Polaris + Nova Roadmap

Direction, not a release calendar

This page explains priorities, not dates. A feature is available only when it appears in a published release and its documentation says so. Research can change direction when real hardware, public testing, or measured evidence tells us it should.

Polaris is the Linux streaming host. Nova is the Android client built alongside it. Both are usable today, and both still have plenty of sharp edges worth removing before the fanciest research becomes product work.

Now — make today’s stream dependable

Polaris / host reliability

Make start, stop, recovery, capture, input, logging, virtual displays, and cleanup predictable across supported Linux hosts. Improve diagnostics so the web console explains the path that actually ran.

Nova / client reliability

Make pairing, launch, controller input, reconnect, resume, stop, decoder behavior, and handheld navigation predictable on real Android devices.

Compatibility stays visible

Keep standard Moonlight-compatible clients working with Polaris, and keep Nova useful with standard Moonlight-compatible hosts. Richer Polaris integration must not turn compatibility into a guessing game.

Proof before performance claims

Establish a trustworthy baseline and change one behavior at a time. A faster run does not win if visual quality, cleanup, input, audio, fallback, or repeatability gets worse.

Next — make the current path smoother

The next performance work stays deliberately boring in the best possible way: measure one thing, change one thing, and keep the rollback obvious.

• Tighten frame pacing and high-refresh behavior through today’s 90/120 Hz paths.
• Improve queues, send scheduling, bitrate pacing, capture, encode, decode, and presentation visibility without bundling unrelated changes.
• Broaden NVIDIA, AMD/VAAPI, Android-device, controller, and network coverage.
• Expand physical and automated tests for launch, stream, input, resume, stop, and cleanup.
• Make logs and diagnostics useful to humans before adding more telemetry for its own sake.

Build alongside — clean boundaries, not a hidden rewrite

When current work already touches capture, encode, media, decoder output, session lifecycle, device capabilities, or host/client contracts, a small protocol-neutral boundary may land first. That boundary must improve or preserve the current Moonlight-compatible path on its own. It is not permission to build a replacement transport through a side door wearing a fake mustache.

Research — a native path only if it earns its place

The current Moonlight-compatible path remains the production and fallback path. A native Polaris/Nova streaming path is a research option, not a promised rewrite. It moves forward only if measured work shows that the remaining limitation truly belongs to the transport—and only if pairing, security, input, audio, codecs, resume, browser behavior, diagnostics, rollback, and compatibility remain credible.

Nobody should need to migrate just because a prototype exists.

Longer horizon — ambitious, measurable, not shipping today

Proper HDR10+

The goal is real end-to-end dynamic metadata attached to the intended frames from source through capture, encode, transport, decode, and display, with honest HDR10 and SDR fallback. A capability flag or generic tone mapping does not count.

True 240 fps

The goal is 240 unique frames per second through render, capture, encode, transport, decode, and physical presentation on validated hardware. A 240 Hz mode, duplicated frames, or frame generation does not count.

More client surfaces

Android is the only shipping Nova client today. Steam Deck and Linux handheld work remains a development preview; iOS is planned without a release date.

Browser and Linux media research

Browser Stream, Vulkan Video, Linux 4:4:4, honest HDR headless operation, and other hardware-specific work stay behind their own usefulness and compatibility gates.

Passing each goal separately does not prove a combined HDR10+ at 240 fps profile. That combination would need one exact hardware, codec, color, bitrate, quality, latency, thermal, fallback, and rollback contract of its own.

What remains true

• Polaris is a Linux host. Windows and macOS host ports are not planned.
• Nova ships on Android today. Other client platforms remain preview or planned work until a release says otherwise.
• Moonlight-compatible clients and hosts remain supported paths; native transport research does not erase them.
• There are no implied dates on this page.
• Public releases and release notes—not roadmap prose—are the source of truth for what users can install now.

Follow the details

Polaris repository roadmapLinux host reliability, packages, performance work, and future host capabilities.

Nova repository roadmapAndroid-client reliability, high-refresh work, device support, and future client capabilities.

Polaris releasesWhat is actually packaged and available today.

Nova releasesPublished Android APKs and release notes.