Time flies, and we’re already at the third and final day of DevCon 2024. We’ll be losing people today as they head home, which will shorten events; additionally, most of the day is scheduled for the inevitable people-sitting-together-and-hacking-code later today, which will also eat into time, so this will inevitably be a short post.
Random, spontaneous, unstructured conversations about mirrors, more about release cycles, about merging. A wild conversation about a potential third-party conference in south Asia, and how any of us would physically get there anyway, given that some of our members don’t fly for climate reasons (and we can’t afford it anyway). Various debates about the DVB specification, EITs and embedded EPG data in different countries/formats around the planet. Much about IPTV, metadata, scrapers, servers and cloud services, a chunk on permission cleanup and retired team members, some cosmetic website changes, debates about skins and the out-of-the-box experience when installing Kodi for the first time, and general chat about all things AV-related.
After a good chunk of reminiscing about events and team members past, we ended the conference with a bit of a reflection on DevCon itself – the format, the location, accessibility, what we’ve done while we’re here. If we’re to do this again – and we certainly want to – then we need to find ways of maximising the value and minimising the cost.
So, that’s it: as suitcases are already trundling into the distance, DevCon 2024 draws to a close. Thanks for following along, we hope that you’ve found these posts informative, and eternal thanks for continuing to support Kodi.
https://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DevCon-2024-Budapest-Part-III.webp.webp10801918Dimitrologyhttps://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WEBSITE-LOGO-2020-SMALL.pngDimitrology2024-03-24 23:34:552024-03-24 23:34:55DevCon 2024 – Budapest – Part III
Good morning, dear reader (okay, “readers” – I’ll be generous, and assume there’s more than one of you!). It’s a beautiful day, the skies are an endless sea of blue, the forecast is a congenial 20℃ spring day – and we’re back in a sealed room, and ready to get going with Day Two of this year’s DevCon.
First up, romanvm, with a talk on computer text encoding – not necessarily Kodi-specific, but something that affects so many applications, particularly when using non-Latin scripts. Fundamentally, all text is abstract, and we simply need an agreed way to represent some symbols in a binary form so they can be stored, manipulated, and retrieved as needed – from 7-bit ASCII to 8-bit national extensions to today’s 16- and 32-bit Unicode with UTF-8 providing variable-length encoding. This presents specific challenges for specific languages, as you need to know the size (number of bytes) for some languages and how e.g. concatenation would work in others.
Next, fuzzard led a discussion about our next release, version 22, Kodi P*: finalise a name, artwork, timescales, and similar. This segued into a broader conversation, co-led by martijn, about our approach to release management and versioning in general: when to merge stuff (do it earlier), the overall process (documentation, ownership, participants, responsibilities), schedules, impact on our users, what even constitutes a new version. Should we offer a stable release monthly, quarterly, annually? How do other projects do it, and what can we learn? Given that we’re not other projects, though, what are the implications for skins, databases, addons, users? And, anyway, could we require volunteers to work in their spare time to rigid deadlines: who wants to volunteer to be managed that tightly, when it’s supposed to be fun?
We then moved to some quick, impromptu, more free-format discussions: yol with infrastructure – what’s physical, what’s hosted, what’s cloud-based, AWS vs Azure vs OSUOSL vs stuff-under-a-desk; keithah with the ongoing implications of content protection; yol again about mirrors and approaches we’ve had from different potential non-standard hosts.
Continuing the quick-fire round, Prof Yaffle took a turn to stir a conversation about futures and how we respond to the ever-changing landscape – the art of the possible. What could we consider: streaming to Kodi, transcoding, content aggregation, Chromecast/Airplay support, headless Kodi (still!), thin client player, Ambilight…
Similarly, phunkyfish and fuzzard kicked off a discussion about increased automation of branching and building of binary add-ons, particularly when building a new major release (which links back to our approach to release management and versioning, above).
After a break for lunch (and a team photo), we continued with the short topics with multiple participants: release manager permissions; guidelines on team membership, permission, expiration, etc.; sponsorship levels. We then moved to a more in-depth conversation kicked off by Prof Yaffle about distributing Kodi on Linux, and the industry move more towards containers instead of repositories (e.g. PPAs): the implications for addons, documentation, user experience, configuration, and so on.
sundermann took the microphone next to talk about the current state of the webOS port: implications of having a limited set of addons built and bundled, webOS store status and submission challenges, remaining playback issues, SSL certification, installation process.
Next to take the floor, chewitt, with an update on LibreELEC. Overall user numbers have declined since the original separation from OpenELEC – an artefact of people moving to different platforms over time, perhaps, such as Chromecasts and Fire Sticks, which are good enough for very many uses – although there’s still a large, active installed base of mostly Pi (mostly 3, 4 and even 5) systems, with some platforms still growing. He explored the status of different platforms – Pi, generic, various legacy platforms, GPU variations (and thus driver challenges) that are out in the wild. Financially, LibreELEC remains solvent with donations via Open Collective, and he talked a little about their experience of that platform versus PayPal and similar. Finally, a quick update on hosting – what’s where, mirrors, status, plans – and some improvements that have been made to e.g. CI/CD tools.
Without pausing for breath, chewitt then moved on to Tvheadend, as a part of the LibreELEC/Kodi “ecosystem” that needed some assistance: it’s a very-widely used PVR backend for Kodi users, and it had fallen into disrepair as maintainers had come and gone. So, working alongside our special guest at this DevCon, Flole998 (who became the de facto maintainer of the project after a “field promotion”), Prof Yaffle (artisan blogger of this parish) and some genuinely-keen new contributors (you know who you are), he’s been working to refresh the forum and website and work towards getting a new release, updated documentation, and generally-invigorated life signs.
A quick dash for dinner, and we’re back to finish up for today, starting the last tranche of topics with phunkyfish to talk about catchup and timeshift for video add-ons. This is all about bringing consistency to how you can pause and navigate various video feeds: local, streaming/IPTV, or even OTA via a PVR add-on. In effect, we can bring all sources into a consistent “channel list”, with subtle differences based on what’s available (e.g. previous/next) but as much common look, feel and behaviour as possible (OSD, pause, stop, what else is on/EPG): local media is fully navigable, streaming might have a 7- or 21-day catchup, dependent on provider, and true live TV simply appears in the traditional linear fashion.
Bringing the day to a close, then, we moved to sports features in Kodi, led by zag (who, incidentally, runs TheAudioDB and TheSportsDB websites): Sports view, metadata for events from TheSportsDB site via a new Python scraper (thumbnail, artwork, description – just as you’d expect). Future concepts include timestamps for significant events (yellow cards/penalties, scoring events, and similar), team lineups (aka the “cast” of the programme), event databases; outside the core concept, we have the possibility of screensavers with scores or schedules, or perhaps Kodi notifications when, say, your team scores while you’re strong-armed into watching something else.
And that’s it for Day Two. A few more topics to roll over until tomorrow, along with some spontaneous coding while everyone is together – but, until then, that’s it for now.
https://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/halaszbastya-fisherman-s-bastion-by-tobias-reich.webp.webp10801620Dimitrologyhttps://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WEBSITE-LOGO-2020-SMALL.pngDimitrology2024-03-24 03:32:372024-03-24 03:32:37DevCon 2024 – Budapest – Part II
The lights are dimmed, the projector is running, the microphones are tested, the coffee is on… yes, it’s time for Kodi’s DevCon once again! We’re coming to you from beautiful Budapest, the grand capital of Hungary – which last hosted us eight years ago, and it’s genuinely great to be back. With two thousand years of history, stretching from Celtic origins by way of Romans and Mongols and the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, modern Budapest is today a global city with vibrant finance, media, fashion, technology, and entertainment sectors. If you know nothing about Hungary, I promise you that you’ve seen this city and the surrounding countryside in more films and television shows than you realise.
This year, we’re going to go back to the “daily blog” format we’ve used previously, so let’s see how this works. So, with no further ado bar a quick drum roll… off we go with Day One: a later start and a slightly reduced agenda for this session to allow extra time for people to get here and settle in.
We opened with welcoming comments from keithah, looking back at what is now 22 years of XBMC/Kodi and not quite-so-many years of DevCons. It’s always interesting to see how many faces have stuck around, year after year – how many have faded away – and how some have returned , sometimes after a long absence.
keithah continued with a dive into the Foundation’s finances and related aspects of managing the Foundation. We’ve never been a wealthy project – that’s not why we do this, after all – and we’ve always been cautious about e.g. advertising and headline sponsors. We remain solvent, and can invest in development hardware, server infrastructure and, yes, this conference, but we do need to generate new and more regular income to make sure that remains the case.
Beyond money, we’re in search of a new non-profit lawyer to help us with e.g. trademark registration and protection, as our current one is retiring. If that sounds like you, or someone you know is a believer in FOSS and prepared to work on a no-fee/low-fee basis, please get in touch and let us know, as this is an area we’ve been struggling with.
Another area in which we’ve been challenged is banking. As a US-registered non-profit, we’re not eligible to open a European bank account, and that causes problems because we lack an IBAN (primarily for payments in). We did have an account with Wise, which solved the problem entirely, but that was unfortunately closed without explanation or notice. We continue to look for an answer to this that doesn’t involve setting up and maintaining an EU subsidiary.
zag then took the floor to provide a view of Kodi from an end-user perspective: what could be better, how Kodi is positioned against similar products in a changing landscape (e.g. updating and cleaning the library versus making it transparent, accessing live/IPTV, podcasts, new user experience/setup wizards and general configuration, etc.). Good discussion about what might be, what could be, what we can think further on.
Finally for today, garbear talked about OpenGL in RetroPlayer – a key component to improving support for later-generation 3D games. This has a long history within Kodi, with multiple contributing branches stretching back perhaps six or more years (with Retroplayer going back even further). There are still problems to be resolved, so work is ongoing, but the list is getting shorter as progress is made, and plans are in place to get this over the line.
And that’s it. Other than the obligatory round of introductions, who-are-you-agains and oh-so-that’s-yous, it’s just about 22:00 and time to call it an evening. See you all when the planet turns a little further.
https://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/DevCon-2024-Budapest-Part-I.webp.webp10801919Dimitrologyhttps://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WEBSITE-LOGO-2020-SMALL.pngDimitrology2024-03-23 07:29:552024-03-23 07:29:55DevCon 2024 – Budapest – Part I
Can you feel the excitement building in the air? Well, you should, as we are ready for our first Release Candidate for Kodi 21.0 “Omega”!
This is a major release, so, as you’d expect, it comes with many new features. However, with a core change to FFmpeg 6.0, there is a very good chance that we’ll get some regressions As such, please be aware that installing this will most likely break things, and we’d really like your help at that point to identify the problems and get them fixed. Please raise Github issues with full debug logs to help us resolve any issues that you wonderful testers come across.
First, we’d like to make a few targeted announcements.
Android users
Many users may still be on the Kodi testing track for their Android devices. It’s far easier to leave the testing track from a ‘phone-based device, but be aware that if your device is on the testing track, we will be continuing to deploy Beta 3 releases over the next week or so. If you wish to opt out of the testing group, one way you can is by visiting the following link Google Play – Kodi testing track. From here, you can opt out for your Google Play account. This is the best (and possibly only) way to opt out on many Android TV devices (e.g. Nvidia Shields).
With that said, for those adventurous types who would like to help us with testing, you can use the same link to opt in for a Google Play account.
Xbox users
As we do not have a testing track available for Xbox users, we will continue our customary deployment of RC1+ of our major releases to the Microsoft App store. This means that Xbox users will start to see their Nexus deployments updated to Omega RC1.
If you do not wish to receive this update, the only option we are aware of is for you to disable auto updates for all apps/games on your Xbox.
You can disable auto updates to games and apps in the Microsoft Store through the Store’s settings.
Select the Start screen, then select Microsoft Store.
In Microsoft Store at the upper right, select the account menu (the three dots) and then select Settings.
Under App updates, set Update apps automatically to Off.
The UWP store deployment is scheduled to begin rolling out on the 16th March.
Skin Developers
An API bump has been made for Kodi 21’s testing cycle. See the following PRs for details:
This will require changes and submissions to the Omega branch for skins for those who submit to the Kodi Repository. Reach out on the forums if you have any questions/concerns.
Please note, https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/23927 was merged shortly after Beta 2, and all skins will need to update the GUI version number to be available in Omega repos for any builds (including nightlies) after Beta 2.
A consistency fix was made by @Hitcher to make OSD controls for some buttons to just be disabled, rather than hidden, so the buttons stay shown in a consistent manner.
Filesystem
A partial revert has been made that fixes some binary addons being unable to correctly parse some XML files.
General
@ksooo continues to clean up things related to the Video Version feature. This time he has fixed a media name label that would be blank under certain circumstances.
A first time contributor, @hagaygo, has made a fix to allow users to set a subtitle save path rather than using a temp location under some circumstances.
@CrystalP submitted two fixes that fix list locations after adding/removing versions/extras and their art related management.
Music
audiobooks were showing their last chapter with no duration; this has been fixed by @the-black-eagle.
Platform Specifics
Android:
Cleanups to build/package files have been made by @joseluismarti. This helps get the codebase nice and clean for the newer Android SDKs leading into the future, meaning we can more easily backport to Omega when we are making changes for v22 “P” in the future.
@thexai has made a change that allows subtitles to be tonemapped to avoid extreme brightness for HDR playback.
Linux:
@fritsch, our resident audio expert, has submitted a change to allow Pipewire to properly identify HDMI for passthrough usage.
macOS:
@enen92 has implemented Hotkeycontroller for media keys on macOS. This allows Kodi to more accurately capture and handle media-related keys and allows us to play more nicely with other running apps on a system expecting to use the same media keys.
Windows:
@thexai has submitted some colour accuracy changes for 10bit SDR/HDR colour mapping.
PVR
A fix for icons not being correctly refreshed was made by @ksooo.
VideoPlayer
@popcornmix has tracked down a variable initialisation bug that helps to reduce video stalls under certain conditions.
A fix that stops incorrect refresh rate changes occurring for interlaced content in some circumstances was submitted by @CrystalP.
Known Issues
You can see open issues on our tracker at https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues. However, to call out a couple of specifics, please be aware of the following if you’re planning on upgrading:
We’ve had reports that the new splash screen looks like an OpenGL corruption; we know, it’s not a problem, so don’t panic. We’d be happy to have your artwork contributions if you’d like to work on an alternative.
We continue to march forward to what we hope will be a successful v21 “Omega” release.
If you love to live on the bleeding edge, you can get RC 1 from here. Select your platform of choice, and look in the “Prerelease” section. Again, though, please: expect some breakage, don’t use this as your daily installation unless you know how to get things working again, and please share your experiences back with us so we can really get going on those bugs.
There is always a great deal more changes/fixes/updates than we can highlight in these reports, so, as usual, you can see a fuller list of what has been merged between v21 and v20 here. For a more targeted look at the changes made since v21 Beta 3, you can see those changes here.
Nexus just won’t end, it seems: we’re back already, this time what we hope will be the final release for the Nexus line. Welcome to 20.5!
An assortment of bug fixes, some backports, no real new features. Full changelog since 20.4 on Github, as usual.
Release notes
Input
Reverted a number of controller changes that caused massive failures on Android devices. Input handling will now be the same as what was available in 20.3.
Platform Specific
Android
Some great detective work was done by @spdfrk for a fix that meant Kodi would close the app during potential colour mode changes.
A backport by @fritsch that intends to bring Nexus inline with Omega behaviour for AudioTrack on Android. This means that some device users will need to add an extra setting to their AdvancedSettings.xml file. Details can be seen at https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/24729.
A change that wasn’t actually in Kodi’s codebase, but a fix nonetheless, means that the inputstream.ffmpegdirect addon is now available to the iOS/tvOS release debs.
… plus, of course, some behind-the-scenes fixes and updates for e.g. library versions.
Thanks, as always, to everyone who has helped us track down and fix any issues. We endeavour to minimise the issues everyone experiences, but with such a large project, and the fact everyone contributing to Kodi is a volunteer, issues and bugs are a part of life. if you happen to experience any bugs/issues, don’t hesitate to reach out on the forums, or raise an issue on Github.
As this is a point release, there are no major changes since the previous version, and you should be fine to install this straight over the top of any existing Kodi 20.x installation – indeed, this will happen automatically on many platforms. However, as for all software installations, back up your userdata beforehand if you’ve any doubts or have anything you can’t afford to lose (and definitely do this if you’re going for a major version upgrade).
A list of all changes for this version can be found at GitHub. If you want to read back on the full history of v20 itself, or of previous versions, you can find the corresponding articles in the relevant blog posts.
Application deployment on different platforms (notably the Microsoft Store) can vary considerably due to circumstances outside of our control, so just be patient, and the update will inevitably find its way through.
Android Deployment
We always do what’s known as a “staged” deployment roll out for Android. So if you don’t receive the update immediately, be patient, as it will come through over the next week. As the majority of fixes are related to Android Playstore deployment, we will be cautious with the deployment time. If you do receive 20.5 and have any issues with the Playstore deployment, please let us know as soon as possible.
Editorial note: this blog post has been delayed for technical reasons, so the release is already available.
Time marches on for Kodi 21 “Omega”, we are here with the third Beta release!
This is a major release, so, as you’d expect, it comes with many new features. However, with a core change to FFmpeg 6.0, there is a very good chance that some regressions may occur. As such, please be aware that installing this will most likely break things, and we’d really like your help at that point to identify the problems and get them fixed. Please raise Github issues with full debug logs to help us resolve any issues you wonderful testers come across.
First, we’d like to make a few targeted announcements.
Android users
Many users may still be on the Kodi testing track for their Android devices. It’s far easier to leave the testing track from a ‘phone-based device, but be aware that if your device is on the testing track, we will be continuing to deploy Beta 3 releases over the next week or so. If you wish to opt out of the testing group, one way you can is by visiting the following link Google Play – Kodi testing track. From here, you can opt out for your Google Play account. This is the best (and possibly only) way to opt out on many Android TV devices (e.g. Nvidia Shields).
With that said, for those adventurous types who would like to help us with testing, you can use the same link to opt in for a Google Play account.
Skin Developers
An API bump has been made for Kodi 21’s testing cycle. See the following PRs for details:
This will require changes and submissions to the Omega branch for skins for those who submit to the Kodi repository. Reach out on the forums if you have any questions/concerns.
Please note, https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/23927 has been merged shortly after Beta 2, and all skins will need to update the GUI version number to be available in Omega repos for any builds (including nightlies) after Beta 2.
The way in which buffer fill was handled was changed to care more for low-power CPU devices. Under certain circumstances, and with especially high manually-configured readbuffer factors, the buffer filling thread caused high CPU usage and introduced stutter by itself.
Implemented new “Adaptive” setting in Services / Caching / Read Factor that allows a variable read factor based on cache level. This means that the cache fills faster, while at same time using a less aggressive read factor when it’s already filled.
Fixed media served through plugins not being accessible when a master lock is used.
Only drop music database triggers on clean if they exist, which fixes a problem that occurred if Kodi was closed/crashed whilst a clean was underway on the Music database.
Due to various firmware bugs on multiple devices we were forced to add some opt-in audio settings for (especially) the widely-used FireTV Cube 3rd Gen, which were enabled by default until this beta, but sadly regressed on half-broken firmwares of other devices. It’s not possible to maintain a deny list as available systems and versions change too quickly, plus Kodi release cycles can’t be synchronised with every big vendor putting out fixes. As such, we decided to move this into an advanced setting, with more information available in the linked forum thread. Feel free to open new issues if you see regressions of some sort, but please don’t forget your debug log, as help isn’t possible otherwise due to the sheer variety of differently-broken boxes.
Another advanced setting now allows the output of high-precision 32-bit float from within Kodi for multi-channel PCM files. This is again an advanced setting because some devices fail silently when opening this combination. Float32 is the highest precision Android’s Audiotrack Soundserver can handle. It was tested and is working on Shield and FireTV 4K 2nd Gen.
We received a whole lot of bug fixes from external contributors this time, with the focus on HDMI Hotplug after refresh rate changes and also Audio device enumeration. The long-standing bug of losing Android IEC devices during IDLE is solved. We are very thankful for these contributions.
@quietvoid has implemented a new setting in Player / Processing that allows filtering of HDR dynamic metadata HDR10+ and/or Dolby Vision to improve compatibility on devices that had issues, especially with hybrid videos that includes both types at same time.
iOS/tvOS
Disable VTB (hardware decoding) for real-time interlaced videos.
Linux:
Pipewire sink got a fixup for sample rate switching. With that updated code, the back-end server of Pipewire will switch the base sample rate whenever Kodi is run without additional other clients. This way, Kodi’s audio will be output in the best possible and lossless way throughout the audio chain, including soundserver and audio device.
Adjusted dependencies to build packages compatible with Ubuntu Focal to Noble for CPack building
@fightforlife has fixed an issue with RenderCapture used by things like Hyperion that fixes sporadic black screen captures
webOS
Map info key on webOS remotes.
Disable core dumps by default to reduce less storage being used on webOS TVs.
Implement shutdown/reboot .
Windows:
Improved chroma upscaling when using Pixel Shaders or Software render methods, and also DXVA only in specific cases: AMD + old drivers + 10-bit SDR.
Improved channel layout match in WASAPI when audio drivers do not support the exact speaker layout. This is only relevant for PCM (not passthrough).
Increased the number of video surfaces in DXVA H.264 decoding to prevent video corruption in some rare H.264 streams.
Pictures
Long time contributer @notspiff added avif image support.
@enen92 fixed an Exif parsing regression that was introduced in Matrix (v19).
@78andyp fixed what looks like has been broken for a long period – the ability to scrape episodes in Bluray folders (BDMV).
Skinning
The estouchy skin has been retired from default installs. If anyone would like to continue working on the skin for future use/availability, you can find the new home for the skin at https://github.com/jjd-uk/skin.estouchy for now.
The player control dialog for Estuary has been updated, along with other changes to bring the skin up to date for 5.17.0 API.
A fix for duplicate music flags was made by @jjd-uk.
UPnP
@enen92 has once again made an assortment of fixes for UPnP, such as fixed broadcasting of item updates and ‘mark as watched’ state.
An option was added to avoid volume synchronisation to a UPnP target.
Known Issues
You can see open issues on our tracker at https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues. However, to call out a couple of specifics, please be aware of the following if you’re planning on upgrading:
We’ve had reports that the new splash screen looks like an OpenGL corruption; we know, it’s not a problem, so don’t panic. We’d be happy to have your artwork contributions if you’d like to work on an alternative.
We continue to march forward to what we hope will be a successful v21 Omega release in the new year.
If you love to live on the bleeding edge, you can get Beta 3 from here. Select your platform of choice, and look in the “Prerelease” section. Again, though, please: expect some breakage, don’t use this as your daily installation unless you know how to get things working again, and please share your experiences back with us so we can really get going on those bugs.
There is always a great deal more changes/fixes/updates than what we can highlight in these reports, so as usual you can see a fuller list of what has been merged between v21 and v20 here. For a more targeted look at the changes made since v21 Beta 2, you can see those changes here.
Editorial note: this blog post has been delayed for technical reasons, so the release is already available.
Time marches on for Kodi 21 “Omega”, we are here with the third Beta release!
This is a major release, so, as you’d expect, it comes with many new features. However, with a core change to FFmpeg 6.0, there is a very good chance that some regressions may occur. As such, please be aware that installing this will most likely break things, and we’d really like your help at that point to identify the problems and get them fixed. Please raise Github issues with full debug logs to help us resolve any issues you wonderful testers come across.
First, we’d like to make a few targeted announcements.
Android users
Many users may still be on the Kodi testing track for their Android devices. It’s far easier to leave the testing track from a ‘phone-based device, but be aware that if your device is on the testing track, we will be continuing to deploy Beta 3 releases over the next week or so. If you wish to opt out of the testing group, one way you can is by visiting the following link Google Play – Kodi testing track. From here, you can opt out for your Google Play account. This is the best (and possibly only) way to opt out on many Android TV devices (e.g. Nvidia Shields).
With that said, for those adventurous types who would like to help us with testing, you can use the same link to opt in for a Google Play account.
Skin Developers
An API bump has been made for Kodi 21’s testing cycle. See the following PRs for details:
This will require changes and submissions to the Omega branch for skins for those who submit to the Kodi repository. Reach out on the forums if you have any questions/concerns.
Please note, https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/pull/23927 has been merged shortly after Beta 2, and all skins will need to update the GUI version number to be available in Omega repos for any builds (including nightlies) after Beta 2.
The way in which buffer fill was handled was changed to care more for low-power CPU devices. Under certain circumstances, and with especially high manually-configured readbuffer factors, the buffer filling thread caused high CPU usage and introduced stutter by itself.
Implemented new “Adaptive” setting in Services / Caching / Read Factor that allows a variable read factor based on cache level. This means that the cache fills faster, while at same time using a less aggressive read factor when it’s already filled.
Fixed media served through plugins not being accessible when a master lock is used.
Only drop music database triggers on clean if they exist, which fixes a problem that occurred if Kodi was closed/crashed whilst a clean was underway on the Music database.
Due to various firmware bugs on multiple devices we were forced to add some opt-in audio settings for (especially) the widely-used FireTV Cube 3rd Gen, which were enabled by default until this beta, but sadly regressed on half-broken firmwares of other devices. It’s not possible to maintain a deny list as available systems and versions change too quickly, plus Kodi release cycles can’t be synchronised with every big vendor putting out fixes. As such, we decided to move this into an advanced setting, with more information available in the linked forum thread. Feel free to open new issues if you see regressions of some sort, but please don’t forget your debug log, as help isn’t possible otherwise due to the sheer variety of differently-broken boxes.
Another advanced setting now allows the output of high-precision 32-bit float from within Kodi for multi-channel PCM files. This is again an advanced setting because some devices fail silently when opening this combination. Float32 is the highest precision Android’s Audiotrack Soundserver can handle. It was tested and is working on Shield and FireTV 4K 2nd Gen.
We received a whole lot of bug fixes from external contributors this time, with the focus on HDMI Hotplug after refresh rate changes and also Audio device enumeration. The long-standing bug of losing Android IEC devices during IDLE is solved. We are very thankful for these contributions.
@quietvoid has implemented a new setting in Player / Processing that allows filtering of HDR dynamic metadata HDR10+ and/or Dolby Vision to improve compatibility on devices that had issues, especially with hybrid videos that includes both types at same time.
iOS/tvOS
Disable VTB (hardware decoding) for real-time interlaced videos.
Linux:
Pipewire sink got a fixup for sample rate switching. With that updated code, the back-end server of Pipewire will switch the base sample rate whenever Kodi is run without additional other clients. This way, Kodi’s audio will be output in the best possible and lossless way throughout the audio chain, including soundserver and audio device.
Adjusted dependencies to build packages compatible with Ubuntu Focal to Noble for CPack building
@fightforlife has fixed an issue with RenderCapture used by things like Hyperion that fixes sporadic black screen captures
webOS
Map info key on webOS remotes.
Disable core dumps by default to reduce less storage being used on webOS TVs.
Implement shutdown/reboot .
Windows:
Improved chroma upscaling when using Pixel Shaders or Software render methods, and also DXVA only in specific cases: AMD + old drivers + 10-bit SDR.
Improved channel layout match in WASAPI when audio drivers do not support the exact speaker layout. This is only relevant for PCM (not passthrough).
Increased the number of video surfaces in DXVA H.264 decoding to prevent video corruption in some rare H.264 streams.
Pictures
Long time contributer @notspiff added avif image support.
@enen92 fixed an Exif parsing regression that was introduced in Matrix (v19).
@78andyp fixed what looks like has been broken for a long period – the ability to scrape episodes in Bluray folders (BDMV).
Skinning
The estouchy skin has been retired from default installs. If anyone would like to continue working on the skin for future use/availability, you can find the new home for the skin at https://github.com/jjd-uk/skin.estouchy for now.
The player control dialog for Estuary has been updated, along with other changes to bring the skin up to date for 5.17.0 API.
A fix for duplicate music flags was made by @jjd-uk.
UPnP
@enen92 has once again made an assortment of fixes for UPnP, such as fixed broadcasting of item updates and ‘mark as watched’ state.
An option was added to avoid volume synchronisation to a UPnP target.
Known Issues
You can see open issues on our tracker at https://github.com/xbmc/xbmc/issues. However, to call out a couple of specifics, please be aware of the following if you’re planning on upgrading:
We’ve had reports that the new splash screen looks like an OpenGL corruption; we know, it’s not a problem, so don’t panic. We’d be happy to have your artwork contributions if you’d like to work on an alternative.
We continue to march forward to what we hope will be a successful v21 Omega release in the new year.
If you love to live on the bleeding edge, you can get Beta 3 from here. Select your platform of choice, and look in the “Prerelease” section. Again, though, please: expect some breakage, don’t use this as your daily installation unless you know how to get things working again, and please share your experiences back with us so we can really get going on those bugs.
There is always a great deal more changes/fixes/updates than what we can highlight in these reports, so as usual you can see a fuller list of what has been merged between v21 and v20 here. For a more targeted look at the changes made since v21 Beta 2, you can see those changes here.
It looks like one last hurrah was premature for the “Nexus” line: we find ourselves back again already, this time with a new 20.4 release.
An assortment of bug fixes, some backports, no real new features. Full changelog since 20.3 on Github, as usual.
Release notes
Build
A backport aimed at fixing the failure rate of binary addon builds has been merged by @garbear.
Input
Update to the controller addons.
Platform Specific
Android
Several fixes have been backported from master to fix deployment issues on Google Play. Thanks to @joseluismarti for working with us on these.
A number of fixes backported to resolve input issues (remotes/controllers).
iOS/tvOS
A long-time-coming fix to reduce black screen playback when interlaced content is played on iOS/tvOS. Users should no longer have to specifically disable VTB Hardware playback for most interlaced content. Please keep in mind some methods of content playback (HTTP URLs provided in .strm files) will still be affected.
A memory leak with game controllers on iOS/tvOS has been fixed by @kambala-decapitator.
tvOS
@kambala-decapitator fixed what seems to be a long standing bug regarding framework plist metadata for shared library frameworks.
Windows
A fix for AESinkWASAPI to improve fallback when the exact output channel layout isn’t supported by drivers or hardware.
Thanks, as always, to everyone who has helped us track down and fix any issues. We endeavour to minimise the issues everyone experiences, but with such a large project, and the fact everyone contributing to Kodi is a volunteer, issues and bugs are a part of life. if you happen to experience any bugs/issues, don’t hesitate to reach out on the forums, or raise an issue on Github.
As this is a point release, there are no major changes since the previous version, and you should be fine to install this straight over the top of any existing Kodi 20.x installation – indeed, this will happen automatically on many platforms. However, as for all software installations, back up your userdata beforehand if you’ve any doubts or have anything you can’t afford to lose (and definitely do this if you’re going for a major version upgrade).
A list of all changes for this version can be found at GitHub. If you want to read back on the full history of v20 itself, or of previous versions, you can find the corresponding articles in the relevant blog posts.
Application deployment on different platforms (notably the Microsoft Store) can vary considerably due to circumstances outside of our control, so just be patient, and the update will inevitably find its way through.
Android Deployment
We always do what’s known as a “staged” roll out for Android – so, if you don’t receive the update immediately, be patient, as it will come through over the next week. As the majority of fixes are related to Google Play deployment, we will deliberately be cautious with the schedule. If you do receive 20.4 and have any issues with the deployment, please let us know as soon as possible.
For whose benefit does a business exist? It’s tempting, especially in the early days, to see the business as being for the benefit of the founder. But it’s always best to view a business as being there for the customer, not the business. That’s the mindset that has propelled some of the world’s biggest brands, including Amazon.
If you run a business, then it’s worthwhile looking for ways to make your customers’ lives easier. It’ll help to elevate the customers’ experience of your brand, and ultimately that’ll help to drive more sales.
Making your customers’ lives easier sounds good, but how do you actually do it? Let’s take a look at some effective methods.
Offer Consistency
Consistency is highly underrated in business. Customers don’t just want to receive an excellent product or service once; they want to receive the same standard every time they hit the purchase button. Think of your favorite restaurant. You go back again and again not because you have the memory of the first meal you ate there, but because it delivers every time you walk through the doors. You can provide consistency by incorporating quality control measures into your operations, as well as doing periodic spot checks to ensure your high standards are always being met.
Gather Feedback
It’s best, whenever possible, to take the guesswork out of your business decisions. Before launching your enterprise, you’ll have put together ideal customer profiles that drive your strategic decisions. However, once you actually have customers, you can move beyond those profiles. Instead, it’s best to gather direct feedback from your customers. In doing so, you’ll gain valuable insights into what your customers are really looking for — and that makes it much easier to incorporate elements that put a smile on your customers’ faces. It’s a fast, effective way to give your customers what they want, and there’s arguably no better way to make their lives easier than that.
Streamline the Journey
Your customer is not your enemy. As such, it’s recommended to ensure that their journey is as smooth as possible from beginning to end. For instance, it shouldn’t be difficult for them to find the products they’re looking for on your website, get the information they need, or make a purchase. It’s worthwhile looking at your purchasing process through the lens of a potential customer. Would they like using your website? Is it easy for them to pay? If the answer is no, then look up credit card solutions or work with a website design agency to bring your website up to speed. Ultimately, the goal is to make the process feel so natural that the customer doesn’t even notice it.
Have an Eye on the Future
Customers are loyal to brands under the right circumstances. In fact, they want to be loyal. It’s much easier to stick with the same business rather than find a new one all the time. However, they’ll only do that if they have confidence that the business is moving in the right direction. If a business takes its foot off the gas or otherwise fails to innovate and improve, then it’ll be giving the customer cause to look elsewhere. As a business owner, it’s recommended to instill a culture of progression and forward-thinking, which will ensure that the business is always moving in the right direction.
Make Yourself Available
If you set up your business in a way that serves customers, then it’s unlikely that you’ll have to field too many issues. But they’ll happen from time to time. If there’s one thing that annoys customers, it’s being unable to reach a customer service representative when they need to. You can ensure that your customers never have this issue by investing in your customer service team, and making all key information — contact phone number, email address, and social media accounts — easily viewable on your website.
Respect Their Time
Finally, remember to respect your customers’ time. All too often, brands assume that they’re as important to their customers as they are to themselves, and that can lead to a bombardment of emails and other marketing materials. Your customers will like your brand, but it’s best not to come off too strong. Another way to respect their time is to deal with issues efficiently. A customer shouldn’t be waiting on the phone for tens of minutes until they’re connected to a different department, nor should they have to repeat their details every time they speak to a new employee. Investing in customer relationship management software can help avoid this issue.
https://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/How-Businesses-Can-Make-Their-Customers-Lives-Easier.jpg8531280Dimitrologyhttps://dimitrology.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/WEBSITE-LOGO-2020-SMALL.pngDimitrology2024-01-26 13:05:122024-01-26 13:05:13How Businesses Can Make Their Customers’ Lives Easier
We have team members attending that are knowledgeable about, among other things, Python add-on programming, Kodi on Linux, the Kodi flatpak package, and Kodi on embedded GPUs.
If you’re in the area, we’d love to see you and get your first-hand feedback about … well, anything, really. We’re also planning to have some sample branded merchandise for you to look at – so, please, join us for a chat and a coffee!
