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Kodi 22 “Piers” Alpha 2 was an official prerelease, released on December 19, 2025—but it is no longer the newest Kodi 22 build. Team Kodi has since published Alpha 3 and Beta 1. If you want to test Kodi 22, get the current official prerelease from Kodi; if you rely on Kodi every day, the project recommends a stable release instead.
Alpha 2 was real, but it was never a stable release
“Piers” is the codename for Kodi 22. Team Kodi announced Alpha 2 on December 19, 2025, as a development build, not a finished release. The project warned that prerelease software can break and recommended backing up before installing. Read Team Kodi’s Alpha 2 announcement.
That distinction matters: Alpha 2 is useful to understand as a milestone in Kodi 22’s development, but there is little reason to seek it out as a normal download today. As of August 18, 2026, Kodi 22 has progressed through Alpha 3 to Beta 1. Beta 1 is still prerelease software, not a stable release.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsKodi 22 release timeline
| Build | Announcement date | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Alpha 1 | August 29, 2025 | First public Kodi 22 preview. |
| Alpha 2 | December 19, 2025 | Added and improved playback, library, PVR, weather, Python and platform features. |
| Alpha 3 | April 1, 2026 | Continued Kodi 22 development; superseded Alpha 2. |
| Beta 1 | June 28, 2026 | Moved the project into the beta stage, with more emphasis on stability and performance. |
What Alpha 2 changed
The release combined under-the-hood upgrades with fixes aimed at particular media libraries and devices. The practical benefit depends on what you watch, how your library is managed, and which platform you use.
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Playback, audio and image formats
- FFmpeg was upgraded to version 8. FFmpeg handles media formats and playback functions inside Kodi; an upgrade can improve format support and provide a newer base for playback work.
- HEIF/HEIC support was added. This is most relevant if your image library includes photos in those formats.
- A limit-related playback bug was fixed: streams with more than 256 combined audio, video and subtitle tracks could now play correctly. This concerns unusually complex files, not the typical film or episode.
- Audio-channel handling and selection of
forced_onlysubtitles were improved. These are playback refinements, not a wholesale redesign of Kodi’s audio or subtitle system.
Library management and metadata
- Season Plot and Original Language metadata were added for TV shows and movies.
- Alpha 2 fixed an Alpha 1 problem that could prevent content from scanning when local NFO files were present. That is especially relevant to people who maintain their own descriptions and metadata files.
- Importing Video Versions was improved.
These changes can help make a carefully curated library more useful, but they do not guarantee that every NFO file, scraper or database setup will behave identically. If a scan fails, permissions, file contents, database state and add-ons can all be factors.
PVR, weather and add-ons
- PVR: a daylight-saving-time switching issue was fixed. This matters to live-TV and recording schedules affected by seasonal clock changes; it is not a general playback feature.
- Weather: Kodi added a Weather Skinning API and made fixes to the Home widget and Weather window. The API chiefly concerns skin and add-on developers; what users see depends on their skin’s support.
- Python: the bundled version was upgraded to 3.13.7, and an option to set available fanart was added. Python changes can affect third-party add-ons, so do not assume every add-on built for Kodi 21 will work unchanged.
Changes for specific platforms
- Windows: users could run multiple Kodi instances simultaneously.
- Android: Kodi added a dialog explaining microphone permission.
- macOS: high background CPU usage was fixed.
- LG webOS: the new Media Pipeline was improved. Fixes addressed overly bright subtitles and interface elements during HDR/Dolby Vision playback, as well as subtitles that sometimes failed to appear.
Platform fixes are specific, not universal promises. Results can vary with device hardware, operating-system version, graphics stack, skin and media format. For example, the LG webOS HDR fixes do not mean Alpha 2 solved HDR behavior on every television or Linux device.
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What later Kodi 22 builds add
Alpha 2’s changelog should not be confused with features added later. Beta 1, announced June 28, 2026, includes FFmpeg 8.1.2 and Python 3.14.6—not Alpha 2’s FFmpeg 8 and Python 3.13.7. Its changes include live bitrate information, improved chapter handling, bookmark integration with forward and backward skipping, subtitle visibility and timing improvements, and a new Media Details dialog. It also adds additional HDR formats in the interface and a game Disc Manager, alongside fixes across networking, databases, profiles, skins and several platforms.
Beta 1 also includes HDR improvements for certain embedded Linux DRM/GBM/GLES setups. Its announcement notes a known issue in which some GBM/GLES platforms may show stale or flickering fullscreen-video overlay graphics. These are Beta 1 details, and that build remains a prerelease. See the full Beta 1 announcement for its changes and caveats.
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- Chromecast Built-in: Easily cast movies, shows, and photos from your Android or iOS device to your Android TV
- Easy Setup: Access your Google account and configure the device, language and Wi-Fi network
Should you install Kodi 22 now?
| Your situation | Practical choice |
|---|---|
| You use Kodi on a primary TV, family device or media server and want reliability. | Stay on a stable Kodi release. Kodi’s download page recommends stable releases for normal users. |
| You want to test Kodi 22 and can tolerate bugs. | Use the latest official prerelease, not Alpha 2, and be prepared to report problems or restore your setup. |
| You specifically need to reproduce an Alpha 2 behavior or investigate an old setup. | Alpha 2 may be useful for historical testing if it remains available from Kodi’s official download channels. |
| Your setup depends on a particular skin, obscure add-on, PVR service, network share or database. | Check compatibility and test away from your working installation before upgrading. |
Alpha and Beta software can expose add-on or skin incompatibilities, library migration problems, and hardware-specific playback, HDR, network or remote-control issues. A problem may also come from an add-on, skin, codec, network source or device graphics stack rather than Kodi itself. Kodi’s release announcements ask testers to report regressions with full debug logs because finding and resolving these problems is part of prerelease testing.
Download safely—and prepare before upgrading
Use the official Kodi download page. It offers platform selections including Windows, Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi, macOS, iOS, tvOS and webOS, and distinguishes stable from development builds. To look for an older Alpha 2 build, select your platform and check the Prerelease area if it is still offered there; older builds can move out of the main view as development continues. Confirm the build name before installing. Avoid unofficial mirrors, repackaged installers, “fully loaded” builds and downloads bundled with third-party add-ons.
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- 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
Before installing any prerelease:
- Back up Kodi’s userdata and add-on configuration. The exact method depends on your operating system and how Kodi was installed.
- Record your current Kodi version and note the skins and essential add-ons you rely on.
- If you have a manually curated library, preserve its data or export a backup.
- Check free storage and keep the stable installer available in case you need to roll back.
- Where your platform allows it, test on a spare device or separate installation before replacing the setup you use every day.
Do not assume one installation or rollback procedure applies to every platform. A backup is particularly important because moving between development and stable versions can involve library or configuration changes.
Kodi is a media player, not a streaming subscription
Kodi is free, open-source media-player software; the application does not include movies, TV channels or a content subscription. You provide your own media or choose legitimate third-party plugins. Kodi says it does not endorse consuming pirated content. A site advertising a paid “Kodi 22 Alpha 2 license” or bundling unofficial add-ons with an installer is not offering an official Kodi product. See the official download page for Kodi’s own description and downloads.
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