A couple of months ago, the developers of the software formerly known as XBMC threw v18.7 of its software with an extensive list of changes, among which we could highlight audio, screen and interface solutions and add-on compatibility. A few hours ago have thrown a new update, this one with much less changes, but for a reason: if there are no surprises or problems to solve, Kodi 18.8 it will be the last update Leia will have.
In the Kodi 18.8 release note Leia have also mentioned something else: having released this version with what are expected to be the final touches, the developer team will focus their efforts on Kodi 19, the one that will have of code name «Matrix». They have not given a release date, but we should soon see in their download page that 19.0 for Windows becomes a beta, and not an alpha as before. Below you have the list of news that have arrived with Kodi 18.8.
Kodi 18.8 highlights
- Fixes a serious security issue in gnutls.
- Other major library / compatibility updates.
- You get client / server on MariaDB 10.5.4 which works on Android.
- Fix video database access for Ubuntu 20.04 and other distributions using older versions of libfmt (search and other filters failed).
- Fix managing subtitles from files.
- Fix access to CDDB.
- Makes minor improvements to logging and memory reporting / viewing.
- Repair EDLs where jump points are at the beginning of a file.
- Contains code enhancements to fix specific events, such as EPG race conditions or "pause" at the end of broadcasts on Android.
- Enable alpha blending for the video player (Windows).
- Handles specific exceptions better (Android, mostly).
How to install Kodi on Linux
We can install Kodi 18.8 and all future versions in different ways. In Linux, the Flatpak version stands out that we can install directly by clicking on this link if our distribution includes support or we have added it. Yes indeed, software v18.8 has not arrived at the time of publishing this article. Nor has the Snap version arrived, more specifically an unofficial one that they create from the project's repository that can be installed by opening a terminal and typing the command "sudo snap install mir-kiosk-kodi" (without the quotes).
The most official thing that the project offers is a repository that can be used in distributions such as Debian or Ubuntu. To add and install Kodi we have to open a terminal and type the following:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:team-xbmc/ppa sudo apt update sudo apt install kodi