Ava 0.6.2 - Sweet Home

Ava 0.6.2 focuses on more direct control and dependable everyday operation. The floating browser gains a complete edge toolbox and Web Console; voice feedback, session termination, and volume synchronization can now be configured around the way each device is used; and Simple Clock, the media overlay, Sendspin, and the Mod Store all receive new capabilities.

This release also continues to strengthen the foundations introduced in 0.6.1, with fixes across VS Wake Word, Ava Fleet, app updates, Gecko engine installation, screen-off Bluetooth, and Echo Show compatibility.

Browser Sidebar and Web Console

The floating browser now has a configurable edge sidebar. Shortcuts for the Browser URL, Web Console, User Agent, userscripts, and cache cleanup can be added as needed, keeping common tools available without leaving the current dashboard.

The new Web Console runs JavaScript directly on the current page and displays its console output. This release also fixes the sidebar handle disappearing after a strong swipe, duplicate console entries causing crashes, and temporary Home Assistant authentication URLs overwriting the URL entity or exceeding its length limit.

Path: Ava Settings -> Web Browser -> Browser Sidebar

HTTP Page Boost

Enabling this feature requires Voice Channel to be turned off. AvaPro's built-in C++ echo cancellation, native microphone gain, intelligent noise reduction, and other voice-pipeline capabilities are therefore disabled at the same time. This mode is intended for pages that need direct microphone access, SIP calling integrations, or Home Assistant environments where HTTPS is not currently available.

The optional HTTP Page Boost lets plain HTTP pages use the microphone and other browser capabilities that normally require a secure context.

Ava provides those permissions through a local loopback channel while keeping the real page address in the Home Assistant URL entity. The internal 127.0.0.1 address is never written back to Home Assistant.

The feature is off by default, may require signing in to the page again, and is available only while Voice Channel is disabled.

Path: Ava Settings -> Web Browser -> HTTP Boost

Voice Feedback and Session Control

The wake ripple and screen-edge glow can now be enabled or disabled independently. Users with a custom assistant feedback implementation can turn off Ava's built-in effects so multiple animations do not overlap.

Thanks to @jancernik for requesting this in #128.

Path: Ava Settings -> Voice Config -> Voice feedback colors

Enabling End voice session manually automatically restarts the voice service and registers a Just stop button under Home Assistant Controls. Pressing it while Ava is listening, processing, or speaking immediately terminates the current session and prevents the remaining response from playing. It can also be used in automations as the opposite of Manual Wake.

Thanks to @jancernik for requesting this in #129.

Path: Ava Settings -> Voice Config -> Voice replies -> End voice session manually

Changing the wake-word model during an active conversation now ends the current Assist run before rebuilding the microphone pipeline. A cancelled session cannot play delayed TTS after the model change or restore processing state that has already ended. This protection applies when changing a wake word in Settings, selecting a model from the library, or changing wake-word configuration through Home Assistant.

Path: Ava Settings -> Voice Config -> Wake Word

Volume Follow Rules

Volume synchronization now provides three explicit, mutually exclusive modes:

• Independent: Device and Home Assistant volumes are adjusted separately. This is the default for new installations.
• Follow device: Changes made with the device volume keys are sent to Home Assistant.
• Follow Home Assistant: Volume changes in Home Assistant are applied to the device.

Only one follow direction can be active at a time, preventing the device and Home Assistant from repeatedly overriding each other. Existing users who enabled the previous volume-key synchronization option are migrated to Follow device.

The same setting is available on the device and in the Fleet console.

Path: Ava Settings -> Interaction -> Media Player -> Volume Follow Rule

Thanks to @jancernik for helping clarify the previous behavior in #127.

VS Wake Word Improvements

An incorrect post-conversation delay has been fixed. VS Wake Word now resumes detection as soon as the normal audio window has refilled instead of remaining unresponsive for an additional period.

Online model profiles have updated matching conditions for models including Alexa and Jarvis, and previously downloaded profiles are normalized automatically. ok_nabu and ok_stop also receive carefully limited cross-window matching, allowing recognition to complete when there is a brief pause inside the phrase.

Actual VS Wake Word performance still depends on the model, language and accent, microphone, gain, and device performance. Thanks to @meiser79 for continued testing and detailed logs in #116.

Simple Clock Status and Wallpaper

Simple Clock can now replace its date row with up to three Home Assistant entity states. Each slot has its own entity ID, display name, and icon, using Ava's existing MDI icon mapping.

Optional Home Assistant text entities allow automations to replace the entity assigned to any of the three slots without visiting the device. Status items are arranged horizontally in landscape and vertically in portrait, while the clock, weather, and status areas adapt their size and position to the available space.

This release also adds Pixel Shift, which slightly moves the complete clock, weather, and entity-status layer every 45 seconds to reduce burn-in from static content. Network wallpapers are cached on disk so a cold start or temporary network outage can show the last successful image before refreshing it in the background. The wallpaper editor can clear the current URL and restore the default black background; confirming that change also removes the old wallpaper cache.

Thanks to @pantherale0 for suggesting whole-clock movement and further burn-in protection in #138.

Thanks to @odwulf for reporting that the Simple Clock background could not be reset conveniently in #139.

Path: Ava Settings -> Interaction -> Information & Scenes -> Simple Clock -> Appearance & Status

Biometric Authentication for Secure Actions

The new Biometric Auth 1.0.5 Mod lets Home Assistant request fingerprint or biometric verification on an Ava device, adding on-device identity confirmation to door locks, access control, and sensitive automations.

When Home Assistant presses Authenticate, Ava displays the system biometric prompt. After a successful scan, binary_sensor.authenticated turns on briefly for the configured duration so an automation can unlock a door or perform another protected action. Diagnostic entities also report whether biometrics are available and whether the prompt is currently active.

If no fingerprint has been enrolled, the Mod opens Android's real system enrollment flow, checks again when the user returns to Ava, and then continues authentication. Android 9 and newer use the system BiometricPrompt, while Android 6 through 8 use a compatible FingerprintManager path. Fingerprint templates remain under the control of Android's secure hardware and TEE; Ava receives only success or failure and never reads or stores biometric data.

The prompt title, subtitle, cancel-button text, and authenticated-state hold duration can all be configured.

Thanks to @TWINKLY09 for requesting device biometric protection for secure Home Assistant actions in #137.

Path: Mod Store -> Features -> Biometric Auth

Mod Store Offline Import and Loading Improvements

The Mod Store has been reorganized into three pages: Catalog, Manage, and Updates. Installed mods are loaded from the local registry first, while online catalog refresh now has its own loading state. Even when a device is offline, the network is slow, or the store is temporarily unavailable, users can immediately open Manage and enable, disable, or configure their existing mods.

In Chinese-language environments, catalog refresh tries several GitHub mirror routes concurrently and selects the first successful connection. Subsequent mod downloads reuse that route, fail over through the other mirrors if necessary, and finally fall back to GitHub directly. This reduces long waits at the loading state and interrupted downloads.

The Manage page now includes Import mod, which installs or updates a Mod from a local ZIP without requiring any network connection. The importer locates and validates manifest.json and every file declared in its libs list, accepting packages whose contents are either at the ZIP root or inside one top-level folder. Importing the same ID again replaces the existing module files while preserving its enabled state and configuration, then continues through the normal permission check and voice-service restart flow.

Local import and the online store are independent paths: importing never reads store.json and is not blocked when the online catalog fails to load. Locally imported Mods remain independently managed and are not taken over by automatic store updates. Store metadata is used only for online browsing, downloads, and update comparisons for store-installed Mods. Ava's built-in Mod Store guide now also includes the complete package layout, ZIP creation, and import procedure.

Thanks to @deergitseason for reporting that offline devices could not update Mods and that installed-module controls remained unavailable while the store waited for a network response in #133.

Path: Ava Settings -> Advanced -> Mod Store -> Manage

Sendspin Discovery and Connection Recovery

Sendspin's local-network discovery flow has been strengthened. Ava holds the required MulticastLock while advertising or discovering, re-registers services after network changes, and retries failed registrations with backoff.

The default path still allows Music Assistant to connect to Ava. If no incoming connection arrives after a period of time, Ava silently browses for _sendspin-server._tcp and attempts an outbound connection. A failed or timed-out handshake returns to the original advertising and waiting flow without adding another setting.

These changes improve cases where the service is enabled but Music Assistant cannot reliably discover the player on certain routers, customized Android systems, and Echo devices.

Thanks to @Wex005 for reporting Sendspin discovery and multi-device synchronization problems on Echo / LineageOS devices in Discussion #131.

Media Overlay Pause Behavior

The Home Assistant media player and Sendspin now share the same pause behavior. About 10 seconds after playback is paused, an expanded mini player collapses into its floating button; if playback remains paused, it is then hidden temporarily. When the mini player is disabled, the full overlay hides after the same initial delay.

Repeated paused states no longer keep resetting the timer. Resuming playback immediately cancels the hide task and restores the previous title, artwork, progress, and floating-button position. Fade transitions now run on the Compose drawing layer, improving reliability on vendor systems where View alpha animations were inconsistent.

Ava Fleet

The Fleet management console receives another usability and long-running reliability pass:

• Settings navigation now follows Ava's on-device structure more closely.
• Mods can be browsed and installed directly from Fleet.
• Application and file caches remain available while switching pages.
• File and APK downloads carry the required access token.
• Device lists, pagination, loading states, and phone layouts are more compact.
• Release obfuscation no longer corrupts settings field data.
• Shizuku and scrcpy control paths are preserved correctly in release builds.
• Interrupted ADB screenshot reads no longer crash the entire Ava process.

ADB Host is no longer bundled directly in the APK. It is downloaded on demand and verified with SHA-256 when Fleet first needs it. First use requires a network connection, and execution still depends on the device allowing a native program for the corresponding architecture.

Updates and Regional Download Routes

The in-app updater now treats version.json as the single source of truth for version and artifact information.

Older files without a sha256 field continue to work and compare versionCode only. When a publisher SHA-256 is available, Ava verifies the download and can identify a rebuilt APK published under the same version number. Ava no longer compares GitHub assets directly with device-side APK bytes, preventing repeated false update notifications.

Version checks, release notes, Gecko engine packages, scene data, and the Fleet ADB component now select download routes by interface language. Chinese and Russian environments prefer the GitHub mirror with direct fallback; other languages prefer GitHub directly.

Gecko Engine Installation and Crash Fixes

Fixed an issue where Ava sometimes required the standalone Gecko engine package to be installed a second time before it was detected. The install task now keeps the APK and complete state until Android PackageManager confirms that the engine package is visible. While the system installer is still pending, Ava no longer deletes the file early, reopens the installer, or treats the same APK as a new installation task.

Show, hide, and refresh commands between the main application and Gecko package are now coalesced over short intervals. GeckoView initialization is no longer interrupted by continuous SHOW/HIDE state feedback, and recovery after an unexpected package exit now uses backoff. This fixes libxul.so crashes and restart loops triggered by command storms.

The engine settings page also gains install-progress recovery, update checks, and uninstall controls. Android 11 and newer can reliably detect the standalone engine package, while rooted or Shizuku-enabled Android 7 devices can automatically apply the compatibility settings required for the Gecko overlay.

Thanks to @meiser79 for installation and crash feedback in #135.

Screen-Off Bluetooth Fix

Fixed Presence Detection stopping after the screen turns off on some Samsung devices and customized Android ROMs.

Ava builds directed scan filters from tracked MAC addresses, manufacturer IDs, and service UUIDs so Android does not suspend an unfiltered BLE scan while the device is locked. If scanning stalls, Ava restarts the scan path according to device capabilities and coordinates Bluetooth resources between Presence Detection, the Home Assistant Bluetooth Gateway, and the BLE proxy.

Presence Detection and the Home Assistant Bluetooth Gateway remain separate systems. Disabling the corresponding feature or the Bluetooth master switch cleans up its scan, advertising, and proxy resources independently.

Thanks to @ET1963 for testing and feedback in #122.

Echo Show Support 1.1.8

Echo Show Support 1.1.8 expands Echo Show hardware detection, BLE proxy recovery, and ROM compatibility repair.

The Mod now strictly identifies Crown, Checkers, Cronos, and Rook, enabling capabilities according to the actual hardware. Crown devices can perform cooldown-limited GATT recovery after proxy scan registration failures, while each model is prevented from inheriting MT76x8, ambient-light sensor, advertising-suppression, or Bluetooth handover behavior that does not belong to it.

On supported rooted devices, the Mod checks whether the ROM declares android.hardware.bluetooth_le. If both the system feature declaration and the standard permission XML are missing, it can stage and validate the standard AOSP declaration, restore the read-only mount state, and request a reboot. Existing permission files are never replaced; when hardware identifiers are unknown or conflicting, the repair path stops safely and leaves only diagnostics available.

BLE proxy handover still releases conflicting advertising resources first, gives the controller time to settle, and recovers the Android Bluetooth service after registration failures. The process does not inject HCI commands or compete with the vendor Bluetooth HAL.

Thanks to @meiser79 for reporting the issue and helping identify the missing ROM declaration in #130.

Path: Mod Store -> Devices -> Echo Show Support

Interface and Translation Details

Settings text, the browser-overlay back button, and home-screen status text now improve readability according to the physical size of a large display. Phones with a shortest edge below 600dp retain their previous sizing so tablet adjustments do not enlarge ordinary phone interfaces.

Duplicate or inaccurate setting names in German, Russian, and Vietnamese have been corrected, including Restart Service versus Reboot Device, Storage versus Memory, Snapshot versus Display Snapshot, Screensaver versus Screensaver Display, person and motion wake controls, and Mod Store refresh and update actions. Matching copy used by Fleet has been synchronized as well.

Thanks to @meiser79 for reporting duplicate button and setting names in #134.

Ava 0.6.2 makes the multi-device, browser, voice, and Bluetooth foundations introduced in 0.6.1 better suited to long-running daily use. Common controls stay closer to the task at hand, background connections have clearer recovery paths, both online and offline installation flows recognize their final state correctly, and Simple Clock and the media overlay feel more at home on a smart display that remains on the wall every day.