thehack904/RetroIPTVGuide v4.9.4

Release v4.9.4

on GitHub

v4.9.4 - 2026-04-25

Added

• Added deprecation warning for the Windows installer: the Windows installer (.bat / .ps1) will be discontinued in v5.0. Docker is the recommended deployment going forward.
  • Warning banner is displayed at startup in retroiptv_windows.bat.
  • Warning banner is displayed at startup in retroiptv_windows.ps1.
  • Deprecation notice added to the Windows Installation section of INSTALL.md.
  • Deprecation note added to ROADMAP.md under Installer Enhancements.
  • Deprecation notice shown on the About page when RetroIPTVGuide is running on Windows.
  • The About page now shows a Windows deprecation notice when running on Windows.
• Added structured wiki documentation under docs/wiki/:
  • Home.md — wiki landing page with navigation table
  • Installation.md — full installation guide covering Docker, Linux, Raspberry Pi, and Windows
  • Configuration.md — tuner setup, settings, environment variables, and data directory
  • Virtual-Channels.md — overview of all 9 built-in virtual channels with configuration details
  • FAQ.md — frequently asked questions
  • Troubleshooting.md — common problems and step-by-step fixes
• Updated README.md to link to the new wiki pages.
• Added Space Channel naming to replace NASA-facing labels.
• Added optional external sports data configuration:
  • External sports data is disabled by default.
  • Users must explicitly enable external sports data.
  • Users must provide their own compatible scores API base URL.
  • Added notice that RetroIPTVGuide does not provide sports data.
• Added weather channel segment rotation controls.
  • Current Conditions
  • 5-Day Forecast
  • Regional Radar
  • Severe Weather Alerts
• Added configurable weather segment duration.
• Added NOAA-style regional radar URL generation based on configured latitude/longitude.
• Added XMLTV program icon support for guide display.
• Added M3U group-title parsing for channel grouping.
• Added new guide theme styling:
  • Classic Cable-style theme rules
  • Icon/ErsatzTV-style guide theme rules

Changed

• Bumped application version from v4.9.3 to v4.9.4.
• Updated release date from 2026-04-08 to 2026-04-25.
• Renamed the virtual NASA channel display name to Space Channel.
• Updated NASA-facing preview text to Space Channel-facing text.
• Removed hardcoded ESPN scoreboard API behavior.
• Replaced ESPN-specific sports score fetching with a user-configured external JSON scores endpoint.
• Changed sports league defaults so leagues are no longer enabled by default.
• Changed external sports data behavior so no outside sports requests are made unless explicitly enabled.
• Changed virtual channel defaults from enabled by default to disabled by default.
• Changed default overlay refresh from 300 seconds to 30 seconds.
• Updated Updates / Announcements wording from “Beta” to “Pre-release”.
• Updated README documentation links to point to the new wiki documentation.
• Updated install documentation to better position Docker as the recommended long-term deployment method.
• Updated guide theme handling so server-side/admin-assigned default themes override local browser storage.
• Updated guide rendering to carry channel group metadata into the DOM.
• Updated program blocks to support optional XMLTV icon artwork.
• Updated Channel Mix fullscreen behavior to better sync the active sub-channel iframe while fullscreen is open.
• Updated Virtual Channels admin UI:
  • Shows disabled virtual channels differently due to default-disabled behavior.
  • Adds weather rotation details.
  • Adds sports external data opt-in controls.
  • Adds sports scores base URL input.
  • Starts icon pack details collapsed by default.
• Updated diagnostics/config reporting to include newer virtual-channel and sports/weather configuration fields.
• Updated Linux and Raspberry Pi installer scripts.
• Updated Windows installer scripts with deprecation notices.
• Updated CodeQL workflow configuration.
• Updated Unraid Docker documentation wording.

Fixed

• Fixed virtual channel enablement logic so missing settings no longer implicitly enable all virtual channels.
• Fixed sports channel behavior to avoid relying on a specific third-party API by default.
• Fixed weather virtual channel layout to support multi-screen rotation without overflowing.
• Fixed guide theme persistence so admin/user-selected defaults apply reliably.
• Fixed tuner validation behavior to allow single .m3u8 stream tuners without requiring an XML URL.
• Fixed tuner validation behavior around private/local M3U URLs.
• Fixed drag/reorder handling cleanup in the Virtual Channels admin page.
• Fixed additional test coverage around:
  • virtual channels
  • tuner validation
  • traffic demo behavior
  • admin diagnostics
  • app configuration diagnostics

Removed

• Removed default Plex and Tubi sample tuner entries.
• Removed ESPN-specific naming and API dependency from sports score handling.
• Removed public-facing NASA channel naming in favor of Space Channel naming.

Deprecated

• Deprecated the Windows installer path for future removal in v5.0.
• Docker is now the recommended deployment method going forward.