Kodi 21 Omega Alpha Two Release – New Details & How to Install

This Iptv Knowledge news article explores the recently launched version of Kodi 21 Omega.

Kodi 21 Omega has been officially issued by the Kodi development team and represents the second Alpha release of this software.

Kindly note that the existing stable release remains Kodi 20.1 Nexus. To ensure optimal performance, it is advised to adhere to Kodi 20.1 Nexus.

In this piece, we will furnish all the vital release particulars, along with directives on how to deploy Kodi 21 Omega on your chosen device.

Kodi stands as one of the most favored streaming applications and media centers that cater to millions globally.

This app is frequently installed on Amazon Firestick, Fire TV, Android, Windows, Linux, Mac, and even iOS.

The release from the Kodi website conveys the subsequent message about the Alpha release of Kodi 21 Omega:

“It is time for the next significant release for Kodi 21 “Omega”. This marks the second Alpha release for this cycle. Being a major release, it comes with numerous new features. However, due to a core change in FFmpeg 6.0, there is a notable likelihood of encountering some regressions.

Over the past couple of months, we’ve integrated 120 pull requests – rectifying problems, incorporating features, and enhancing Kodi.”

It ought to be noted that our review team has not experimented with Kodi 21 Omega using all the Kodi add-ons and builds.

Kodi 21 Omega – Features & Details

Alpha Two Release

The unveiling of “Alpha Two” version of Kodi 21 Omega was declared on June 18, 2023.

Build/Dependencies

• All Apple platforms are now built utilizing a more recent version of Xcode (14.2) and the relevant SDKs. This transition was made viable through a hardware contribution from MacMiniVault.com and the acquisition of another Mac mini by the Kodi foundation.
• The build process on Windows now employs the system’s curl instead of the bundled wget executable.
• Dependency building has been enhanced to reinforce the robustness of downloading and hash checking.

Estuary

• Improved seek window timeouts to correctly disappear post appropriate timeouts.
• Rectified visibility of the “next recording” label in PVRTimers.

FFmpeg

• Enhancements and crash fixes have been undertaken on the ffmpeg side data usage by a new team member.

General

• Enhancements have been made to handle movement keys (e.g., PageUp, Down, Home, End) in specific lists like Settings.
• GUI item image cache handling has been improved by a developer.
• Migration of Extraart configurations has been terminated in Kodi 18.
• Navigation history has been extended to track the line number of the selected item.
• Rectified thumbnail generation for pictures in portrait orientation.

JSON-RPC

• The VideoLibrary.GetEpisodeDetails now incorporates “studio” and “genre” fields.

Platform Specifics

• Android:
  • Diverse enhancements and updates have been implemented to the Android codebase.
  • Improvements have been made to handle hardware with sinks that get “stuck”.
• Linux:
  • An additional command line switch has been added to enable users to select the audio backend when launching Kodi.
• macOS:
  • The minimum required OS version for Kodi on macOS is now Mojave (10.14).
  • Enhancements have been made to the native windowing implementation for macOS.
  • Support for HiDPI resolutions has been introduced.
• webOS:
  • Varied improvements have been made to the webOS platform.
  • Introduction of screensaver support, as well as audio sink improvements and codec hardware support updates.
• Windows:
  • The minimum supported Windows version is now Windows 8.1.
  • Enhanced graphics compatibility and fallback for VM hardware lacking video decoding support.
  • Several improvements have been made for DXVA render methods and support for AV1 hardware video decoding.
  • SDK requirements for building UWP packages have been eliminated to allow the use of newer SDKs.

Python

• A fix has been implemented to allocate addon paths at the forefront of system paths to mitigate conflicts with system modules.

Alpha One Release

The “Alpha one” release of Kodi 21 Omega was announced on April 25, 2023.

Build/Dependencies

• Build support for GCC13 has been rectified.
• Version bumps have been introduced for various dependencies for Android, Apple, and CI platforms.
• Dependence systems for Android, Apple, and CI have been improved to accommodate diverse states.
• Resolutions and detection issues have been addressed in cmake and pkgconfig.

Documentation

• Contributing guidelines have been revised to offer more helpful and informative assistance.
• Substantial updates have been made to Ubuntu build documentation to reflect contemporary package names.

FFmpeg

• Upstream FFmpeg is now deployed, facilitating easier updates in the future.
• FFmpeg has been updated to version 6.0.

Filesystem

• Rectified issues with NFSv4 support, including timeouts and default chunk size.

General

• Rectified general issues such as memory leaks and enhanced performance.
• Initiated work to modernize various Kodi segments.
• Introduced setting to deactivate screensaver while playing audio.
• UX improvements regarding date format options.

Games

• Enhancements have been made to the Retroplayer ecosystem.

JSON-RPC