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Ted Haeger
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AVA OS 2.3.0 🌩️ 🌕 Thunder Moon

AVA OS 2.3.0 Release Notes

AVA OS 2.3.0 Thunder Moon is here ⚡️— and it’s one of the biggest AVA OS releases we have ever shipped. It brings over 70 new features, drivers, and improvements, including a richer Apple TV experience with cover art and Now Playing details, even more IP drivers, smarter Dynamic Keypad behavior, KNX support (this one is BIG for Europe and Asia), tougher remote-to-brain communication, smoother setup flows, and a lot of polish across the system.

There is also more in 2.3.0 than we’re announcing today. Under the hood, this release gets AVA OS ready for something much bigger that’s coming very soon. We’re keeping that one under wraps a little longer — but it’s a good reason to be excited.

Let’s dig into Thunder Moon.

 

New “Now Playing” Slide on Apple TV

You asked. Well, everybody asked! And here it is: the Apple TV IP Driver now displays cover art, along with the title, time, and a progress bar for supported Apple TV apps. Apple TV+, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and many more already make this information available. Netflix is currently the notable exception, so it’s worth setting that expectation with clients. And it’s not just for video content: try it with Apple Music and you’ll see beautiful cover art there too.

 

KNX IP Driver

Another major lights and shades system comes to AVA OS. You can now control lights and shades using the world’s most broadly-established smart building standard, KNX. KNX is found in homes and buildings across Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East.

Import a completed ETS file directly into AVA OS, and you get control of lights and shades through AVA OS touch interfaces, and can put automation commands into Flows.

 

Even Smarter: Dynamic Keypad is Always Room-Ready

Since the release of the AVA companion app, people are using AVA OS from more and more devices: tablets, computers, and phones. Now when you start or stop a Flow from the app or from another remote, the Dynamic Keypad automatically activates controls for that Flow so it’s ready to use on first pickup. And when you turn off the Flow from any interface, the dynamic keypad goes back into standby.

Find settings to control this behavior in Settings > Cinema Remote.

 

ToughLink: Cinema Remote-to-Nano Brain Connection

Cinema Remote now uses ToughLink to stay connected to a Nano Brain. ToughLink was originally designed by AVA for IP drivers to work very reliably in networks where multicast (like mDNS) is not reliable. Now the AVA remotes use it for the remote-to-brain connection too. In the real world, for example with UniFi networks, depending on firmware, multicast does not always work smoothly. In rare cases, this may have caused connection issues for some users. With the connection now using ToughLink, that dependency is gone. In general, the new handling is super robust, focusing on communicating by IP address and not being impressed by bad networks. Of course, it is still necessary to have a well-designed network with good ping times.

 

Additional Features and Enhancements

  • Add Satellite Brain by IP address - If an unused Nano Brain does not show up when adding a Satellite Brain to a project, you can now opt to add it by entering its IP address instead.
  • Fast and transparent Brain Discovery - any UI that listed Nano Brains on the network now comes up much faster; when setting up a new Nano Brain, UI also shows any Brain that already has a project on it.
  • Nano Brain Wi-Fi Management - It is now much easier to change the Wi-Fi network (SSID) on a Nano Brain, and to remove any old SSIDs from a Nano Brain.
  • Sliders now display units - Sliders in the AVA OS user interface now display units for target devices that provides units through their API.
  • Volume Overlay Updates
    • Better handling for Absolute volume (e.g. 0 - 100) versus Relative volume (e.g. -80dB to +18dB) scales.
    • New settings (in Cinema Remote section)
      • Disable Volume Overlay
      • Display in Normalized (0 - 100) or Original from the device (dB, or -20 - +80, etc.).
  • IP Driver Setup Enhancements
    • Driver setup screen re-designed with better formatting, including a test command and rename option.
    • Updated driver instructions for hundreds of IP Drivers.
    • Driver setup now has a QR code linking to setup instructions online, so you can “copy over” the instructions to your phone.
    • Works With AVA site now has detailed information about each IP driver, including commands, sensors, setup instructions, and change logs.

 

IP Drivers

New

  • KNX IP Driver - Support for lighting and shades (for now…)
  • Shelly IP Driver - one driver to support a breadth of devices for contacts, relays and switches, dimmers, and more.
  • NAD CI-580 IP Driver - transport and presets control for this 4-zone BluOS Network Music Player
  • BluOS Simple IP Driver - providing transport controls and presets for BluOS devices
  • Devialet IP Driver - supporting Devialet soundbars.
  • Nextgentec AVP IP Driver
  • AVA Simple Wake-on-LAN - power on any device that allows the Wake-on-LAN.
  • vSeeBox IP Driver
  • Barco Single Chip IP Driver (auth) - supports Barco firmware versions that require authentication, including Barco Heimdall projectors.

Updated

  • NAD AVR T778 - added commands for BluOS presets.
  • Zidoo IP Driver - added Now Playing slide with cover art; commands for video formats and resolution.
  • Samsung The Frame - added INPUT HDMI 5 command.
  • Sony STR- IP Drivers - added mute toggle for Zone 2 and Zone 3.
  • CYP RS232 drivers - updated to support the 4-port CR-IPS4.
  • Swisscom TV IP Driver - no longer beta; includes commands for Channel up / down
  • Sony Bravia: added setup step for security code input
  • Denon AVR IP Drivers (Main, Zone 2, Zone 3): added Game 2 input
  • Magnetar IP Driver: renamed so it’s clear it’s not only for one model; Added power on for players that support Wake-on-LAN
  • R-volution IP Driver: added Device now uses the name “R_Volution Media Player” in the project.

Fixes

  • Fixed: Sony STR IP Driver - an extra “Now Active” banner showed for the AVR when a Sony AVR was turned on by any other Flow.
  • Fixed: When reconnecting a Brain to Wi-Fi using a remote that did not have Bluetooth enabled, the remote would not prompt to enable Bluetooth. Now the remote detects this and prompts you to enable Bluetooth.
  • Fixed: Lutron app would not stay open when started from a Launch App step in a Flow.
  • Fixed: Triggering stateless flows that launch apps now works from Custom UI pages.

How to Get to AVA OS 2.3.0

AVA OS updates are non-disruptive.

  • Cinema Remote & Home Remote — AVA remotes update automatically when on their charging dock. You can also get the latest version of AVA OS from the Play Store as an update to the AVA app.
          💡 Pro tip You can get to the Play Store fast from Settings → General.
  • AVA Nano Brain — You will see an Update Available red badge on any remote connected to the Nano Brain.
  • AVA Companion app — Windows, Mac OS, iPad, iPhone, and Android are available at ava.com/download. Companion app 2.3.0 rolls out in the next few days.

Have fun working with this massive release in the field. A lot of what’s in Thunder Moon is here because of your votes in Idea Voting, your feedback, and the real-world jobs you bring AVA into every day. That matters to us, and we’re grateful for it.

We’ll keep working hard to make AVA OS a rock-solid platform that helps you delight customers and gives installers a smooth, frictionless experience.

Thanks for being part of AVA.

Raph

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