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The Lab Kodi Addon – Install Guide

The Lab is a very simple and tidy new addon which features the two things Kodi users want most from their unofficial addons; Movies and TV Shows. There has been a quite rapid turnover of Movies and TV addons in recent times and in the rush to push out new addons to fill the gaps left by those gone offline, it is fair to say that the quality of addons has declined a little. What the developers of The Lab Kodi addon have tried to do is combine the range of content that most users want with a simple to use and well-designed addon. In this endeavour, they have enjoyed some considerable success.

The Lab addon does not try to overcomplicate things. Everything it has to offer is well laid-out and intuitive to use. It has a good range of content and the quality of links it offers are usually high, with a focus being put on HD and SD quality streams. In this article, we will tell you everything you need to know about The Lab Kodi addon, including what content you can expect to find, the features it includes, and a simple step-by-step guide on how to download and install it onto your Kodi device.

Before You Download The Lab Kodi Addon – Install a VPN

If you are planning to stream content on an unofficial Kodi addon such as The Lab, we strongly recommend that you are using a VPN first. This is because some Kodi users have found themselves being subjected to legal threats by copyright holders for using unofficial addons such as the Lab, which some claim allows users to access copyrighted content. Some users have received legal letters or even faced further legal sanctions just for using these addons. But a VPN can offer you some protection. A VPN will encrypt all of your online data and hide your real IP Address while streaming movies and TV shows on Kodi. This helps to keep your online activity private and safe from prying eyes. A VPN has rapidly become an essential online tool for Kodi users and these days it is not a question of if you should use a VPN with Kodi, but rather which VPN to choose. And we can help you there too.

The Best VPN for Kodi – IPVanish

Our extensive testing has found that the best VPN for Kodi users right now is IPVanish. Quite simply, it ticks all the boxes Kodi users are looking for in a VPN. IPVanish offers fast and consistent connection speeds which are ideal for Kodi users who want to stream content reliably from their addons. It also combines these speeds with super-strong encryption and excellent privacy protections too. This includes a no user logs guarantee that you can depend on. IPVanish offers users a sizable server network consisting of more than 850 servers in 60 countries around the world. This not only allows Kodi users to unlock content from all over the world but helps keep their connection speeds fast too.

IPVanish has are no restrictions on either file types or data amounts you can use either, which is ideal for streaming content on Kodi as addons can make use of all sorts of different files and streaming content can be very data intensive. IPVanish also offers dedicated apps for just about every device you can think of too, including the Amazon Firestick. So, if you want a VPN which does everything you need to stream movies and TV shows on Kodi addons such as The Lab, it is hard to look beyond IPVanish right now.

IPVanish offers a 7-day money back guarantee which means you have a week to test it risk-free. Please note that Addictive Tips readers can save a massive 60% here on the IPVanish annual plan, taking the monthly price down to only $4.87/mo.

How to Install The Lab Kodi Addon

It seems to be the trend right now for developers to push out new Kodi addons on their own unofficial repository rather than seeking to place them in a bigger repository. This might be because new addons can get lost next to more established rivals or it might be because a number of bog repositories have been taken down rather suddenly of late. Whatever the reason, the developers of The Lab have chosen to follow this new approach and as a result, The Lab addon can be found in their own Lockdown Repository. It is very simple to download and install The Lab from this source. And to walk you through the process, we have compiled this simple step-by-step guide:

  1. Open Kodi and click the Settings icon. This icon looks like a gear wheel and can be found in the top left of the screen.
  2. Click the File Manager tab which can be found at the bottom of the screen, then double-click on Add Source which you will see in the left-hand column of the next screen.
  3. A pop-up box will appear with Add File Source as its title. Click where it says <None> and then enter the following URL exactly: https://repo.lockdown.in/. Click OK and then give this new source a name, such as Lockdown, before clicking OK again.
  4. Go back to the Kodi home page and this time click Addons.
  5. Next, click the Addon Browser icon, which looks like an open box and can be found in the top left of the screen.
  6. Click on Install from zip file, then select Lockdown and click on a file called repository.lockdown.x.x.zip. Click OK and this will install the Lockdown Repository onto your Kodi.
  7. Next, go back to the Addon browser menu and this time click Install from repository. Then scroll down the page to find the Lockdown repository.
  8. Open it and then click Video addons. Click The Lab addon, which is listed close to the top, and then click Install. This will download and install The Lab Kodi addon onto your Kodi device You will again receive a notification in the top right of the screen when it has been installed successfully.
  9. Return to the Kodi home screen and click on Add-ons again. The Lab addon will now be listed under Video Addons and will be ready to use.

The Lab Kodi Addon Review

The first impression that you get when you open The Lab Kodi Addon is that it is something quirky and eccentric. This initial feeling is largely due to the imagery that this addon uses, which is of the professor Dr. Fluke Hawkins engaged in yet another madcap science experiment. But actually, this impression is rather misleading, because The Lab addon is a pretty straightforward and functional addon which offers just two main types of content. That is certainly not a criticism however because make no mistake, The Lab works to its strengths and delivers what it promises extremely well. The best way to give an overview of an addon is to work through its main menu. And in the case of the Lab, this is also a simple process:

Movies

The first main menu option is simply called Movies. And that is exactly what it offers. Click on it and you can search for movies in all the most useful ways. This includes Popular, Genres, Years, Actor, Oscar Winners, In Theaters, My Movies, Actor Search and Search. Each search option opens up a list of movies that fit the category you have chosen. There are plenty of movies to choose from and all include a good synopsis, image, and the year they came out.

TV Shows

The TV Shows category is every bit as simple, yet comprehensive as the Movie section. A menu with a selection of useful search features will open up. This includes Popular, Genres, Networks, New TV Shows, New Episodes, My TV Shows, Actor Search, and Search. Each of these again opens up a lost list of shows, which you can then search by series and episode.

My Movies

This section is where you can link The Lab to your Trakt or IMDB account and access movies directly through those services.

My TV Shows

This section is where you can link The Lab to your Trakt or IMDB account and access TV shows directly through those services.

Tools

This is the place to come for all your settings and customisation options. There are plenty to choose from here and as well as adding your Trakt or IMDB account, you can also customise the addon in a number of ways. Options include specifying the sources searched for content which can make the addon quicker to use.

Search

This is the quickest way to search for specific content. Choose from searching movies, TV Shows or actors in either category, enter your title or keyword, and if the content is available on The Lab addon, the search feature will pull it out for you.

The Lab Kodi Addon Pros and Cons

Pros

What The Lab Kodi addon does really well is keeping things simple. It offers movies and TVs and each option allows you to search for content in all the most popular ways. This means it is extremely easy to seek out the content you are looking for. Once you find the movie you want, clicking on it opens up a list of links, each of which tells you the quality of stream you can expect. Choose your link and the movie begins to play. It is as simple as that.

This addon also avoids many of the pitfalls some others fall into far too easily. It runs quickly and there are no endless waits for menus or links to open. It also doesn’t have the processing metadata problem that can be so frustrating on some other addons. As a new addon, you wouldn’t expect links to work well and certainly, we didn’t encounter any broken ones in our testing. Buffering was encountered with some links, but that is inevitable when sourcing streams from such a wide range of content. It is possible to remove any sources that really don’t work well in the settings section and choosing another link solves any buffering issues most of the time.

Cons

One feature that is lacking from this addon is a one-click play feature. This is not something that every user will want, but newer Kodi users, in particular, may get confused when asked to choose from the list of links and not end up with the best one available. Adding an option one-click play feature would make this an addon that works for everyone and is definitely something the developers should consider.

Another slightly annoying feature of The Lab is that the lists of content are not in any particular order. Newer movies tend to be more towards the top, but this is not a hard and fast rule. That means that if you are looking for a particular movie, you either have to keep scrolling down until you find it or use the search feature. Many other addons manage to list content in alphabetical order or some other order, and it seems odd that the developer of The Lab hasn’t chosen to do likewise.

The Lab Kodi addon Conclusions

If all you want from your Kodi addon is a great selection of Movies and TV shows that can be easily searched and will stream reliably, then you could do much worse than try The Lab. It’s real beauty is in its simplicity and it offers all the features you will need to enjoy movies and TV shows. There is a great range of content and plenty of available links, most of which are of a good quality. Navigating the addon is really straightforward and it is really well designed. For an on-demand movie and TV show addon, The Lab does everything you need and is a great addition to any Kodi addon library.

How did you find The Lab Kodi addon to use? Did you encounter any problems that we didn’t? Do you agree with our assessment that it is an easy-to-use and well-designed addon with a great range of content? Did you find our download and installation guide helpful? We always welcome the comments and thoughts of our readers, so why not share them with us using the comments box below.

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