Kodi 19.1 ‘Matrix’ Focuses on Bug Fixes – Now Available on All Supported Platforms!

After years of development, Kodi 19.0 'Matrix' was finally released in February 2021. Unlike the previous "major" versions of Kodi, the latest one brought a significant shift that left many Kodi users without their favorite addons. However, that didn't stop Kodi's developers from continuing their work on the application, releasing a new version just now – Kodi 19.1 'Matrix.'

If you're a long-term Kodi user, you probably already know how minor updates work and what they represent. So, without any surprise, Kodi 19.1 'Matrix' is focused on fixing performance issues and bugs, providing a more pleasurable user experience overall. Various aspects of Kodi 19.0 have been improved, spanning across all of its supported platforms. 

Perhaps the biggest change that comes with Kodi 19.1 is the application’s availability on Xbox consoles. Even though Kodi 19.0 has been in the Microsoft Store since its launch, Kodi 19.1 is now available on pretty much any Xbox console as well. So, here's what else is changed. 

Video

• Fixed: HDR metadata is now detected in VP9 profile 2 streams and can be used on platforms that support HDR passthrough or tone mapped when playing this kind of video.

Discs

• Fixed: playback of optical DVDs in Linux.
• Fixed: BD-J Blu-ray chapter skipping via remotes/keyboard.

PVR

• Fixed: context menu not accessible in PVR Guide when using very basic remote to control Kodi.
• Fixed: client channel name and number not persisted when changed.
• Fixed: play count and resume the position of recordings lost after Kodi restart.
• Fixed: crash while browsing the EPG when MySQL is used as EPG database.
• Fixed: next recording on ... label time is not localized in Estuary Timer/Timer rules window.
• Fixed: channel manager does not rename the backend channel.
• Fixed: playing archived program not selected when opening the Guide window.
• Fixed: GUI not updated on removal/insert/hide/unhide of channel groups.
• Updated: improved look of PVR windows in Estuary.

Music Library

• Fixed: issue with music from cue sheets where only the first track was being added to the library on rescanning, with the rest being deleted.

JSON-RPC

• Fixed: PVR - Reintroduced broadcast properties 'hastimer', 'hastimerrule', 'hasrecording', 'recording.'
• Fixed: PVR - Reintroduced channel property 'isrecording.'

Subtitles

• Fixed: detection of system fonts (directwrite) on Windows for ASS subtitles.
• Fixed: detection of user fonts (in userdata/fonts) for ASS subtitles.
• Fixed: rendering of semi-transparent ASS subtitles on Wayland.

GUI/Interface

• Fixed: media flagging for DVD/BluRay.

Web Interface

• Updated: Chorus2 based on community contributions.

Filesystem

• Updated: enable file caching by default for network filesystems.
• Updated: improve file cache error handling.

Network

• Updated: improved reliability for HTTP and NFS network filesystems.

Windows specifics

• Added: support for WS-Discovery protocol that enables locating SMB servers and browsing shared folders using SMBv3.
• Added: debug Info OSD Video. Extends current Debug Info Player (Ctrl+Shift+O) with new video-only info (Alt+O).
• Fixed: with some unusual streams, incorrect HDR metadata could be passed (HDR10 passthrough).
• Fixed: green screen on systems with old HW (DX feature level 9.1) playing 10-bit videos.
• Fixed: black screen with Software render method and with DXVA2 hardware acceleration disabled.
• Fixed: green screen when playing the menu of some DVDs (MPEG2 SD only).
• Fixed: credentials being requested for anonymous SMB shares.
• Updated: VC runtimes included in the installer to add compatibility with VS2019 and VS2017 at the same time.

Android specifics

• Fixed: SMB shares mounted on system-level not visible in Kodi.
• Fixed: SMB shares labeled with cryptic numbers (UUID) instead of actual disk name.

Kodi's developers haven't yet provided the complete change-log for Kodi 19.1 'Matrix.' However, if you want to take a deeper look, you can always turn to GitHub. Use the provided link to compare the changes between Kodi 19.0 and 19.1 – and you’ll see what exactly is new. 

If you’re eager to update to the latest version of Kodi, you will first need to download Kodi 19.1 'Matrix' from its official website. Use the provided link, select your platform of choice, and simply re-install Kodi. For more info on how that is done, here’s how to update Kodi.

Lastly, keep in mind that Kodi 19.1 might not be available immediately. For example, it looks like Kodi’s macOS installer for 19.1 hasn’t been uploaded yet. And in case you’ve installed Kodi via Google’s Play Store, Apple’s App Store, or Microsoft’s Store, it might take a couple of days until the latest version becomes widely available.