Kodi 21.1 Omega Released: Features, Download Links & Builds

The highly anticipated Kodi 21.1 Omega has now been released. Following the huge success of Kodi 18.9 Leia, Kodi 19.5 Matrix, and Kodi 20.5 Nexus, the XBMC Foundation (The people behind Kodi), have been busy behind the scenes preparing their latest update. In this guide, we will go through what’s new in Kodi 21.1 Omega, how to download and install it, as well as where to find the best addons and builds. So, let’s get started!

Kodi 21.1 Omega – New Features

This new version of Kodi includes over 5,000 commits (Commits are basically updates to bits of code). Meaning that Kodi 21.1 Omega is a huge release and lots of hard work has gone into making this possible. A huge shout out to the team behind this, nearly all of which are volunteers.

So, what are the new features in Kodi 21.1 Omega?

Build/Dependencies:

  • Fixed build support for GCC13.
  • General version bumps for dependencies on various platforms.
  • Improvements in handling dependency systems for Android/Apple/CI.

Documentation:

  • Updated contributing guidelines documentation.
  • Updated Ubuntu build documentation.

FFmpeg:

  • Use of upstream FFmpeg.
  • Updated to version 6.0.

Filesystem:

  • Fixed issues with NFSv4 support.

General:

  • Various fixes and performance improvements.
  • Modernization efforts for maintainability.
  • Added setting to disable screensaver while playing audio.
  • Improved UX for date format options.

Games:

  • Continuous improvements in Retroplayer ecosystem.

JSON-RPC:

  • Added genre to Video.Fields.Episodes field.

Music:

  • Added support for reading and writing M3U8 playlist files with UTF-8 character support.

Platform Specifics:

  • Android: Improved Dolby Vision detection and compatibility, implementation of minimise shutdown function, and various internal improvements.
  • iOS/TVOS: Added support for Channel Up/Down keys.
  • Linux: Fixes and support added for Pipewire and GBM.
  • macOS: Improvements in native windowing implementation and CD/DVD drive handling.
  • Windows: Raised minimum supported version to Windows 8.1, various improvements including HDR/SDR brightness balance setting and DXVA2 AV1 hardware video decoding.

Picture:

  • Fixed security issues related to image EXIF metadata.

PVR:

  • Added possibility to sort channel groups.

Settings:

  • Fixes to regressions in Settings visibility.

Subtitles:

  • Various fixes and improvements in subtitle handling.

UPnP:

  • Improved compatibility with smart TV applications and fixed artwork display issues.

Kodi 21.1 Omega – Full Changelog

Below are the specific changes between Kodi 20.5 and Kodi 21.1:

  • [guilib][EditControl] Improved rendering of label texts by @CastagnaIT in #22691
  • SavestateFlatBuffer: Remove forward declararion of FlatBufferBuilder by @neo1973 in #23332
  • [macos][nativewindowing] Suport HiDPI (retina) displays by @enen92 in #23259
  • Add .gradle directory to .gitignore by @joseluismarti in #23339
  • [platform] macOS,iOS: Add speech recognition and microphone usage des… by @ksooo in #23337
  • [subtitles] Avoid calls to virtual methods on destructor by @enen92 in #23343
  • [webOS] Audio sink improvements by @sundermann in #23295
  • [buildsteps] osx-arm add test execution by @fuzzard in #23349
  • depends/libmicrohttpd: bump to the new version by @Karlson2k in #23342
  • [Windows] Add DXVA Video Super Resolution upscaler by @thexai in #23336
  • Translations update from Kodi Weblate by @weblate in #23330
  • Sync of addon metadata translations by @github-actions in #23356
  • [guillib] Handle Page Up/Down/Home/End in settings / CGUIControlGroupList by @CrystalP in #22894
  • [Buildsteps] Use xcode 14.2 and relevant SDK’s for Apple platforms by @fuzzard in #23348
  • [depends] Update flatbuffers to 23.3.3 and raise min OSX version to 10.14 by @neo1973 in #23266
  • SysfsPath: Have CSysfsPath::Get() return a std::optional because reads can fail by @neo1973 in #23283
  • CAppParamParserLinux: add –audio-backend= switch by @lrusak in #23148
  • [Depends][native] Bump cmake 3.26.4 by @fuzzard in #23322
  • [macos][nativewindow] Support fullscreen move / Fix display lost by @enen92 in #23335
  • [Windows] DXVA: check if HDR10 color spaces are supported by video processor by @thexai in #23358
  • CTextureBundleXBT: return std::optional by @lrusak in #23168
  • threads: linux: simplify setting thread priority by @lrusak in #23227
  • TextureFormats.h: use XB_FMT as an enum by @lrusak in #23240
  • [Windows] remove unnecessary log for Intel without super resolution scaler support by @CrystalP in #23372
  • Maintain the selection position after end of playback / watched status change by @CrystalP in #23311
  • [Estuary] Reset 1110_seekbar timer on seeks by @enen92 in #23380
  • AudioTrack: Check Head Movement to detect stuck sinks by @fritsch in #23375
  • [PVR] Timer settings dialog: Set certain settings to default on change of timer type by @ksooo in #23384
  • [tools/depends][target] fix removed download target by @fuzzard in #23379
  • [Windowing] Fix regression for resolution label by @enen92 in #23371
  • [Windows] HLG > PQ HDR Playback Fixes by @CrystalP in #23362
  • Fix watched/unwatched filter not working when creating playli… by @ksooo in #23394
  • Pipewire: Catch exceptions in CPipewire::Create() by @neo1973 in #23282
  • [Estuary] Also start timer (with reset) on seeks by @enen92 in #23399
  • [Windows][dxva] Disable processor tone mapping for AMD and HDR to HDR by @CrystalP in #23404
  • [Windows] Add render method information to the debug OSD by @CrystalP in #23377
  • [Omega] Alpha 2 by @fuzzard in #23407
  • Native Flatbuffers update and minor cmake module update by @fuzzard in #23395
  • [tools/depends][target] config.site remove PYTHON_VERSION variable by @fuzzard in #23378
  • [Android][cmake] adjust macros according to the API we are targeting by @joseluismarti in #23414
  • [Windows][dxva] refactor video processor code by @CrystalP in #23408
  • [windows] Distinguish between host/native download/tools for windows build by @fuzzard in #23409
  • [tools/depends][native] texturepacker update and use cmake to build by @fuzzard in #23396
  • [Windows] Remove workaround for Video Super Resolution by @thexai in #23416
  • [PVR] Dynamic timer types: Update timer types from client whenever a … by @ksooo in #23393
  • [windows] remove doxygen from native dep list by @fuzzard in #23418
  • [skin, gui] Look for definitions in xml files in /fonts directory by @smfontes in #22993
  • [windows] Dont ship vswhere executable by @fuzzard in #23425
  • [Windows][dxva] Test support of the video processor for SDR to SDR conversion by @CrystalP in #23423
  • [Windows][deps] Bump libass to 0.17.1 by @CastagnaIT in #23420
  • [Windows] Add “Graphics” log component for Direct3D by @CrystalP in #23422
  • [Windowing] Make HiDPI more generic/platform agnostic by @enen92 in #23410
  • Build jsonschemabuilder for all platforms from source by @fuzzard in #23427
  • [Windows] DXVA: Correctly identify supported video processors by @thexai in #23419
  • Fixed compilation with GCC-12 on windows. by @phate89 in #23436
  • [CMake] Use CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD for toolchain file by @fuzzard in #23428
  • [RetroPlayer] AGame API: Make AGame::Open write readable by @phil65 in #23391
  • [windows] default to dx12 for vs2019 toolchain by @fuzzard in #23430
  • [Python] Fix array to list conversion in attribute factory by @croneter in #23433
  • [depends] bump fmt to 8.0.1 by @phate89 in #23437
  • Flatbuffers: Respect deprecation warnings by @fuzzard in #23440
  • [PVR] Add a context menu entry to set or unset the watched flag for rec… by @ksooo in #23441
  • peripheral.joystick: Fix get number of devices by @amitn3 in #23434
  • Move SingleItemSelectionAndActivate to CGUIMediaWindow by @DaveTBlake in #23448
  • [omxplayer] VideoPlayer: Allow dropping outdated frames during AV sync by @fritsch in #23385
  • [nativewindow] Implement missing methods for HiDPI support by @enen92 in #23412
  • Fixed memory leak in CTextureBundleXBT::LoadTexture() by @trojank in #23431
  • [addons] Prevent reverse Proxy address exposure in xbmc.addon by @drieschel in #23450
  • [guilib] Fix horizontal scrolling in container with text by @ulion in #23445
  • [windows] Add option to use clang-cl for vs2019 toolchain by @fuzzard in #23447
  • [docs][matrix] Update README.md by @DaveTBlake in #23455
  • [osx] Fix AppStore build after 1005543 by @gibman in #23464
  • [ios] Update device model check by @gibman in #23463
  • [Estuary] Small fix for #23399 by @enen92 in #23457
  • [omxplayer] OMXAudio: Fix return of GetCurrentDelay() by @fritsch in #23462
  • [Addons] Sync addons from repo by @Razzeee in #23452
  • [Estuary] Fix missing punctuation in lang string by @demmax2004 in #23467
  • [Android] Sync skin files by @Razzeee in #23473
  • LogGPU: make LogComponents/GPU debug overlay work properly by @theuni in #23432
  • [PVR] Fix recording settings context menu in recording dialog by @ksooo in #23474
  • [addons] Bump websockets-client to 1.2.1 by @phate89 in #23479
  • [docs][matrix] Update README.md by @DaveTBlake in #23455
  • [osx] Fix AppStore build after 1005543 by @gibman in #23464
  • [ios] Update device model check by @gibman in #23463
  • [Estuary] Small fix for #23399 by @enen92 in #23457
  • [omxplayer] OMXAudio: Fix return of GetCurrentDelay() by @fritsch in #23462
  • [Addons] Sync addons from repo by @Razzeee in #23452
  • [Estuary] Fix missing punctuation in lang string by @demmax2004 in #23467
  • [Android] Sync skin files by @Razzeee in #23473
  • LogGPU: make LogComponents/GPU debug overlay work properly by @theuni in #23432
  • [PVR] Fix recording settings context menu in recording dialog by @ksooo in #23474
  • [addons] Bump websockets-client to 1.2.1 by @phate89 in #23479
  • … and MUCH more, see the full list here.

Kodi 21.1 Omega – Download Links

Now that you know all of the exciting new Kodi 21.1 Omega features, here are the links to download it!

Amazon Firestick

If you’re looking to install Kodi 21.1 Omega on your Amazon Firestick, we have a brand new, step-by-step guide here:

Windows

MacOS

iOS (Must be jailbroken or use a signing service)

Linux

If you’re using Linux, please open your terminal and enter the following commands to install Kodi 21.1 Omega:

  • sudo apt install software-properties-common
  • sudo add-apt-repository -y ppa:team-xbmc/ppa
  • sudo apt install kodi

Android

Kodi 21.1 Omega can be easily downloaded from the Google Play Store here:

Kodi 21.1 Omega – Best Builds

So, now you have Kodi 21.1 Omega installed on your device, you’re probably wondering what the best Kodi 21.1 Omega builds are! Not to worry, we have you covered! Please read our latest guide here:

Kodi 21.1 Omega – Best Addons

Similarly, we’re sure you’re also looking for the best Kodi 21.1 Omega addons too! We’ve also got you covered for that too with this latest guide here:

 

If you have any questions or issues at all, please let me know below.

 

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