Ava v0.2.9 Release Notes
New Features
AI Sphere Interface – Brand-new visual voice assistant interface. Go to Settings, swipe down to find "Floating Subtitle Window" to enable the AI Sphere. Features intelligent animated expressions (idle, listening, processing, responding) with blinking, floating, and breathing glow effects. Initial release with one week of stability tuning for text-voice synchronization. Minor text delay may occur in English environments; other languages are fully optimized. More features coming soon.
External Control API – Complete broadcast control interface for external app integration (requested by @koshisan in #13). Supported actions:
com.example.ava.ACTION_START_SERVICE– Start Ava servicecom.example.ava.ACTION_STOP_SERVICE– Stop Ava servicecom.example.ava.ACTION_TOGGLE_MIC– Toggle mic mutecom.example.ava.ACTION_MUTE_MIC– Mute microphonecom.example.ava.ACTION_UNMUTE_MIC– Unmute microphonecom.example.ava.ACTION_WAKE– Manual wakecom.example.ava.ACTION_STOP– Stop current session
Usage: adb shell am broadcast -a com.example.ava.ACTION_START_SERVICE or via Tasker/Button Mapper/MacroDroid. Docs: https://github.com/knoop7/Ava/blob/master/docs/EXTERNAL_CONTROL.md
STT/TTS Text Sensor Entities – Exposes speech-to-text and text-to-speech content as Home Assistant sensor entities (requested by @daydy16 in #17). Available in Sensors category, enabled by default for automation use.
Bermuda Integration Support – Optimized Bluetooth proxy module for seamless Bermuda integration (requested by @daydy16 in #18). Resolves disconnections and scanner "dead" status issues.
Improvements
Bluetooth Proxy Stability – Refactored BLE advertisement logic to eliminate warning triangles followed by dead icons in Bermuda. Continuous stable operation achieved.
Power Management Optimization – Intelligent power management dynamically adjusts BLE scan frequency and processing priority based on device state, significantly reducing battery consumption without performance loss.
Browser - Special thanks to @lenne0815 for the feedback and for introducing me to this project. I have provided dedicated support for this, with specific optimizations for Immich-kiosk detection. Fixed issues occurring after multiple switches between Browser (HA Dashboard) and Screensaver (Immich-kiosk), including screensaver loading failures and browser view freezing. Browser and screensaver switching now runs stably without loading failures or freezing issues.
Bluetooth Range Enhancement – Expanded effective distance range options for improved location accuracy and reliability.
Media Resume Fix – Fixed media playback not resuming after voice assistant response (reported by @danwig in #14). Media player now auto-resumes post-session.
Karaoke Text Synchronization – Optimized character-weighted sentence switching algorithm (Chinese chars weight: 1, English chars weight: 2) for tighter text-to-speech alignment in AI Sphere interface.
Sphere Breathing Glow Effect – Added subtle 4-second breathing glow animation with transparency and scale shifts, plus soft blur effects for natural visual experience.
Gradient Overlay Optimization – Fine-tuned bottom gradient mask opacity for different screen types (portrait/landscape phones, tablets, TVs, square displays). Landscape and tablet modes now feature narrower, lighter gradients reducing content obstruction.
TTS Sentence Switching Fix – Resolved incorrect sentence transitions during TTS playback caused by premature RUN_END event clearing callbacks.
Camera Optimization – Adjustments for Samsung Tab A8 camera black screen issue (reported by @Psix-anp in #19). Root cause investigation ongoing; feedback requested from reporter.