The streaming client that speaks host.
Nova turns Android TVs, handhelds, tablets and phones, plus Linux desktops, laptops and handhelds including Steam Deck, into a home for PC game streaming. Pair it with Polaris for a controller-first Library, clear launch plans and live session controls. Standard Moonlight-compatible hosts remain supported too.
Explore Nova · Install ARM64 · Join the Matrix community · All releases · Quick start
Important
Nova is available for Android and as Nova Linux (Alpha) for x86_64 Linux desktops, laptops and handhelds, including Steam Deck. Linux codec, HDR and frame-rate availability depends on the hardware, drivers, display and host.
Android 1.4.14-beta.1 candidate; screenshot provenance is linked below.
Nova is matched to Polaris while retaining the standard Moonlight-compatible path:
- Review before play. Play Setup shows resolution, frame rate, codec and where the game runs. Host-wide choices stay visibly host-wide.
- Tiers fit the device. Saver, Recommended, Max and Custom choose a client target, separately from Polaris's Auto, Quality, High FPS and Stability presets.
- Make it yours. Stage, Regular and Compact layouts support touch and
controllers. Text and control size are independent; new installs start at
80% text and existing choices stay intact.
< Congratulations, Director >adds crimson, warm white and black (appearance capture). - Doctor uses current evidence. Command Center separates client, network and host findings; Auto Fix requires a reversible, verifiable same-stream action.
- Secondary tools stay secondary. Pin to Home Screen and Artwork Studio use matching compact buttons beside the main game actions.
- Host state stays bound to the game. Stale launch contracts fail closed. Spaces name their launcher; Watch follows the running stream's own mode.
Read the changelog for the release-by-release change and validation record.
Standard Moonlight-compatible hosts support pairing, app browsing, Wake-on-LAN, launch, input and streaming. Polaris adds library artwork and sources, launch health, session ownership, Spaces, Watch, per-session choices, Polaris Sync, Doctor and tuning provenance. Compatible host metadata enables these surfaces; Nova keeps the standard path when it is absent.
The game page above keeps Launch, Play Setup and Clear Game Profile together; Pin to Home Screen and Artwork Studio use matching compact buttons.
Stage puts the selected title into its landscape artwork while keeping the row controller-readable. Regular and Compact keep recent games in the main grid. The website gallery also shows Portable Chrome, Console OLED, Miami Nebula, High Contrast and Material You.
Play Setup names the display, resolution, frame rate, codec and launch policy. Resolution and FPS stay independent. A named encoder is strict; Auto may fall back. Per-session choices do not silently rewrite host defaults.
During a stream, Command Center brings session health, Doctor guidance, tuning, NovaHUD, input helpers, safe disconnect, and protected end-session actions into a controller-first drawer.
The new game-page and Play Setup captures come from the 1.4.14-beta.1 candidate, with exact source and image hashes in the screenshot manifest. The Command Center image remains a 1.4.9 reference. Earlier website images retain their original provenance manifest; a screenshot is not evidence that a beta has been published.
Choose Android or Nova Linux. Stable downloads use Latest; published betas appear separately under Releases.
- Install the public APK that matches the Android device.
- Open Hosts, discover or add the host, and pair.
- Open the Library, review a title, and launch.
- During play, open Command Center with Guide/Mode + Start/Menu. Guide/Mode + Y shows or cycles NovaHUD.
| Architecture | Direct download | Typical devices |
|---|---|---|
| ARM64 | Nova-Android-arm64-v8a.apk | Most current handhelds, phones and devices with ARM64 Android app support |
| ARMv7 | Nova-Android-armeabi-v7a.apk | 32-bit ARM Android devices, including Shield models with a 32-bit app ABI |
| x86_64 | Nova-Android-x86_64.apk | Android x86_64 devices and emulators |
Choose by the Android app ABI, not the processor name: a 64-bit CPU can
run a 32-bit Android build. Beta APKs use Nova-Beta-Android-<ABI>.apk and install
as Nova Beta beside stable, with separate app data.
Guides: Quick start · Updates and beta releases.
Download Nova-Linux-x86_64-alpha.flatpak and its checksum from the chosen
release, then install on Linux:
flatpak install --user ./Nova-Linux-x86_64-alpha.flatpak
flatpak run com.papi_ux.Nova --standaloneThe standard 1.4.14 bundle includes experimental SDR PyroWave. Selecting it runs a device check; Auto, H.264 and HEVC skip that check. Players using an older separate PyroWave bundle should follow the migration guide. Advice is a starting target, not a promise of sustainable network performance.
See the Linux client guide, installation and Steam Input guide, and compatibility roadmap. Steam is optional; the Steam Deck guide covers Game Mode. Steam Frame has a separate experimental ARM64 development route; the x86_64 download does not run on Frame.
Nova preserves Android 5.0 / API 21 support, though features and codec behavior depend on the device, Android build, decoder, controller mapping, network, and host. Android handhelds are the primary experience; Android TV and phones are supported with their own navigation constraints. Review the maintained Nova compatibility guide for current device, architecture, codec, HDR, sensor, and host notes.
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Spaces In Nova: open your assigned gaming Space and adjust its stream settings.
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Nova documentation · Play Setup · Quick start · Compatibility
Nova builds on the moonlight-android client lineage. Thanks to the Moonlight community for the foundation Nova grew from.
Nova is built and released by me, with assistance from tools such as OpenAI Codex, Claude, and local models.
I use those tools for documentation polish, release workflow cleanup, store-readiness checks, build/test triage, implementation review, and to compare approaches while debugging. They do not decide what Nova or Polaris are, what features ship, or what releases are published. I review, edit, build, test, and approve the changes before release, and I own the final engineering and trust-boundary decisions.
Contributions are welcome, especially focused fixes, UI polish, docs, translations, and careful feature work. Nova is still a small maintainer-led project, so the easiest pull requests to review are the ones that explain the problem clearly and keep the change scoped. See CONTRIBUTING for the full workflow.
Nova is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.