cosmetic settings inside the Kodi app after you change skins. Within Interface Settings, you can change the background image, font, and more options.
Many popular Kodi skin lets you change themes, colors, background images and more, so you can tailor the background of your Kodi app to your personal preference.
While the best skins for Kodi aren’t as bad as Kodi builds for allowing you to access free movies or TV shows, it’s always a good idea to use a VPN when using Kodi for anything. (Learn How to Watch Kodi Movies in Theater)
Many of the movies and TV series available for streaming come from unlicensed sources. Kodi users need to be aware that ISPs may retain user data and their online activities. Besides this, with streaming and Kodi use, connections are sometimes throttled.
A VPN (a virtual private network) can secure your device, whether it’s a computer, a smart TV, or a streaming device. Users of Kodi can view whatever they want with no one else knowing or keeping a log of online activities.
