Kodi 22 Alpha 3: FFmpeg and JSON-RPC updates

Kodi 22.0 Alpha 3 Piers: Key Updates for Developers and Users

Kodi 22.0 Alpha 3 was released on April 1, 2026. The release focuses on bug fixes and feature additions without any radical changes. It's recommended for testers of the current 22.x branch. It includes upgrades to FFmpeg 8.0.1 and Python 3.14.3, plus a switch to utf8mb4 with general_ci collation for MySQL/MariaDB.

New APIs and Format Support

New JSON-RPC methods have been added: Player.GetChapters for retrieving chapter information and Player.OnPropertyChanged for notifications about player property changes. This simplifies integration with external applications.

Support has been expanded for:

• Taglines in TV shows.
• H.264 subtitles in AVCC format.
• Full IANA tags.

These additions are useful for plugins that work with metadata and subtitles.

Video and Audio Playback Improvements

For video:

• Optimized Blu-ray handling: menus, TV show episodes, chapter changes.

For audio:

• Default sample rate shifted from 44.1 kHz to 48 kHz.
• Fixed delays: 200 ms at the start of video, skips when changing playback speed.
• Correct AC3 duration for non-48 kHz content.
• Improved low-latency audio handling.

These fixes boost stability on HTPCs and embedded systems.

Subtitles and Library

Subtitles:

• Fixed WebVTT handling in ISOBMFF.
• Proper selection of PGS/VobSub for foreign tracks.
• Fixed crashes from BCP47 tags (from Alpha 2).

Library: improved tagline handling for movies and TV.

Games and Emulation

Retro games support expanded:

• N64 with software rendering.
• Shaders.

Fixes:

• Black screen for textures with misaligned binding.
• Crashes when changing resolution.

Useful for developers building game frontends in Kodi.

Streaming, Networking, and Archives

Streaming:

• Fix for tcp:// streams (playback and metadata).
• UPnP errors on resume.

Archives and grouping:

• Folders for DVD/Blu-ray.
• Playback of folders and discs in archives.
• Zip archives >4 GB.

Platform-Specific Changes

Android:

• AFR on exit from standby.
• Dolby Vision L5 metadata.
• Foreign subtitles.

webOS:

• General Dolby Vision improvements, L5 metadata.
• Playback speed, passthrough, eARC Dolby Digital.
• AAC on older versions.

Windows:

• Audio output: XAUDIO/WASAPI by default.
• Fix for Windows 8.1.

Linux:

• Power management without auth.
• Keyboard/RCU on Wayland (long presses).

FreeBSD:

• Archive extraction to disk.

Developer Tools

• New KodiAI repository on GitHub.
• Visual Studio 2026.
• C++23 compatibility.

This makes building and development easier for modern stacks.

Key Takeaways

• FFmpeg 8.0.1 and Python 3.14.3 updates for all builds.
• New JSON-RPC methods for chapters and property changes.
• Fixes for Blu-ray, subtitles, and low-latency audio.
• Platform improvements: Android/webOS Dolby Vision, Linux Wayland.
• Dev tools: KodiAI, VS2026, C++23.

— Editorial Team