Kodi 20 Nexus has now become the stable version, after being updated by the Kodi development team.
This article covers the new features, updates, and changes within Kodi 20 Nexus sourced directly from the official Kodi Website. Additionally, we offer update instructions for various devices, including Firestick and Android.
The press release from the official Kodi website discusses the stable release of Kodi 20 Nexus, highlighting the significant effort that went into this update along with a message of appreciation to the team and community for their contributions.
Choose Kodi 20 Nexus from the Toolbox.
How to install Kodi on a Firestick
Windows
MacOS
iOS (Must have jailbroken device)
ARM32 is no longer supported in Kodi 19 and beyond.
Linux
Use the following commands in your Linux/Ubuntu terminal to install Kodi 20. Follow the prompts as you would with any other software installation.
sudo apt install software-properties-common sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:team-xbmc/xbmc-nightly sudo apt install kodi
Android
Fire TV/Cube/Stick
Update Kodi on Firestick Guide
Remember, by installing a repository, you will have the freedom to choose different streaming add-ons for your enjoyment. TROYPOINT’s list of the Best Kodi Add-ons can be found by clicking the link below.
If you are looking for a simple way to install the best add-ons and repositories quickly and efficiently, we suggest using a Kodi Build. Click the link below for a list of the Best Kodi Builds at this time.
Kodi 20 RC 2 Release Notes
On December 20, 2022, the official Kodi Website released an RC 2 version of Kodi 20.
See the list of release notes below.
Database
- A couple of fixes have gone in to resolve database migration issues from v19.
- The first of these is the EPG database migration. This fixes the problem with the EPG loading and then disappearing. Thanks @ksooo for the prompt fix.
- A second DB migration issue that only occurred on the Microsoft UWP platform (Xbox and UWP desktop) has been fixed by @thexai .
- This was an odd one, as the code that dealt with the failure was old code (6+ years).
- It was traced to an odd race condition that only manifested on the UWP platforms, however the root cause potentially could happen on any other platform.
General
- A fix for playlist detection for both Audio and Video was made by @ksooo
Platform Specific
Linux
- @popcornmix has fixed an issue for DRMPrime on Linux.
- This allows hardware formats like Broadcom 8-bit (SAND128) and 10-bit (P030) can now be correctly rendered with the latest Mesa.
macOS
- A fix to allow Kodi to execute on macOS 10.13 has been made.
- We would still strongly suggest users use a newer version (10.14+), however this allows users still on 10.13 to run Kodi.
- A regression for macOS reading actual disks was resolved by @enen92 .
- As part of this, the libcdio driver was also fixed to enable disk usage on Apple Silicon native builds.
Windows
- A fix to a crash that only occurred on Windows Debug builds has been resolved.
- This didn’t affect users of the actual RC1 release, but Windows devs who would attempt to execute Kodi as a Debug build were quickly halted.
PVR
- An issue around multiple resume dialogs has been fixed by @emveepee
Teletext
- Another Teletext issue has been resolved by @repojohnray.
- @repojohnray has contributed a number of fixes for v20 to help increase the reliability and safety of Kodi.
Kodi 20 RC 1 Release Notes
On December 15th, 2022, the official Kodi website released an “RC 1” version of Kodi 20.
See the list of release notes below.
Addons
- A BREAKING API change was introduced for the
VideoStreamDetailandInfoTagVideoPython APIs. - This affects set APIs that were introduced in the v20 development cycle.
- We would not normally do such a change when we enter Beta phase, but we believe fixing this now would cause fewer issues for all the addon devs out there for v21.
- Details around what is affected can be seen in the PR.
- In addition, further details can be seen and discussed on the forums.
Scrapers
- Due to the above breaking API change, the TVDB TV Show scraper was updated to prevent breaking.
- The result is that the updated scraper will be broken on any Kodi v20 release prior to this RC1 release.
- If you are using an older v20 install, then you need to update for continued functioning of the TMDB TV Show scraper.
- In addition, we took this opportunity to fix a long outstanding issue with the Python TV Show scrapers described here.
- The result is that if you are adding new episodes to existing TV shows in your library, you need to refresh the show to download the new episode guide.
- If you are using NFO files, the episode guide in those files needs updating also.
Games
- @lrusak fixed a crash that was introduced into Beta1.
- Some Linux users were finding Kodi was crashing on startup.
- @lrusak again fixed a black screen issue with standalone games.
General
- Add support for action “play” to many more items such as widgets/favourites on the homescreen.
- Fix a regression with duplicate/incorrect context menu entries.
- @ksooo fixed another regression for addons that caused the “continue watching” context menu not to show the resume time.
- @repojohnray has been providing a number of fixes/cleanups lately that are targeting memory leaks.
- Subtitles and a number of Linux specific areas have had improvements made to them.
- A new contributer @larrignon has fixed a logging message that occurred when an empty directory was searched by scrapers.
Music
- Fix crash when queuing multichannel audio files.
- This fixes a regression introduced in Beta 1.
- Fix default fallback image to be more relevant to a music item (CD Case instead of a Folder).
Platform Specific
- Android
- @joseluismarti has made several cleanups and fixes for Android.
- @a1rwulf raised our SDK target to 31. Along with various fixes from @joseluismarti over the last few months, we were finally able to release to the Google Play Store. RC1 is now available in the Testing channel and will gradually be rolled out to more users in the upcoming week.
- macOS.
- @enen92 has implemented several fixes for the macOS native windowing system. While this currently may not affect many users since the default release uses SDL windowing, those building the native macOS ARM version or using test builds should notice improvements in window management.
- We’ve also added a speech-to-text service implementation that can be accessed from the keyboard dialog.
- Windows and Xbox.
- Kodi RC 1 has been submitted for update on the Microsoft Store. Users will soon receive this update, although some may need to uninstall and reinstall the Xbox version due to potential issues with the OS update process.
- Skinning.
- A crash related to an empty condition within an include, reported by @jurialmunkey, has been fixed. This occurred when a PARAM used in the include condition was empty.
- Another crash resolved was one caused by a textbox being too small for the font used, causing text to not fit properly.Estuary Specifics.
- Various extensions have been made to the context menu functionality for Music, Video, and PVR. Changes include the ability to play albums directly from the home screen and redesigned home screen widgets for saved searches and timers.
- Additionally, there have been smaller visual modifications to the OSD and home screen widgets, along with the new feature allowing the play button to start playback of various items from the home screen.
A new setting has been added to allow setting the peak luminance for a display. Fixes have been implemented to address slow python usage on UWP platforms (e.g., Xbox). Assorted EPG search fixes have been included in the update. Now, there is the added possibility to browse available PVR client add-ons from PVR settings.
Channels and Recordings can now be sorted by provider, and various fixes and performance improvements have been made. Additionally, a large refactoring initiative has been undertaken. The Favorites dialog has been replaced with a new favorites window, offering different views and enhancements. An updated infobool System.Setting(hideunwatchedepisodethumbs) has been added for skinning purposes. Estuary specifics have been improved, including the redesign of the PVR Channel Manager and smaller changes to the PVR OSD. Music context menu functionality has been extended to allow playing albums directly from the home screen, and similar enhancements have been made to the video context menu.
- and strikethrough text style support
- Add a new wide color palette in color settings
- Add a new setting to change text alignment for closed caption subtitles for a better reading
- Add a new setting to override subtitles metadata like style and position
- Improved font size that now match the point/pixel proportion
- When Kodi is in windowed mode subtitles are now always displayed correctly
- Improved VPlayer for better reading of the multiline text
- Improved SAMI format to better support multiple languages
- Improved TX3G format to support multiple styles, colors and alpha channel
- ASS/SSA subtitles are displayed without flickering
- Improved image-based subtitle rendering to keep a better aspect ratio
Discs
- Fix resume of Blu-Rays and DVD ISOs in file mode (not in library)
- Fix playback of some optical discs on Linux due to the incorrect mapping of mount points
- On Linux, optical media is now mounted by default (via udisks)
- Partial code cleanup and platform split of disc drive handling
- Skin cosmetics
- Fix duplicated context menu items
EDL
- Fix EDL mute sections and EDL cuts
GUI
- Fix wrap lists
- Fix hitrect on auto-sized buttons
- Fix some context menu options not triggering the respective built-in action
- Independent volume setting for GUI sounds
- Password reveal button in the keyboard dialog
Input
- Added Steam Deck built-in controller support
Skinning
- Add a new Color Picker window dialog to allow displaying a color list
- Improved image control to support reading dynamic $INFO data to “colordiffuse” tag
- Improved Player Process Info window – new information has been added and grouped by context
- New media flags for HDR videos: detect, store, and process the type of HDR in a video file
- Skinners can now define modal dialogs if their visibility depends on a Boolean condition evaluation
- Deprecation of old info labels with the introduction of new generic ones (e.g., Player.Editlist, Player.Cuts, etc)
Estuary/Estouchy
- Estuary PVR Home Screen: New widget for timers (replacing the old current/next recording widget)
- Estuary PVR Home Screen: Add percentage played progress bars to Recent Channels and Recent Recordings widgets
- Estuary PVR Home Screen: Change the default click action to open the Guide window
- Improve the display of EDL markers on the default skin (EDL mutes are now shown, cut sections are also identified)
Games
- Savestate manager for Retroplayer with captions describing the state of the game provided by https://retroachievements.org
- In-game Port Setup dialog to change between game controllers
Platform Specifics
- UNIX Family Platforms
- Implement WS-Discovery (SMB discovery) for *ix platforms (Android/Linux/Apple)
- iOS/TVOS
- Improved Siri Remote handling
- Improved “Now Playing” info
- macOS
- Initial support for M1 native including native windowing/input handling PR NOTE: We do not provide prebuilt M1 dmg’s. Any devs willing to work on ironing out the many corner cases of the native windowing implementation, don’t hesitate to ping @fuzzard on the forums if you have any questions.
- Extend GameController support to OSX
- Many code cleanups/refinements/refactors
- Android
- Update Android build to use Gradle for signing/aligning/packing
- Linux
- Add ACES/Hable Tonemapping for GLES
- More BiCubic Shaders for GLES
- Pipewire support
- Windows
- New setting to use 10-bit swapchain for SDR videos. Improves video quality and more precise color conversions: YUV to RGB, limited to full range, shaders, etc. This is true even if video output is limited to 8-bit RGB by the system or graphics driver.
- Improved DXVA2 (HW video decoding) performance by sharing decoding and rendering surfaces. Avoids video copy operations and drastically reduces video memory usage on NVIDIA and AMD graphics using recent drivers.
i8n support
- Harfbuzz rendering for scripts with open type font shaping features
PVR
- Channels and Recordings can specify a provider
- Read-only recordings supported
- EPG Search: Add Saved Searches, incl. new Estuary PVR Home Screen widget
- Channel Manager: Add the possibility to refresh all channel logos
- Settings: Add the possibility to specify which data to delete when resetting the PVR database
- Automatic cleanup of cached PVR images (texture.db and cached image files)
- Functional Improvements for multi PVR Add-on scenarios
- Performance improvements, esp. for a large number of channels
Build System/Dependencies
- Most dependencies have been updated to the latest, or close to, for Apple/Android platforms
- Many CMake updates to update the build system
Date/Time
- Many updates/changes to use std::chrono throughout the code base
Addons
- Color Picker
- Color button setting
- Add support to add video HDR type info to a video list item
- Function for removing orphaned dependencies recursively