Nova Video Player changelog

v6.2.43 release 3/1/2024

Handle properly gesture navigation screen layout in player UI

v6.2.42 pre-release 1/1/2023

Thinner player controller volume/seek bars
Fix ftp not working due to time dependency
Stability enhancements

v6.2.41 pre-release 30/12/2023

Faster local/USB storage scan at application start

v6.2.40 release 22/12/2023

Enforce new opensubtitles REST-API with quotas becoming mandatory in in January
Disable gesture control when player screen is in locked mode
New nova icon
2024 Android TV by year banners
Attempt to support WebDAV 302 redirects
Remember none subtitle track selection on resume
Update boost to 1.84.0, libtorrent to 2.9.0
Fix AV1 decoding regression
Stability enhancements

v6.2.38 release 27/11/2023

Gesture stability enhancements

v6.2.37 release 26/11/2023

Add player gesture control
Increase new opensubtitles REST-API downloader robustness

Following gestures are now supported:

double tap on left/right regions of the screen for +-10s seek backward/forward
scroll on left/right regions of the screen for brightness/volume increase/decrease

Two OSD regions have been added on top left/right screen part to display the fast rewind/forward icons and volume/brightness levels.

v6.2.36 release 21/11/2023

New nova icon
opensubtitles subtitles download based on REST-API stability enhancements
Update smbj to 0.13.0, ffmpeg to 6.1, dav1d to 1.3.0

Please report any multimedia regression with ffmpeg 6.1 (e.g. AV1 is broken right now).

v6.2.35 release 14/11/2023

Stability enhancements (crash on multi-selection subtitles download)
Attempt to fix ftp on Android 7.1.2 devices cf. #829

v6.2.34 release 12/11/2023

New nova icon
Add possibility to use new opensubtitles REST-API instead of XML-RPC that will be enforced in January
Update jcifs-ng to 2.1.10, commons-net to 3.10.0, sshj to 0.37.0
Add missing anime shows by alpha on Android TV
Avoid top/bottom grey bars on chromebooks while playing videos

/!\ Please check new OpenSubtitles REST-API by activating it in nova settings and report any issue. OpenSubtitles will enforce use of this new API starting January 2024 and imposes download quotas (20 subs per day for a registered user, 5 otherwise). Note that you will need an opensubtitles.com account (and not an opensubtitles.org one)!

v6.2.33 release 29/10/2023

Fix F-Droid checkupdates bot release pickup

v6.2.32 release xx/10/2023

Update jcifs-ng to 2.1.10, commons-net to 3.10.0, sshj to 0.37.0

/!\ Please test if this release breaks ftp on firestick4k (not the max version) cf. #829

v6.2.31 release xx/10/2023

Fix hide subtitles by default not working regression
Restore directories listed first when sorting by name

v6.2.30 release 29/9/2023

Final design to only disable SMB UDP discovery to cope with Fire 10 HD Wi-Fi issues

v6.2.29 release candidate 24/9/2023

Fix smbj not asking credentials when browsing an SMB server without guest account
ffmpeg 4.4.4 upstep with DoVi patches
dav1d 1.2.0 upstep
openssl 1.1.1w upstep
opus master upstep

v6.2.28 release candidate 23/9/2023

Add an option to limit SMB discovery to mDNS disabling TCP/UDP discovery that makes Wi-Fi drivers on some devices (e.g. Fire 10 HD) to crash and turn off Wi-Fi. Note that TCP/UDP discovery is required for proper ChromeOS SMB discovery.

v6.2.26 pre-release 21/9/2023

Remove MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission since denied by Google Play (was allowed on Internal release but not Production ones...)
Fix deactivate Dolby Vision setting
Audio speed when enabled can be incremented/decremented via CHANNEL UP/DOWN or NEXT/PREVIOUS TRACK MEDIA remote keys

v6.2.25 release refused by Google 8/9/2023

Fix DTS passthrough not working on some devices

NOTE: publication rejected by Google since nova is not allowed to use MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE though many other video player have managed to get it:

package: com.kmplayer
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: org.xbmc.kodi
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: com.mxtech.videoplayer.ad
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: video.player.videoplayer
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: com.kmp.video
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: com.mine.videoplayer
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'
package: org.videolan.vlc
uses-permission: name='android.permission.MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE'

Result next release will not have this permission. I am not sure yet of collateral effects upgrading for those who installed this pre-release manually.

Message to Google:

For good reasons Google restricts MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission since API31. Nova thus switched to MediaStore API. As a consequence nova is only able to see files registered as Media files by Google (missing video/subtitles formats such as ASS & NFO files). These files are not modifiable nor visible from nova when using local storage (incl. USB HDDs). This creates loss of functionality & incomprehension from nova users. Numerous appeals were issued & proper request filed for being granted the permission with explanation video. Only got default "no answers"/"not compliant" without having a Google support taking time to understand/review the case properly. Note that many other video players have the wanted MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission: e.g. VLC, mx player, video player all format, Video Player KMP, kodi... I consider this as unfair treatment and discrimination. Sad that an app that has almost 500k active users and 1.5M downloads on Google Play cannot get proper attention from Google.

v6.2.24 pre-release 3/9/2023

Enhanced network shortcut URI format check to avoid crashes when users inputs non valid entries

v6.2.22 pre-release 1/9/2023

Fix black screen playback on ONN and other Android TV 12 devices
Fix capability test to read external storage regression due to MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE introduction

v6.2.21 pre-release 29/8/2023

Permission checker: fix crash seen with MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission on some Android versions
Scrape enhancement: do not skip TV shows with no poster on TMDB in results when there is no other one proposed

v6.2.20 pre-release 28/8/2023

Support more scrape and subtitle languages
Display audio/sub track titles
Fix hdd subtitles download
Many scrape enhancements (name cleanup removing brackets, solving long lasting bug on considering locale movie title, better show detection)
This pre-release has MANAGE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE permission that seems to be allowed on Google Play finally for nova (TBC on full deployment): fixes issues not being able to process NFO/ASS and other files not considered as multimedia by Android library or not being owned by nova
Integrate Slovak contributed translation
Uprade smbj to 0.12.2 (fixes SMB faster implementation playback issues)
Internationalization: all ISO639.(2(b)|3) 2/3 letter codes rely now on Android (still managing exceptions) Subtitle "None" is listed as first item in subs selection
Fix crash at start on devices with API<30 (Android 11)

v6.2.17 release 23/6/2023

Fix CI

v6.2.16 release 22/6/2023

Attempt to solve voice search on Android 11 (shieldTV)
Do not crash if tmdb backend has outage
Add m3u support in manifest (TBC if it works)

v6.2.15 release 18/6/2023

Fix A/V desync using playback speed
Switched to jsch-mwiede fork for SFTP
Use java 17

v6.2.13 pre-release 26/5/2023

smbj: fix subtitles download
trakt: fix signing focus issue on Android TV

v6.2.12 pre-release 25/5/2023

smbj: increase robustness (fix timeout regressions, catch API errors)

v6.2.11 pre-release 25/5/2023

smbj: fix "empty folder issue" when connecting to network shortcut

v6.2.10 pre-release 21/5/2023

Add sort video option when browsing by folders
Fix smbj folder delete
Make smbj use bouncycastle security provider

v6.2.8 pre-release 10/5/2023

perfect smbj stability and SMB settings logic

v6.2.7 pre-release 8/4/2023

Add sshj new network shares support (alternate SFTP)
Add an option to use smbj by default instead of jcifs-ng (not SMB1 compatible)
Add an option to use sshj by default instead of legacy sftp support
Webdav write support
smbj and webdav stability improvements

v6.2.5 really experimental pre-release 22/4/2023

/!\ Not for the faint of the heart: subject to crashes.

smbj stability improvements (perhaps not yet stable)

v6.2.4 really experimental pre-release 22/4/2023

/!\ Not for the faint of the heart: subject to crashes.

smbj stability improvements (perhaps not yet stable)

v6.2.3 really experimental pre-release 22/4/2023

/!\ Not for the faint of the heart: subject to crashes.

smbj stability improvements (perhaps not yet stable)

v6.2.2 really experimental pre-release 21/4/2023

/!\ Not for the faint of the heart: subject to crashes.

Add smbj SMB2+ implementation capable of higher throughput than jcifs-ng (for now). smbj network shortcuts need to be added manually (no discovery in this release)
Add webdav write support

v6.1.6 github release 4/4/2023

Add tx3g (mov_text) subtitles support

v6.1.5 github release 31/3/2023

Be sure to process year provided in movie files to increase scrape accuracy
Fix regression in VideoLoaders

v6.1.2 github release 20/3/2023

Enhance webdav stabillity
Fix all videos icon boxes not getting updated on AndroidTV
Fix loss of video database content after exiting/re-entering the app on AndroidTV

v6.1.1 github release 9/3/2023

Add webdav network share support
Add network shortcuts support for all network shares

v6.0.97 release 12/2/2023

Fix ftp regression on some firesticks
Stability enhancements

v6.0.96 release 8/2/2023

Fix SMB1 regression on some NAS
Perhaps fix F-droid not picking up new nova releases

v6.0.95 Google Play release 8/2/2023

More subtitles shades of grey
Stability enhancements

v6.0.94 release 4/2/2023

Experimental playback speed option: fix subtitles not in sync and crash using bluetooth headsets
Option to disable Dolby Vision decoder
Pass list of subtitles to external video players

v6.0.93 release 2/1/2023

Stability enhancements
External player compatibility: mark video as watched with Just Player upon video completion
Attempt to rework internal storage import service to avoid non visible crash in background

v6.0.89 release 10/12/2022

Support more ssa subtitle style formats
Fix SMB shortcut with empty user (guest) on AndroidTV
2023 banners for AndroidTV

v6.0.88 release 29/11/2022

Target API33
boost/libtorrent 1.80.0/2.0.8 upstep
jcifs-ng SMB upstep to latest master
Bundle delivery to Google Play
Stability enhancements

v6.0.87 release 21/11/2022

Fix infinite loop in refreshrate negotiation
Stability enhancements

v6.0.83 release 13/11/2022

Increase number of subtitles track supported to 64
Stability enhancements

v6.0.82 release 12/11/2022

Experimental playback speed option is back but disabled by default (could cause choppy video)
Better movie scrape results through applying Levenshtein distance on tmdb scrape results
Hidden advanced option to enable specifying lavc parser sync mode (PTS or sample)

v6.0.81 Google Play release 8/11/2022

Re-disable experimental playback speed control due to instabilities

v6.0.80 Google Play release 5/11/2022

Fix db update crash

v6.0.79 Google Play release 5/11/2022

Crowdin translations synchronization
Stability enhancements

v6.0.78 pre-release 4/11/2022

Add option to not apply audio passthrough if AV receiver does not support codec
Fix external storage videos perceived as not indexed on Android TV boxes

v6.0.77 pre-release 28/10/2022

Re-enable experimental playback speed control but avoid to enforce change of speed if 1.0x is selected
Fix network share videos staying in movie collection after deletion

v6.0.76 Google Play release 26/10/2022

Disable experimental playback speed control for now since causes regressions

v6.0.75 Google Play release 23/10/2022

Experimental playback speed control stability improvements (only when not using audio passthrough)
Stability enhancements

v6.0.74 pre-release 16/10/2022

Target Android API32
Experimental playback speed control
Do not apply audio passthrough if receiver does not support codec use and revert to PCM multichannel decoding instead
Fix some local video files not indexed on recent Android
ffmpeg 4.4.3, openssl 1.1.1r, androidx library updates
Stability enhancements

v6.0.71 release 23/6/2022

Stability enhancements

v6.0.70 release 21/6/2022

Play button is first on tvshow all episodes view on ADTV
Remove duplicate downmixing setting on phone/tablet UI
Fix cannot play SMB file resulting from search result
Stability enhancements

v6.0.68 pre-release (SMB experimental) 12/6/2022

enable SMBv3
add possibility to browse/add SMB network share manually by URI on Android TV
2022 year movie banner on Android TV

v6.0.67 release 5/6/2022

Fix youtube trailers not opening on youtube app on Android TV
Add traditional Chinese, Brazilian, Ukrainian, Kurdish scrape/subs support
Fix trakt multi-devices last played synchronization
jcifs-ng SMB upstep
Stability enhancements

v6.0.66 release 15/5/2022

Add possibility to exclude network shortcuts from automatic/scheduled/manual global rescans on Android TV
Optimize launch time on Android TV
Stability enhancements

v6.0.65 release 8/5/2022

Make animation row optional on android TV
Add more blacklisted local storage directories to speed up media import
Stability enhancements

v6.0.64 release 3/5/2022

Stability enhancements
New address for Sentry debug backend integration (crashlytics)

v6.0.63 amazon release 24/4/2022

Stability enhancements
Fix adaptive refresh rate selection on firestick
ffmpeg 4.4.2 and dav1d 1.0.0
Fix fdroid build

v6.0.62 amazon release 18/4/2022

Stability enhancements
revert to ffmpeg 4.4.1 due to regression reported

v6.0.61 pre-release 14/4/2022

Stability enhancements
ffmpeg 5.0.1, dav1d 1.0.0, opus latest master upsteps (please report any regression on multimedia playback)

v6.0.58 pre-release 4/4/2022

Stability enhancements
Sentry debug backend integration for crashlytics

v6.0.55 pre-release 27/3/2022

Display content rating and better audio/resolution tag on leanback

v6.0.52 pre-release 11/3/2022

Fix fdroid build

v6.0.51 pre-release 11/3/2022

Fix crash happening during scrape
Stability enhancements

v6.0.50 pre-release 8/3/2022

Fix tvshow rescrape having same name
Stability enhancements

v6.0.49 pre-release 6/3/2022

Decrease UI glitch on browse by TV show on phone UI
Stability enhancements

v6.0.48 pre-release 4/3/2022

Fix widget not launching video
STOP remote button stops player
Make rescan storage setting work
Stability enhancements

v6.0.47 pre-release 1/3/2022

Scrobbler threshold raised to 90%
Fix crash changing info on tvshow
Add adult scrape hidden option NOT on google play
Blacklist nova scrape files for initial video import
Swedish translations
Fix NFO processing not working on SMB share
Fix scrape in loop

v6.0.46 pre-release 18/2/2022

Writer tag for tvshow retrieved on tmdb
Scraper enhancements
No more next episode jumping button on TV UI back from played video
Translations: Swedish and Traditional Chinese progress
Speed up initial local storage video import blacklisting whatsapp files before import
WARNING: media db upgrade (any downgrade will wipe out your meta data)

v6.0.43 pre-release 3/2/2022

Add https streaming support
Fix wrong application name

v6.0.41 pre-release 1/2/2022

Truly (?!) eliminate sponsor link causing application rejection. Link was only visible for sideloaded apk but not for GooglePlay installation. Google refuses to check this point.
Traditional Chinese translations

v6.0.40 internal release 1/2/2022

Eliminate sponsor link causing application rejection. Link was only visible for sideloaded apk but not for GooglePlay installation. Google refuses to check this point.
Remove application name translation. Google test translates Czech and Portuguese "nova video player" back to English to "new video player" causing rejection. Other applications like "nova launcher" do not face such issue.
Reformat trakt login dialog to keep track of watched videos: it causes rejection without reason provided

v6.0.37 pre-release 14/1/2022

Make sponsor link enabled as compilation option.

v6.0.36 Google play internal (non public) release 23/12/2021

Movie collections/sagas support on Android TV
Separate animation/movies/series sections on Android TV
Faster TV shows media information retrieval
Report properly DTSHD & DTSHD MA
ffmpeg 4.4.1 & dav1d 0.9.2 upstep
MDNS samba discovery
New refresh rate selection algorithm optimizing judder effect
Add domain option to samba network credential dialog
Optimize network shares rescan speed when files deleted/renamed
Dolby vision support
Binge watch mode
Fix trakt tvshow sync
Target API31 (warning: relocation of nfo/jpg for local storage videos)
WARNING: media db upgrade (any downgrade will wipe out your meta data)

v5.15.21 Google Play release - 1/9/2021

This release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.4

Fix crash on Android 12/S/API31
Full screen display is enabled by default even on displays with cutouts
Properly report DTS-HD and DTS-HD MA
ffmpeg 4.4 and dav1d 0.9.2 integration
Better tv show subtitle download based on IMDB ID
Disable delete on UPnP shares not supporting it

v6.00.34 Google Play internal release (non public) - 30/12/2021

This release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 31, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.4.1

Movie collections/sagas support on Android TV
Separate animation/movies/series sections on Android TV
Faster TV shows media information retrieval
Report properly DTSHD & DTSHD MA
ffmpeg 4.4.1 & dav1d 0.9.2 upstep
MDNS samba discovery
New refresh rate selection algorithm optimizing judder effect
Add domain option to samba network credential dialog
Optimize network shares rescan speed when files deleted/renamed
Dolby vision support
Binge watch mode
Target API31 (warning: relocation of nfo/jpg for local storage videos)
Fix trakt sync for tvshows
WARNING: media db upgrade (any downgrade will wipe out your meta data)

Important migration notes:

This new version upgrades the internal nova media database to a new scheme and any downgrade to v4/v5 versions of nova will wipe out your entire video collection to prevent any incompatibility.
This version switches to theMovieDb for retrieving TV shows information instead of theTvDb. It is strongly recommended to rescrape all your TV shows or start from a fresh install.
Proper support for movie collections and animation movies/series on AndroidTV requires some manual steps. Acquisition of the additional movie collection informations and movies/TV series genres realignment requires a full rescrape of your video without interference of existing .nfo files (that do not yet contain the required information). For that purpose the following steps should do the trick:
- backup all your customized handcrafted .nfo file (if you have any)
- install nova version 6.xx
- in nova settings unselect "process '.nfo' files"
- in nova settings launch a "rescrape all" and wait for completion
- in nova settings launch an "export already scraped videos" and wait for completion (this step will override any existing .nfo file)
versions later than v6.0.30 targets API31 and due to Android storage restrictions for API30, local NFO/JPG media information files for videos stored on local storage have been moved to nova public application folder located /sdcard/Android/data/org.courville.nova/files/nfoPoster
If you ever want to get back to nova v5.xx, you will need to clean application data and cache

v7.00.01 ExoPlayer experimental release - xx/xx/2021

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 30, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.1

Add ExoPlayer with ffmpeg video support as alternate player (hidden for now)

v5.15.20 Google Play release - 9/5/2021

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.2

Better tv show subtitle download based on IMDB ID
Disable delete on UPnP shares not supporting it

v5.15.19 Google Play release - 19/3/2021

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.2

Fix occasional SMB2/3 timeouts
Add support for coloured TV remote buttons via HDMI-CEC
ffmpeg version 4.3.2 and dav1d version 0.8.2 upstep

v4.49.17 F-Droid only release - 16/1/2020

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.1

Yet another attempt to fix F-Droid server build
NDK r22 support

v6.00.05 Movie Collection experimental release - 22/1/2021

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.1

Align with v5.16.18 with movie collections/sagas support on top
WARNING: media db upgrade to version 38 (any downgrade will wipe out your meta data)

v5.15.18 Google Play release - 22/1/2021

Testing branch: this release is based on minSDK 21, targetSDK 29, AndroidX libraries, NDK-r22, ffmpeg 4.3.1

Latest jcifs-ng on top for SMBv2/3 support
Use DNS,BCAST default SMB resolver order to avoid slow SMB share responses in some network configurations
Allow AV1 hardware decoding
Switch to NDK r22