Kodi announced version 19.0 “Matrix” on February 19, 2021, while noting that app-store distribution could take longer and the Xbox Windows Store build was delayed. The preceding Kodi 18.8 release had been described as likely the last in the “Leia” series, but Kodi published version 18.9 later that year. This is a historical release account, not confirmation of what Kodi offers for download today.
What Kodi announced about Matrix availability
Kodi’s February 19, 2021 announcement said that Kodi 19.0 “Matrix” had been formally released on supported platforms and was being distributed through its usual channels. Kodi cautioned that curated app stores might take additional time to deliver the update, and specifically said the Xbox Windows Store build was delayed. Those statements describe distribution at launch, not current availability. Kodi’s Matrix 19.0 release announcement is the source for the timing and platform caveats.
Why Matrix mattered to existing Kodi users
Python add-ons required the biggest compatibility change
Matrix moved Python-based add-ons from Python 2.7 to Python 3. Kodi warned that third-party add-ons could depend on their developers to update them. A user moving from Leia therefore needed to consider add-on compatibility rather than assuming every existing extension would continue to work unchanged.
Kodi also replaced older XML metadata scrapers with Python scrapers and listed changes to add-on origin enforcement, warnings for broken or deprecated add-ons, binary add-on data exchange, and password protection by default for Kodi’s web interface. These are changes described in the 2021 announcement; they do not establish compatibility for any particular add-on today.
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- Watch live TV and access over 800 free channels from Pluto TV, Tubi, and more[3]; if you find an interesting show or movie on your TV, mobile app, or Google search, you can easily add it to your watchlist, so it’s ready when you are[2]
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Music, subtitles, and live TV also changed
Kodi described music-library and metadata improvements, including new tags and displays, and changes involving release dates, album durations, and multidisc sets. Interface work touched music screens, playlist views, the “now playing” view, and artwork handling.
Subtitle updates included fixes for timestamp overlays and controls for dark-grey captions and opacity. For PVR and live TV, Kodi listed reminders, home-screen widgets, channel and group management, navigation and context-menu changes, tags, sorting, and performance improvements.
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Platform support shifted
Matrix added tvOS support and ended support for 32-bit iOS. Kodi also described a single Linux binary for X11, Wayland, and GBM environments. The release announcement does not provide a present-day compatibility matrix, so these points should not be treated as a complete guide to whether a particular device can run a current Kodi build.
Leia’s last release was 18.9, not 18.8
On July 28, 2020, Kodi published 18.8 as a bug-fix release and called it “likely to be the final release” in the 18.x Leia series. Its listed fixes included a GnuTLS security fix and updates involving libraries, compatibility, MariaDB, and the video database. The word “likely” mattered: Kodi later released another Leia version.
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On October 23, 2020, Kodi published 18.9. The release addressed HTTP access problems linked to Cloudflare-related technical changes affecting sites used by metadata sources and streaming add-ons, along with other fixes. This makes 18.9 the final published 18.x release in the chronology relevant to Matrix’s launch—not 18.8. See Kodi’s 18.8 announcement and 18.9 announcement.
Matrix release timeline
| Date | Release or announcement | What Kodi said |
|---|---|---|
| July 28, 2020 | Leia 18.8 | Bug-fix release, described as likely the final Leia release. |
| October 23, 2020 | Leia 18.9 | Follow-up release addressing HTTP access issues and other fixes. |
| February 19, 2021 | Matrix 19.0 | Formal release announcement, with app-store timing caveats. |
| December 24, 2022 | Matrix 19.5 | Kodi said 19.5 capped off the Matrix development cycle, with no further release planned at that point. |
The 19.5 note records Kodi’s position at the time of that announcement; it should not be read as a statement about present-day download channels. See Kodi’s Matrix 19.5 release announcement.
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How to interpret the release figures
Kodi’s February 2021 announcement reported that nearly 50 individual open-source developers contributed code, with about 5,000 commits in more than 1,500 pull requests since the first 18.x Leia release. It also reported more than 5,500 changed files and roughly 600,000 lines of code added, changed, or removed. These are Kodi’s figures for development work; they are not independent measures of performance or quality.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Ask to control your TV with your voice, and quickly cast your photos, videos, music and more from your phone, tablet, or PC to your TV with Chromecast built in
- Built-in Virtual Assistant – just press the mic button on the remote to get what you want
- Built-in content and entertainment including YouTube, Play Movies & TV, and more
- Support for thousands of Apps on the Play Store
- 2K resolution TV streaming
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