5 New Features in Kodi 18 (Leia) Beta Release 2019- (Changelog)

After testing the Kodi 18 (Leia) beta version for more than 2 weeks, I’m writing this post. So, if you are planning to upgrade to Kodi Leia v18.0 Alpha 3 release, read these some important changes. Here I’m sharing my personal experience with Kodi 2019 version, so it might be different from others experience.

Also read: How to install Kodi on Roku TV

The officials claim that there are-

• More than 6140 (code chunks changed)
• More than 1911 pull-requests (collection of commits that were included in one go)
• More than 7776 changed files
• More than 350.000 code lines removed
• More than 397.000 code lines added
• Over 35 opensource developers
• A lot of free time developing and testing these changes

Why I’m writing about Kodi 18.0 (Leia) update too late?

I know, my readers were looking for me to write about the latest beta release of Kodi 18.0 (Leia). Many of them were writing me emails and some are asking me in the comment box to write about Kodi latest version (Leia).

So, one thing I want to promise them…

I cannot write anything without research and personal experience. So, I was testing Kodi Leia 18.0 from last two weeks and then writing this post. So, if you are planning to update Kodi, please wait until the stable release of Kodi 18.0 Leia. However, you can update the beta version to see these major changelogs.

New Features in Kodi 18 (Leia) Beta Release (Alpha 3)

When you check the official website of Kodi then you’ll there are hundreds of changelog done in Kodi 18.0 Leia but I’m writing about visual changes. Check below-

1- Kodi 18.0 Start Page

First of all, we’ll start with the initial changes. Kodi 18.0 (Leia) start page has been completely changed. The logo and background have been changed completely (see the image below). You can see a darker background and Kodi logo has been placed in gear looking image.

2- Kodi 18.0 Settings Page

Here are some modifications in the settings page of Kodi 18.0 (Leia) update. You can see the new design and layout of the settings page.

3- Kodi 18.0 Gaming Interface

There were lots of bugs found in the earlier updates. People reported some bugs and developers fixed it. These are some major updates done in the gaming interface of Kodi 18 Leia.

• Updated RetroPlayer added for the better gaming experience on Xbox and Xbox 360.
• OSD (On-Screen-Display) and Games window entries are added to GUI of Kodi 18.
• Keyboard Player added to play games with Joystick on Xbox and other Emulators.
• Various new Joystick controllers added.

4- Kodi 18.0 PVR Changes

Those who are using Kodi for Live TV and PVR (Personal Video Recorder), there are major changes done in Kodi 18.0 Leia update. New PVR clients added in the recent update.

Some updates are below-

• JattoPVR Client added and being maintained from Kodi community.
• TeleBoy PVR Client added and backend by Kodi community.
• Sledovanitv.cz PVR Client new client added and supported by Kodi community.

5- Kodi 18.0 OS based changes

There are many new features added on operating systems levels. If you’re using Kodi on Android OS then you will see the following changes-

• The speech-to-text ability has been added to Android phones and Android TV.
• Now Kodi 18.0 Leia has the ability to install on SD cards.
• Changed Rendertype from GUILayer to VideoLayer for Android MediaCodecSurface.
• Added support for 3D LUT (3D Lookup Table) and dithering to Windows video renderer

Final Words

Kodi 17.6 Krypton is already a stable version from XBMC developers. It has globally popular for its amazing UI and features. Though Kodi 18.0 Leia is also going viral among movies and tv shows lovers. After testing it for 2 weeks, I found these major noticeable features in Kodi Leia 18.0. But, there are many changes done in the back-end.

Should you install Kodi 18.0 Leia (Beta)-

If you wanna test the new updates quickly and can handle with bugs then you can install Kodi 18.0 Leia (beta version). If you don’t wanna see any bugs then stick to Kodi 17.6 (Krypton). Once stable version launched then I’ll guide you the process to upgrade to Kodi Leia v18.