After more than a year of development, Kodi media player 21, code-name “Omega”, is finally released!
Kodi 21 is a new major release. It’s now based on FFmpeg 6.0, that features Radiance HDR image support, VAAPI decoding and QSV decoding for 10/12bit 422, 10/12bit 444 HEVC and VP9, MediaCodec decoder, and various other exciting new features, see ffmpeg.org for details.
For macOS, the release supports HiDPI (retina) displays using its native implementations for window displays. And, it fixed crash on speech recognition activation, improved window resizing when moving (or fallback when display disconnected) from one display to another, and implemented Hotkeycontroller for media keys. Continue Reading…
The popular Kodi media player (formerly XBMC) finally discontinued its official PPA for Ubuntu users.
Meaning that there’s no official Kodi .deb package any more. Users are recommended to use Flatpak package instead!
Ubuntu PPA is a popular way to host up-to-date versions of software packages in .deb package format. And, Wolfgang Schupp has been maintaining the Kodi Team PPA for many years for Ubuntu users. The last version stuck at Kodi 20.2, though there are still add-on updates now and then.
After 3 alpha and 3 beta releases, Kodi media center 21, finally announced its first RC release this Thursday.
Kodi 21 is the next major release that’s still in development. The release features upstream FFmpeg 6.0, adds support for NFSv4, support M3U8 playlist files, AVIF images, HDR10 for Android.
The developer team asks users to try out the new development release and report issues to help to make it better. And, in the current RC1 release, changes include:
Allow users to set a subtitle save path
Fix that audiobooks showing their last chapter with no duration.
For Linux, allow Pipewire to properly identify HDMI for passthrough usage.
Implement Hotkeycontroller for media keys on macOS
Some color accuracy changes for 10bit SDR/HDR color mapping on Windows.
Allows subtitles to be tonemapped to avoid extreme brightness for HDR playback on Android.
Kodi, formerly XBMC media center, released version 20.3 this Wednesday!
According to the announcements, this is the last release of the 20.x “Nexus” series. While Kodi 21 “Omega” now is in Beta 2 stage.
The release mainly includes bug-fixes and some backports. They include an assortment of fixes for Estuary, including home categories’ focus position, alignment of counter labels and Shift view for collections.
For gaming, the release fixed controllers not assigned to game ports correctly on Android, blue/pink washed out colours on Windows with 10-bit displays, and possible crash in Port dialogue box.
For Linux, it includes fixes for VP9 Profile 2 playback failure, and a leak of EGLFences in the DRM Prime renderer. Continue Reading…
The Kodi media center 19.0 now is available to install via its official Ubuntu PPA.
Kodi 19.0 “Matrix” is a new major release for the open-source home theater software. Though it’s not officially announced at the moment of writing, the PPA packages has been updated, available for Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04, Ubuntu 20.10, Linux Mint 20.x and derivatives.
What’s New in Kodi 19.0:
There are many new features in the release. And here are some big changes:
AV1 Codec support.
New color for subtitles and ability to change opacity.
static HDR10 and dynamic Dolby Vision HDR support.
Move to Python 3 for addons.
New functions in the PVR.
How to Install Kodi 19.0 via PPA:
Open terminal either from system app launcher or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run following commands one by one to get the new release packages.
Type user password when it asks, with no asterisk feedback, and hit Enter to continue.
2. Install / Update Kodi.
The Software Updater utility will prompt you to run a “partial upgrade” since the dependency packages switched from Python 2 to Python 3. So it’s recommended to install or upgrade Kodi by running terminal commands.
Firstly refresh system package cache, if you’re on Ubuntu 18.04, via command:
sudo apt update
Then install Kodi via command:
sudo apt install kodi
If you’re going to upgrade Kodi, the previous command may not update the add-ons, so I recommend to run apt upgrade instead:
sudo apt upgrade
How to Downgrade:
You can purge the Ubuntu PPA as well as downgrade Kodi to the stock version available in Ubuntu main repositories. To do so, run command:
Kodi media center released one more update for the 18.x “Leia” a day ago, with a quick workaround to the third-party HTTP2 and SSL changes that impacted internet access from Kodi by scrapers, streaming addons, etc.
Okay, one more roll of the “Leia” die, although this one is really driven by circumstances beyond our control. Technical changes by Cloudflare caused significant issues with HTTP access to any site using them – metadata sources, for example – and we need to put in a quick workaround before everyone gets too upset; while 19.x “Matrix” is close, it’s not close enough to leave these issues unaddressed. So, as we’re building that new code, we thought that we might as well fix a couple of other regressions while we’re here.
Kodi Media Center 18.6 now is available to install via its official PPA in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.10, and their derivatives.
Kodi 18.6 is a maintenance release contains mainly bug-fixes and stability improvements. It’s not officially announced at the moment. According to the changelog, changes in the new release include: add image mime type for support over imagedecoder.raw, fix launching zip and 7z files from MyGames, fix error playing disk image games, remove now superflous HeadSet check, Remove Headphone check, and much more other changes.
How to Install Kodi 18.6 in Ubuntu:
The Kodi stable PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.
1. Open terminal either from application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then either upgrading Kodi from an existing version via Software Updater:
or refresh system package cache and install Kodi 18.6 via commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kodi
Uninstall:
To remove the Kodi PPA repository, simply open Software & Updates -> Other Software.
Though it’s not officially announced at the moment, Kodi (formerly XBMC) 18.5 was released earlier today, available to install via PPA in Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.
Kodi 18.5 is a bug-fix release contains following changes:
Support shoutcast over https
Add dual support for Artist Slideshow 2.x and 3.x
Fix screensaver not going black when video is paused.
Fix that Kodi 18.4 does not skip commericals
Make archive files work via UPnP
Fix scrollbar in skin settings.
Fix loading external subtitles in custom folder.
Fix that user-provided joystick configuration not applied.
Fix “queue item” and “play next” for STRM files with Plugin URL
Fix screen rendering issue in mac OS.
Fix crash issue when changing the artwork of multipart video files.
Fix the filename of the default studios icon.
Clear resume bookmarks also when marking as unwatched
Stop PVR services on logoff to avoid PVR reminder pop-up on login screen.
Add addon settings support for property condition (basic conditions only)
Fix wrong sort order list for music playlists node
Fix watched videos not being hidden
How to Install Kodi 18.5 in Ubuntu:
The Kodi stable PPA has made the new release packages for Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 19.04, and Ubuntu 19.10.
1. Open terminal either from application menu or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard. When it opens, run command to add the PPA:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
Type user password (no asterisk feedback) when it prompts and hit Enter to continue.
2. Then either upgrading Kodi from an existing version via Software Updater:
or refresh system package cache and install Kodi 18.5 via commands:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install kodi
Uninstall:
To remove the Kodi PPA repository, simply open Software & Updates -> Other Software.
