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Nova v1.4.13

A Desktop entry that answers for itself and a Command Center that stays where you left it. Nova 1.4.13 is matched with Polaris 1.4.13. Experimental PyroWave is available in Android beta builds and the separate Linux bundle described below; the stable Android APKs do not enable it.

PyroWave on Android (experimental, beta builds only)

  • Nova can decode PyroWave, an intra only wavelet codec that runs as plain Vulkan compute rather than on a hardware video decoder. A lost packet costs one frame instead of everything up to the next keyframe.
  • In an Android beta, pick it under Video codec in Play Setup or the client stream defaults in Settings. The beta installs beside stable Nova with separate pairing and preferences. Use a compatible Polaris host with the PyroWave encoder, such as the official Polaris 1.4.13 Linux packages; custom builds can omit it.
  • It wants a wired link at a couple of hundred megabits. It is not a codec for wifi, and it is not a replacement for HEVC or AV1.
  • The Android decoder supports 4:4:4 and HDR10, but HDR also needs compatible client presentation and host capture delivering ten-bit frames with HDR metadata. End-to-end PyroWave HDR has not been validated here. Ordinary KDE/GNOME desktop portal capture cannot satisfy the HDR request; on a KDE HDR display, KMS capture can also deliver FP16 frames that PyroWave cannot read, even for an SDR request. Start with a supported SDR capture path.
  • The HUD reports the network’s loss rather than your device’s, and it tells you the bitrate this codec wants rather than judging it at a setting it cannot meet.
  • A damaged frame can still be drawn when both lowest-frequency bands are intact and at least 90 percent of its blocks are present. Frames below the decoder’s minimum are dropped; packet loss can still cause visible freezes.

Desktop, and the screen it runs on

  • Desktop opens from a client that has picked a display mode of its own. Nova used to be refused by the host for asking, and the refusal now says what it was about.
  • The Desktop entry answers for itself. It mirrors the screen on the desk by default, whatever the host’s default display is, and its picker offers only what can actually happen.
  • Screen To Add and Screen Scale are per device, in Play Setup. A screen the host creates is sized from this device rather than from the stream, and the scale decides whether it can be read: a 2560x1600 desktop is comfortable on a monitor and unusable on a ten inch tablet.

Command Center

  • It stays open when you change a setting, instead of closing and making you find your way back.
  • The Play Setup legend follows the card you are on by name rather than by position.

Nova Linux (Alpha)

  • Releases built with the separate-asset workflow include Nova-Linux-PyroWave-x86_64-alpha.flatpak and its checksum for explicitly testing PyroWave. It replaces the standard Linux app under the same ID; reinstall Nova-Linux-x86_64-alpha.flatpak from the same release to return, keeping your app data. Older releases, including beta.3, did not attach this experimental bundle.

  • Choose PyroWave · Experimental in Play Setup → Video Codec, with a compatible Polaris host and the normal Desktop destination. This Linux route supports SDR 8-bit 4:2:0; HDR, 4:4:4 and Spaces are not supported. Auto does not choose the codec. Vulkan device compatibility, sustained performance and real stream quality still need device testing. The bundle has no automatic stable/beta feed.

  • It says what the host said. A refused launch now carries the host’s own reason instead of a generic failure.

  • It ships Nova’s own icon.

Beta releases

  • A beta is published as a prerelease, tagged v1.4.13-beta.N. On Android it installs beside stable Nova with separate pairing and preferences. Linux Flatpak bundles use the same app ID and replace the installed Nova bundle; they are not separate beta apps. Testing is opt-in.
  • A beta’s APKs are named Nova-Beta-Android-<abi>.apk, so an updater watching the stable filenames never picks one up by accident. To follow the beta channel, add it to Obtainium as its own app: add Nova Beta to Obtainium. It tracks com.papi.nova.pre, which is the package a beta installs as.