Ava 0.7.0 - COMPASS
A compass does not choose the destination; it offers direction when the way is unfamiliar. Version 0.7.0 still puts offline use and safety first, keeping everyday abilities on the device or local network wherever possible, then pointing different rooms, screens, and speakers in the same direction.
5.4 Synchronized Multi-Home Surround, fully connected
Version 0.7.0 officially completes Ava 5.4 Synchronized Multi-Home Surround. This is more than making several speakers play at once. Ava devices across the living room, kitchen, bedroom, and study become one coherent sound field: walk through the home and the beat does not split, the melody does not break, and music spreads naturally through the space instead of every device performing on its own.
Sync delay, automatic calibration, five-band equalizer, and lyric tuning now run end to end across the controlling and playing devices. Any Ava in front of you can read the real state of another group member and have that device apply the change. Timing can be moved precisely, everyday drift is continually gathered back in, and groups of three or more align each room separately so one late device cannot pull the whole field away. Older hardware without a precise playback clock can still approach the group conservatively.
Every room can keep its own character. Top Surround (AVA) opens the stage across the living room, while News broadcast (AVA) brings speech forward beside the bed, with five-band tuning retained per Ava. Lyrics are fully joined to multi-home playback as well: Offset returns words to the singer's entrance, while Follow controls how the next line moves with the performance. Local and remote devices can be tuned independently until sound, lyrics, and space arrive at the same moment.
This control belongs to Ava. Both the controlling and playing ends need the current Ava version, so ordinary Music Assistant players never show controls they cannot execute. An Ava is no longer only a screen or player; it is both a control center and a sound-field node for the entire multi-home music system.
Ava's Music Assistant Sendspin support was rebuilt step by step in C++. The music console searches tracks, albums, and playlists, including by microphone. Play something immediately or add it to Up Next, reorder a long queue, locate the current track, and continue with similar music. The complete console works on landscape, portrait, and square screens. Joining a group halfway through a song now brings artwork, title, artist, and progress across immediately. Changing groups clears the old pairing, while pause, previous, and next recover after a brief reconnection.
Path: Play music → open the full-screen player → Open MA. Search under Library, manage the queue under Up Next, then open Sync and select this device or another Ava for sync delay, automatic calibration, five-band EQ, and lyric tuning.
A fitting volume for every reply
Thank you to @realroywalker for pointing out a very ordinary problem: a reply that sounds right during the day can be too loud beside the bed, while loud music can make it hard to hear. TTS now has a target volume. Ava temporarily moves to that level while speaking, then returns to the previous media volume. Pressing a volume key during the reply only remembers where to return afterward, so a sentence does not suddenly jump in loudness.
Settings places system and TTS volume together for comparison. TTS volume can optionally appear in Home Assistant, making replies quieter late at night and normal again during the day. Changes made while Ava is speaking take effect immediately.
Path: Settings → Voice Config → Voice replies → Audio. Enable Show in Home Assistant on the same page when automations are needed.
No separate caretaker needed
Thank you to @mohammednafeel for sharing everyday use of Ava as the default home screen. Settings now includes Place all app icons and Clear desktop icons. Placement continues onto the next page when the current one is full; clearing removes icons while leaving widgets where they are. Holding the desktop also opens icon-size adjustment, with a live preview of how many icons fit in each row. Music, network, service, theme, and Home Assistant sensors can all become widgets, with text and spacing rearranged at smaller sizes.
Path: Settings → Device Service → Show other app icons for placement and clearing. Hold an empty part of the desktop → Icon size to resize icons. Hold the desktop → Widgets to place and resize widgets.
Sidebar items can now be reordered and renamed in words that make sense at home; leaving a name blank restores its default. A Restart and exit shortcut has also been added. If Ava is stuck on the desktop, or simply needs to be closed for another use, the controls no longer require a trip through several settings pages. Restart closes and opens Ava again, Exit closes only Ava, and Pin to wall keeps the current screen in place to reduce accidental escapes. Restart and Exit are also available as desktop action widgets and require a second tap to prevent accidents.
Path: Settings → Device Service → Sidebar settings to reorder, rename, and enable Restart and exit. Device controls are under Settings → Device Service → Restart and exit Ava; privileged devices show the corresponding console name. Desktop actions are under hold desktop → Widgets → Ava.
A wall-mounted Ava now looks after more of its own recovery. Crash self-healing can return it to the foreground after an unexpected process exit, while a confirmed screen stall starts an internal rescue. Two rescues within ten minutes stop further restarts, preventing a recovery loop. The latest 20 incident clues stay on the device. After Wi-Fi or Home Assistant returns, an expired connection is cleared and the replacement sends state again without a manual service restart. The bundled Ava Pro firmware package is updated to 2026.09.1.
Path: Settings → Device Service → Auto restart → Crash self-healing. The watchdog and latest 20 records are under Settings → Device Service → Abnormal end records. Home Assistant reconnection recovery is automatic and has no switch.
Fixes and thanks
Thank you to @deergitseason for reporting Music Assistant lyrics missing from the full-screen player, and to @waveriderai for reporting wake-word loss after touching the dashboard. Both are fixed. More than 30 further fixes cover TTS start timing and cleanup, other memory leaks, thread safety, Sendspin port recovery after a service restart, playback-control reconnection, lyrics on older Android versions, the square-screen player, desktop refresh, multi-device discovery, and exceptional-state recovery. Voice music search also removes stray sentence periods added by recognition, and the return bar no longer flickers occasionally.
