Spaces in Nova

A Space is a gaming environment Polaris keeps for one player or one purpose: its own Steam sign-in, installed games, saves, and settings. Nova connects your paired device to a Space it is allowed to use and shows that Space’s library. Creating, assigning, renaming, removing, and restoring Spaces happens on the host, in the Polaris web interface under Spaces; the Spaces guide covers that side, including Docker setup. Nova needs nothing extra on the Android device.

Preview

Spaces is a preview. The host owner decides which devices may use which Spaces, and the current runtime ends a Space’s game session when its stream disconnects. Save before you leave.

Open your Space

1. Pair Nova with the Polaris host if it is not paired yet.
2. On the host, under Spaces → Default Space, assign a Space to your device.
3. Open the host in Nova. Playing In in the library toolbar names the selected Space, beside Change Space, Options, and System.
4. The first time, choose Steam Big Picture → Open Steam Big Picture, sign in to Steam, and install a game.
5. Back in Nova, refresh the library, select the game’s poster, then Play.

A Space name identifies the environment; it does not say which Steam account is signed in. Check or switch the account inside Steam Big Picture. Before a launch, Nova checks your access and the saved stream settings, and keeps any required host check, connection error, or settings review visible.

With one permitted Space, its library opens directly, with no player selection screen. Hosts that expose a Space without a game library keep the older direct Your Space → Open Space screen.

Choose another Space

On the host

Under the Space’s card, expand Device Access and allow your device. The change waits for every Space stream to stop, because it reloads the host’s permission catalog.

In Nova

Select Change Space in the toolbar. Only the Spaces your device may use appear. Pick one to browse its games; choosing does not launch anything.

Polaris remembers the choice for this device across app and host restarts. Finish your own stream and wait for cleanup before switching; other devices can keep playing while you choose.

Status	What it means
Ready To Play	Idle. Open Steam Big Picture or a game.
In Use	Another device is using it. Choose another Space or wait.
Starting and Stopping	The host is still working; Open Space stays unavailable until it finishes.
Resume	Offered only for the matching game and Space session this device owns. It does not promise that a disconnected game kept running.

Nova checks status while the chooser is open and again just before opening. If the status cannot be verified, check the connection and try again.

Stream settings for a Space

Select a game, then open Play Setup. Resolution and Frame Rate apply on the next launch of that Space and are saved on the device. Change Space in Play Setup picks a permitted environment where the title is installed; it does not copy games or saves.

Nova offers frame rates up to 240 FPS where the display supports them; a 120 Hz handheld stops at 120. A selected rate is a target, not a measurement. Start at 60 FPS, check picture, sound, and both sticks, then raise the target. If the host answers with a different resolution or frame rate than you asked for, Nova shows the host’s values and waits: choose Auto for Frame Rate and Device Settings for Resolution to follow the host, or change the device’s display settings in Polaris and retry.

Spaces use the host runtime’s fixed codec and quality contract. Nova’s general Streaming Presets stay separate from Space selection: a preset changes picture and performance, never the Steam account or the Space.

Leaving, and what survives

Leave Space ends the running Steam or game session in this preview and asks you to confirm. Installed games, saves, and the Steam sign-in stay on the host. A dropped connection can end the session the same way. Reopening the Space starts a new session in the same Steam home.

Remove Space on the host keeps the Space’s data and only takes device access away; it does not free disk space. A restored Space needs its devices assigned again before it shows up in Nova.

With a controller

Move through posters and the toolbar with the D-pad, select with A, go back with B. The artwork and the selected-game banner follow focus, and on a narrow screen the toolbar scrolls to keep every action reachable. Touch does the same. On the older single-Space screen, X opens Stream Settings.

If sound crackles or the picture stutters

Ask the host owner to offer 1080p at 60 FPS for your device, choose Auto for Frame Rate and Device Settings for Resolution, and try one Space alone before the other players join. If audio still drops out, note the time, game, Space, stream settings, and whether the device is on Wi-Fi or Ethernet, and whether picture or controls paused too. When you can, repeat the same game over Ethernet or another access point, changing one thing at a time. The Spaces guide says what to keep for Doctor & Support. Low average latency and zero reported video loss do not rule out brief audio pauses; audio reliability is still being validated.