AVA OS “Snow Moon” 2.1.0
Hey, AVA installers!
With AVA OS 2.1.0 “Snow Moon,” automation takes a big step forward. This release introduces event-driven Flows, Sonos pass-through volume with IP AVRs, new IP drivers, and tighter system-level controls—plus a long list of UX and driver improvements that make daily installs smoother and more powerful.
Let’s dig in!
Highlights
- Pass-through Volume for Sonos Port makes a Sonos Port and AVR work together like magic. The AVR turns on and switches to the Port’s input automatically, and the Dynamic Keypad has volume right where you expect it. >> read more
- Sonos Dynamic Groups automatically groups and ungroups Sonos speakers on the fly. >> read more
- System-level Lock for Installer Settings protects the setup across every interface in the project — every remote and even companion apps. >> read more
- Use a Custom UI Button to Trigger Flows because a button can now send a whole series of commands—such as Webhooks or lighting commands—from a Custom UI button. >> read more
- Sensors for Flows let you start a Flow based on an event, such as music starts playing, or a device turns on. >> read more
- Cinema Remote Press-and-Hold enhanced for faster volume ramping and faster scrubbing operations like fast forward and rewind.
New IP Drivers
- Audio Control Bijou AVR - Full-featured IP driver for all Bijou series AVRs
- JBL Synthesis AVR - IP driver with 2-way volume, full control including all audio formats
- Magnetar UHD BD Players - Full featured IP driver for all Magnetar players
- Meridian 218 - IP driver for the hi-res audio zone controller
- Screen Research Projection Screens — IP driver for drop-down screens, 2-way masking, and 4-way masking screens. Ideal in conjunction with Kaleidescape format sensors.
IP Driver Enhancements
- Discrete Volume for AV Receivers - The IP drivers for several AVR brands now have commands for setting an exact volume level in a Flow. Slider volume control for these AVRs is now on the Home Remote and Companion app, and there is even a volume slider for use in Custom UIs. Current list of currently supported brands: Anthem, Audio Control, Denon, Integra, JBL Synthesis, Marantz, NAD, Pioneer, Storm Audio, Onkyo, Trinnov, Yamaha.
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Troubleshooting Info added to Devices - IP drivers added since AVA OS 2.1 show the IP address that the driver is using to connect to the actual device. You can also see whether the address was discovered (methods: mDNS, SSDP, etc.) or was manually entered.
- NVIDIA Shield - Enter and Back command updated to work for apps that use alternate form of these commands, such as Kodi. (Thanks for the report, Prithpal!)
- Apple TV IP Driver - Improved power state handling.
- Sony Bravia IP Driver - Improved driver instructions.
- Sony Projector IP Driver - Added the “Aspect Ratio Scaling” command.
- Tascam BD IP Driver - implemented Open/Clos command
- Yamaha AVR IP Driver - Added ‘DTS: Neural X’ command.
- Sony Bravia IP TV Driver - Added a YouTube TV command (for you, Bailey!)
New Features & UX Improvements
- New Icons - Added hundreds of new AVA OS Icons for Flows and for the Custom UI.
- Shorter Increments in Delays - You can now make Delays as short as 100ms.
- Sonos current track display - Added more meta data for Sonos radio stations.
- Improved Dynamic Keypad behavior with multiple active Flows - If a room has more than one Flow active, turning off a Flow makes the Dynamic Keypad automatically switch to the next active Flow.
- Room sorting - You can now change the order of Rooms in a project. Go to Settings > Rooms and then drag and drop. Enjoy the new full-color icons for Rooms, too!
- Service Tools - new diagnostics information page from either AVA Cinema Remote or Home Remote tells you whether the site can reach AVA’s cloud services, and lets you see every Nano Brain’s vitals: project name, software versions, type of network connection, and more. Go to Settings > System > Service Tools.
- You can now connect to a Nano Brain by entering its IP address when automated discovery does not work.
- When your AVA Pro login fails during project create process, you get detailed feedback on what went wrong.
- When adding Devices:
- Search results show whether each driver uses IP or IR.
- You can select a device from search results and then step back without losing what you were searching for.
- Webhooks editing has been made much easier.
- The AVA Companion App now starts much much faster when already connected to a Project.
- The AVA Companion App now shows and handles Satellite Brains. You can now configure devices controlled by Satellite Brains directly from the AVA Companion App.
- Nano Brain setup now continues right after the Wi-Fi connection succeeds, no longer requiring you to select the Nano Brain from the list again.
- Audio Mode now remains active in the AVA companion app for users of AVA Speakers and AVA Streaming System.
- Updated numerous screens to make them look more modern and run much faster. Key examples are Room sorting page, the Edit Slides page, the Rename Device page, and many more.
Pass-through Volume for Sonos Port
This is huge! You can now make a Sonos Port work seamlessly with any IP-controlled AVR.
When a Sonos Port starts playing, AVA OS can automatically turn on an AV Receiver, switch to the right input, and then control its volume.
By configuring the Sonos Port to use Pass Through volume (see: Line Out), AVA OS makes volume control possible with any AV Receiver that has an IP driver with discrete volume control. This includes:
- AVR volume from the Sonos app, even if the AVR does not have native Sonos pass through volume support.
- Volume control from any AVA OS interface: 3rd-party touch screens, the AVA companion app, and Home Remote.
- Volume from Dynamic Keypad on Cinema Remote
Important Use this feature with projects hosted on an AVA Nano Brain. Remote-only projects run on a battery-powered device that can miss events while in standby.
Sonos Dynamic Groups
The Sonos IP driver now automatically groups and ungroups Sonos speakers.
- When Play Content step in a Flow lists more than one Speaker, AVA OS groups those speakers so that you see them even in the Sonos app.
- Speakers grouped in the Sonos app show in AVA OS.
- Send content to single speaker that is currently in a group, and AVA OS removes the speaker from its current group. (Works with multiple speakers at once, too!)
- Send a command (such as Pause) to a single speaker, and AVA OS ungroups that single speaker from the current group before pausing it.
Installer Settings Now Uses System-level Lock / Unlock
When you lock Installer Settings, it now locks Installer Settings for the whole AVA OS System, instead of just on that one device.
Even if you add another Cinema Remote, Home Remote, or an instance of the AVA Companion App, Installer Settings remain locked.
Use either a PIN or a valid AVA Pro account to lock and unlock the Installer Settings. And your AVA Pro account works when a PIN gets forgotten or is not known.
Migration for Existing Systems
- For projects running on a Nano Brain, if the Installer Settings are locked on any AVA remote control connected to the project, the current PIN moves from the single device to whole project.
- This prevents the AVA Companion App from being used as a way to get around the PIN set on a single remote control.
Sensors: Trigger a Flow Based on Event
Sensors allow you to monitor a device for certain events and run a Flow when they happen.
Example: When Mute becomes active on an AVR, you can trigger the Lutron lighting scene that brings up the footlights in the home theater.
AVA OS 2.1 expands on sensors as first introduced with AVA OS 2.0, providing increasingly sophisticated automation from AVA OS.
Sensors work best with a Nano Brain. Remote-only projects run from a device that goes to sleep to conserve its battery.
Here are some of the available sensors at the time of this release:
- Anthem AVR - Volume, Mute
- Anthem MDX-8 - Volume, Mute
- Audiocontrol Bijou - Volume, Mute
- Denon - Volume, Mute
- Kaleidescape - Aspect Ratio, Menu
- Integra - Volume, Mute
- JBL Synthesis - Volume, Mute
- Marantz AVR - Volume, Mute
- Meridian AVR - Volume, Mute
- NAD - Volume, Mute
- Pioneer - Volume, Mute
- Onkyo - Volume, Mute
- Sonos - Idle, Paused, Playing, Transitioning, Volume
- Storm Audio - Volume, Mute
- Trinnov - Volume, Mute
- Yamaha - Volume, Mute
Trigger Flows from a Custom UI Button
You can use a Custom UI button to run a stateless Flow. This allows you to make buttons that run a single Webhook step, or have a Flow send a series of commands to multiple devices in a home. The button even has a progress indicator for Flows that include Delay steps.
Example: if your client wants a to close all Lutron shades while watching Kaleidescape, you can add a Flow button to the Custom UI for Kaleidescape.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed: Lutron Switch Naming - The name that you manually assign to a Lutron switch in the Custom UI now gets applied and shown as expected.
- Fixed: TV Favorites - fixed an issue where icons did not always display properly
- Fixed: Sonos stability - several stability improvements
- Fixed: Sonos as Volume Control Device in a Flow - You can now set a Sonos device (such as an Arc or Arc Ultra) in the volume control Step in a Flow.
- Fixed: Device rename caused duplicated flows to rename - duplicated Flows keep their assigned name when their source device gets renamed.
- Fixed: AVA Companion App now shows in the recent apps of any Android device.
- Fixed: Nano Brain Wi-Fi setup supports more special characters in SSID and password.
- Fixed: bug which caused the controlpad slide for DVD/Blu-ray players to be created incorrectly.
- Fixed: A bug that caused the AVA Companion App to set the Android system wallpaper on specific Android devices where this was not desired.
- Fixed: bug on AVA Home Remote which sometimes caused an inaccurate “Project Offline” message.
Availability
Snow Moon (AVA OS 2.1.0) is available worldwide today.
How to Get to AVA OS 2.1.0
AVA OS updates are non-disruptive.
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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 from 2.1.0 will roll out in the next couple days.
What’s Next
Of course there is an AVA OS 2.2 already in works! We still aim to introduce free local backup & restore for AVA OS projects. Along with more IP drivers, we’re also looking into implementing one of the top-voted features on Idea Voting, too! Keep the ideas coming!
Christmas, Kwanza, Hanukkah, Festivus, Solstice, Pancha Ganapati, and New Year's…whatever your family celebrates - Happy holidays from all of us at AVA!
— Raph