Decided to split this out into a separate thread.
Change log
2024-07-03 [v5.21.1]
- return of the auto close feature for video/music OSDs – see skin settings category: Player
- fanart pack support for weather app – see skin settings category: General
- ColorPicker support
- removed embedded mini player from PVRTimers/PVRSearch and increased row count in list containers
- show movie set meta info in mediainfo1 & mediainfo2 views
- mediainfo2 speedup
- music visualization beautification
- fix Now Playing movie/epg artwork
- shrink am/pm indicator for system clock
- visual tweaks too numerous to document
2024-05-30 [v5.21.0]
- omega release
2023-01-31 [v5.20.0]
- nexus release
- plot displayed for movie sets where applicable
- skin for global search add-on
- remove support for MIA skin.backup and skin.helper add-ons
2023-01-31[v5.19.1]
- improved seekbar
- plot displayed for movie set where applicable
- skin for global search add-on
- remove support for MIA skin.backup and skin.helper add-ons
2020-04-17 [v5.19.0]
- matrix release
2020-10-06 [v5.4.11]
- video player seekbar now properly displays step-size/position when seeking using directional buttons
- hide time/temp while screensaver is active
2020-04-12 [v5.4.10]
- movie director is searchable in video info dialog
- proper skin for pvr channel guide that somehow slipped thru the cracks
- new skin settings category:icons for hiding various UI elements
- add ‘Play program’ button to pvr info dialog
- improved add-on browser
- add Auto-update and Dependencies buttons to add-on info dialog
- new sideblade menu option ‘Choose art’ allows custom wallpapers for embedded players (pvr channels/recordings views)
- cleaner options menus resize on the fly rather than include disabled (grayed out) entries
- add watched/unwatched progress overlays for icons and big icons views
- add 4K badge for list-type media views
- add option to animate fanart background in fullscreen music player
2020-01-30 [v5.4.9]
- reskinned video info dialog w/respect to actors
- new weather widget – see skin settings category: General
- added icons for 480p, 540p, 576p & 4K media
- improved player status textures for seekbar
- added volume icon to seekbar
- file manager path fix
- enable HD icons for fanart 1 & 2 media views
- numerous bug fixes and UI tweaks
2019-10-15 [v5.4.8]
- new skin setting to mute now-playing background video – category: player
- fix thumb placement for music videos in media info view
- added volume muted indicator to the right of the system clock
- improved volume dialog
- added elapsed/duration time display for music now-playing shelf
- “Use extened info bar for OSD” skin setting now applies to seekbar when video playback is paused
2019-04-01 [v5.4.7]
- fanart slideshow for homepage
- enable icon view for music/artists
- added KodiTV MultiPass support
2019-02-17 [v5.4.6]
- filter/search support
- improved video info window
- surface libreELEC config add-on in settings
- improved navigation for settings dialog
- dismiss ext info bar on video OSD exit
- reduced footprint for slider dialog
2019-01-24 [v5.4.5]
- game support
2018-12-07 [v5.4.4]
- bump xbmc.gui version to 5.14.0
2018-10-30 [v5.4.3]
- fixed UI glitch induced by v5.4.2
2018-10-25 [v5.4.2]
- improved textures for angular theme
- added random option for populating movie shelf
- added PVR fullscreen HUD for 0-9 direct channel input
- improved autosizing of context menus w/scroll indicators for large lists
- bug fixes
2018-08-24 [v5.4.1]
- new skin theme – angular
- improved scrolling animation for add-on browser
- fixed ‘In progress’ link for TV shows sub-menu on home screen
- language files cleanup
2018-08-08 [v5.4.0]
- leia release
2018-08-02
- new skin setting – category: Homepage
2018-07-31
- playlist window gets improved handling of mixed media and background video/fanart support
- added default icon for music sources
2018-07-29
- removed deprecated audio codec option from music OSD menu
2018-07-28
- added rudimentary progress indicator to TCM wrapper
- minor cosmetic changes to mypvrchannels window
2018-07-18
- options menus go on a diet to match context menus
- improved handling of video player covers and tv logos for video info OSD and now playing shelf
- fixed display of live tv program end time in video info OSD
- fixed truncation of 3 digit temps in weather app
- fixed truncation of plot/synopsis in media info and media info 2 views
2018-07-14
- video bookmarks window get a new look
- fixed a couple menus ignoring the no animation setting
2018-07-12
- added poster image and ‘show fanart’ button to video info window
- improved animation for large lists
- improved handling of fanart on home screen
- numerous/minor cosmetic improvements
2018-07-10
- added recently recorded option for auto-populating tv/pvr media shelf
- new skin setting to select recently watched or recently recorded for tv media shelf – see Settings>Skin>Homepage/Home media shelf customizer
2018-07-08
- added episode thumbnail option for populating tv shows media shelf
- new skin setting to choose thumbnails or posters for tv shows shelf – see Settings>Skin>Homepage/Home media shelf customizer
- added category icons for initial settings window
2018-07-07
- PVR (not just live tv) is now fully supported
2018-06-30
- new advanced skin setting for slower hardware – see FAQ
2018-06-26
- added background video capability to the skin
- new skin setting to disable video playing in the background – category: Player
2018-06-25
- improved PVRrecordings window
- bug fixes
2018-06-20
- port related bug fixes for music playlist editor and smart playlist editor
2018-06-18
- Settings>System information window gets a complete makeover
- added support for RSS ticker w/skinsettings level control – category: Homepage
- added two new skin fonts
- clock is now overlayed for consistent presentation throughout the skin
- improved consistency of window headers
- epg genre tweaks
2018-06-16
- new skin settings – category:Menus
- autoscroll and scrollbar settings now default to active
- improved layout for dialog confirm
- fixed issue with kiosk setting being ignored
- epg tweaks
2018-06-12
- added Fanart 1 & 2 views from Quartz 4
- new skin setting category to disable unused views – this can improve UI performance on low power devices
2018-06-10
- added 4 new skin settings – category: Player
2018-06-08
- EPG mark 3
- fixed issue with subtitle call from OSD menu
2018-06-06
- new skin setting to select recently added or recently played for populating the music shelf – see Settings>Skin>Homepage>Home media shelf customizer
- added auto scroll for plot in live tv channels view
2018-06-04
- enhancements to EPG
- increased movie/tvshow media shelf item limit to 14
2018-06-01
- added TCM utility – see comment above
2018-05-31
- improved live tv channel switching
- added support for channel switch preview
- added proper player caching indicator to fullscreen video player
- fixed conditional visibility issue when summoning video codec from OSD menu
2018-05-30
- fixed issue with the PVR sideblade menu deploying when it shouldn’t
2018-05-29
- reorganized skin settings categories to make way for new features
- new skin setting to hide Live TV link on homepage
2018-05-28
- improved scrolling animation for live TV channel list
2018-05-18
- added watched content indicators per user request
- watched and unwatched/progress indicators are now off by default
- added dynamic sort letter badge for scrolling in movie/music views – on demand page control (right arrow) is unaffected by this change
- added a slew of default icons appropriated from Estuary
- improved DialogVideoInfo with respect to actors/roles and default thumbs
- port related bug fixes
2018-05-10
- new skin setting to play music fullscreen
- fullscreen music player now defaults to showing fanart
- new skin setting to hide fanart in fullscreen music player
2018-08-015
- new skin theme – Angular
2018-08-06
- reskinned video bookmarks backported from leia
2018-05-19
- shortened animation time for Media info 2 view
- moved all/watched/unwatched toggle to the top of the movies option menu
- reorganized skin settings categories to make way for new features – coming soon
2018-05-17
- added watched content indicators per user request
- watched and unwatched/progress indicators are now off by default
2018-05-16
- default icons phase 2 – more granular control delivering improved icon diversity
- added dynamic sort letter badge for scrolling in movie/music views – on demand page control (right arrow) is unaffected by this change
2018-05-13
- added a slew of default icons appropriated from Estuary – hope this change is well received
2018-05-11
- improved DialogVideoInfo with respect to actors/roles and default thumbs
2018-05-09
- improved wrapper for TCM
- Spinal Tap inspired option for ‘Background art visibility’ setting
2018-05-07
- added TCM utility to skin archive and advanced settings – see comment above
- OSD transparency setting applies to seekbar now as well
2018-05-03
- new skin setting to play music fullscreen
- fullscreen music player now defaults to showing fanart
- new skin setting to hide fanart in fullscreen music player
- improvements to main settings screen
2018-04-23
- added a couple more notches to menu transparency settings and made the defaults less aggressive
- transparency settings now apply to side-blade menus as well
2018-04-21
- complete overhaul of Q5CE menus – see comment above for details
- added skin for CU LRC Lyrics
- music OSD gets new control textures
2018-04-15
- improvements to music info dialog
- added user rating to music visualizer – keyboard shortcut ‘PageUp’ ‘PageDown’
- focused video player control now tints to selected skin color rather than hard-coded orange
- music player OSD gets the same treatment
2018-04-13
- skin archive now contains packed textures for improved render performance
- fixed issue with PVR not correctly displaying subchannel numbers
2018-04-11
- video bookmarks functionality restored
- added video info to options OSD menu
- fixed conditional visibility issues across OSD components
- reskinned codec OSD to shrink footprint and segregate PVR/Player info into tabs
2018-04-08
- fixed display issue with DialogSlider – keyboard shortcut ‘a’
- added new skin colors
- added custom home background art feature – experimental
2018-04-06
- fixed missing metadata in add-on browser/info views
- codec info is now available during full screen video playback – keyboard shortcut ‘o’
2018-04-05
- skin settings gets a new look, additional options and categories with which to organize them
- event log viewer fixes
2018-03-28
- improvements to full screen OSD
- improvements to video info OSD
- improvements to progress dialog
2018-03-27
- port related bug fixes
- complete overhaul of the music playlist editor
- cosmetic changes to smart playlist editor
- channel group switching for DialogPVRChannelsOSD
2018-03-24
- port related bug fixes
- improvements to weather
- removed Last FM button from music info views
- propagated configurable fanart transparency to all views
- cosmetic change to numeric keypad
- DialogPVRChannelsOSD altered for visual continuity