📦 UPDATE 3.0.0.17 (BETA)

⚡ Core / lifecycle

• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.WaterMediaAPI abstract base class — every top-level API now inherits name(), load(WaterMedia), start(WaterMedia), release(WaterMedia) plus boot-progress fields step/steps/stepName for loading screens
• ⚙️ Added: WaterMedia#steps(), step(), currentAPI(), totalWorkSteps(), completedWorkSteps() to surface boot progress
• ⚙️ Changed: APIs are now registered as WaterMediaAPI instances (CodecsAPI → PlatformAPI → MediaAPI → NetworkAPI), each driven through load() + start() with per-API try/catch
• ⚙️ Changed: WaterMedia#start(name, ...) now rejects blank names (IllegalArgumentException)
• ⚙️ Changed: WaterMediaConfig.Decoders#defaultQuality retyped from MRL.Quality to org.watermedia.api.util.MediaQuality

⚡ CodecsAPI

• ⚙️ Added: ImageReader — new abstract pull-based per-frame decoder (Closeable) with width/height/pixelFormat/planeCount/plane/planeStride/scan/loopCount/frameCount/duration/delays/averageFps/variableFrameRate/metadata/readAll/hasNext/next
• ⚙️ Added: ImageWriter — streaming frame encoder skeleton (writeFrame(ByteBuffer), writeFrame(ByteBuffer, long))
• ⚙️ Added: ImageMetadata — normalized metadata bag with typed accessors (title, description, authors, copyright, comments, creationTime, software, source) and free-form map
• ⚙️ Added: PNG_METAKEY_*, GIF_METAKEY_*, WEBP_METAKEY_* metadata key constants on CodecsAPI
• ⚙️ Added: ImageData.Scan record (frameCount, delays, duration, loopCount) with Scan.EMPTY constant
• ⚙️ Added: UnsupportedFormatException extends XCodecException
• ⚙️ Added: CodecsAPI#getMediaType(InputStream) — byte-signature sniffer returning a MediaType (resolves ambiguous application/octet-stream responses)
• ⚙️ Changed: CodecsAPI#decodeImage(byte[]|ByteBuffer) now declares throws IOException and returns an ImageReader. New overloads decodeImage(ByteBuffer|byte[], PixelFormat requestedFormat). Unknown magic throws UnsupportedFormatException (was returning null)
• ⚙️ Removed: pluggable decoder registry — CodecsAPI#register(ImageCodec), the IMAGE_CODECS list and the org.watermedia.api.codecs.ImageCodec abstract base (superseded by ImageReader)

⚡ MediaAPI

• ⚙️ Added: MediaAPI#getMRL(URI), MediaAPI#createPlayer(MRL, [int sourceIndex,] Supplier<GFXEngine>, Supplier<SFXEngine>) — player factory now lives on MediaAPI (was on MRL)
• ⚙️ Added: MRL#reloadAll(), MRL#subscribe(Consumer<MRL>) (fires once and drops), MRL#hasError(), MRL#exception(), MRL#forgotten(), MRL#blocked() (true when gated by mature-content)
• ⚙️ Added: MRL.Source#qualityOf(URI) and a new MRL.SlaveEntry(name, lang, uri) record
• ⚙️ Added: MediaPlayer.NO_SOURCE constant
• ⚙️ Changed: MRL#get(URI) renamed to MRL#getMRL(URI); MRL#preload(URI...) now returns MRL[]
• ⚙️ Changed: MRL#sources() / MRL#sourcesByType(MediaType) return List<Source> (was Source[])
• ⚙️ Changed: MRL.Source rewritten as record (MediaType type, URI thumbnail, Metadata metadata, RequestHeaders headers, EnumMap<MediaQuality,URI> qualities, List<SlaveEntry> audioSlaves, List<SlaveEntry> subSlaves); non-empty qualities invariant enforced
• ⚙️ Changed: MediaPlayer constructor now takes (MRL, int sourceIndex, GFXEngine, SFXEngine) instead of a resolved Source
• ⚙️ Changed: MediaPlayer#quality(MediaQuality) / quality() retyped from MRL.Quality to MediaQuality
• ⚙️ Changed: MediaPlayer#audioSource() returns NO_SOURCE (was NO_TEXTURE)
• ⚙️ Removed (from MRL): invalidate(URI), clearCache(), cacheSize(), error(), busy(), createPlayer(...), createThumbnailPlayer(...), sourceBuilder(...), SourceBuilder, Source.withQuality/reassignQuality/withSlave/withMetadata/slaveByLanguage
• ⚙️ Removed (from MediaAPI): registerPlatform(...) overloads and the internal PLATFORMS list (moved to new PlatformAPI)
• ⚙️ Relocated: MRL.MediaType → api.util.MediaType; MRL.Quality → api.util.MediaQuality; MRL.Metadata → api.util.Metadata
• ⚙️ Added: optional fast-path on GFXEngine — supportsFrameTextures(), uploadFrameTextures(ByteBuffer[] frames, int stride), useFrameTexture(int)
• ⚙️ Added: GLEngine.Builder accepts four extra GL function consumers — activeTexture, bindVertexArray, bindFrameBuffer, bindBuffer — so a host can intercept GL state
• ⚙️ Removed: GFXEngine.ColorSpace inner enum — replaced by top-level org.watermedia.api.util.PixelFormat
• ⚙️ Changed: colorSpace parameters/fields renamed pixelFormat across GFXEngine/GLEngine/FFMediaPlayer
• ⚙️ Fixed typo: MediaPlayer#foward() → forward() (also in ServerMediaPlayer, FFMediaPlayer, TxMediaPlayer)

⚡ [NEW] PlatformsAPI (api/platform/ package)

• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.platform.PlatformAPI extends WaterMediaAPI — registry with static PlatformData fetch(URI), static void register(IPlatform); iteration is reverse-registration so apps can override built-ins
• ⚙️ Added: IPlatform (new contract — name(), validate(URI), PlatformData getData(URI)), PlatformData(Instant expires, DataSource... entries), DataSource(MediaType, URI thumbnail, Metadata, RequestHeaders, DataQuality[], List<DataSlave> audioSlaves, List<DataSlave> subSlaves), DataQuality(URI, int width, int height), DataSlave(name, lang, uri)
• ⚙️ Added: internal.WaterPlatform — handles water://local/remote/global URIs (constants HOST_LOCAL/REMOTE/GLOBAL, GLOBAL_SERVER, toHttpURL(URI))
• ⚙️ Relocated: BiliBiliPlatform, ImgurPlatform, KickPlatform, PornHubPlatform, TwitterPlatform moved from api/media/platform/ to api/platform/web/ and migrated to the new PlatformData/DataSource/DataQuality shape
• ⚙️ Removed: api/media/platform/DefaultPlatform, the old api/media/platform/IPlatform, and the old api/media/platform/{Lightshot,Streamable,Twitch,Youtube}Platform
• ⚙️ Removed: YoutubePlatform (no replacement in this beta)

⚡ NetworkAPI

• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.util.NetRequest — builder-style HTTP/FTP/file:// client (create(URI|String), Builder.method/accept/contentType/referer/userAgent/header/addHeader/body/connectTimeout/readTimeout/maxRedirects/headers/send; uri(), statusCode(), contentType(), contentLength(), header(), requestHeaders(), responseHeaders(), getInputStream(), getInputStream(Function), readAllAsString(), json(), json(Class), UserAgent enum, installExtraMimeTypes())
• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.util.RequestHeaders — insertion-ordered case-insensitive multi-value header bag (set/add/get/getAll/has/removeAll/entries/iterator/toRawString, defaults(URI) factory; FFmpeg-ready blob via toRawString())
• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.util.MediaQuality enum (UNKNOWN, Q144P/LOWEST…Q8K) with of(int), of(int,int), higher(), lower(), closest(Set, MediaQuality)
• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.util.MediaType enum (IMAGE/VIDEO/AUDIO/SUBTITLES/UNKNOWN) with of(String mimeType) and ofExtension(String)
• ⚙️ Added: org.watermedia.api.util.Metadata record (title, desc, Instant postedAt, long duration, author)
• ⚙️ Added: HlsTool#fetch(URI, String userAgent) overload (internals migrated from HttpClient to NetRequest)
• ⚙️ Changed: NetworkAPI now extends WaterMediaAPI; start(WaterMedia) becomes an instance override; reports two boot steps (MIME registry, FileServer); also installs MIME mappings (webp, apng, mkv, opus, m3u8, mpd, vtt, NETPBM, …) into URLConnection.getFileNameMap()
• ⚙️ Changed: NetworkAPI#upload(...) return type is now NetworkServer.UploadStatus (was top-level UploadStatus)
• ⚙️ Removed (from NetworkAPI): parseQuery(String), waterURL(String), parseWaterURL(URI), the static WATER_HANDLER field — water:// URL handling is gone from the public API
• ⚙️ Renamed: NetServer → NetworkServer (UploadStatus moved inside as nested class)
• ⚙️ Removed: WaterStreamHandler, top-level UploadStatus, NetTool (replaced by NetRequest)

⚡ GENERAL

• ✨ Added TikTok platform support (with full Metadata and Multi-variant qualities)
• ✨ Added D.Tube platform support (with full Metadata and Multi-variant qualities)
• ✨ Added Bluesky platform support (with full Metadata, Gallery support and Multi-variant qualities)
• ✨ Added Odysee platform support (with full Metadata and Multi-variant qualities)
• ✨ Added VidLii platform support
• ✨ Added Sendvid platform support (with half metadata and status-poll wait)
• ✨ Added back Google Drive, Dropbox and MediaFire platform support (limited support due to platform restrictions)
• ✨ Rewrote and Enhanced Twitch platform: now covers VOD, live, clips and better codecs
• ✨ Rewrote and Enhanced Kick platform: now covers clips
• ✨ Rewrote and Enhanced Streamable platform: both mp4 and mp4-mobile qualities exposed as quality variants
• ✨ Rewrote Lightshot platform on the new platform API (produces DataSource(MediaType.IMAGE, ...))
• ✨ Added on-disk media NetworkCache — two-tier cache (NETWORK live; CODEC reserved for upcoming BC7/DDS) with atomic writes, lock striping, expiry index (WMIC v3 format). Wired into MediaAPI.start() under instance.tmp/cache. Honored by FFMediaPlayer HTTP body fetches (config-gated, skips HLS/DASH manifests) and by TxMediaPlayer
• ✨ Rewrote TxMediaPlayer with three playback modes: (1) static one-shot upload, (2) pre-uploaded per-frame textures via the new GFXEngine#uploadFrameTextures fast-path when frame count ≤ txMultiTextureFrameThreshold, (3) streaming ImageReader decode driven by the playback clock with a bounded prefetch queue (64 MB budget) and direct-ByteBuffer pool. Supports seek/loop/step-backwards, falls into BUFFERING on under-run
• ✨ Added IPTV channel support — m3u/m3u8 channel playlists are expanded into individual channel sources (title, group and logo per channel), with a bundled channel catalog
• ✨ Added a house-made JPEG decoder (pure Java, no ImageIO dependency; baseline + progressive, all common chroma subsamplings)
• ✨ Optimized PNG/APNG decoder (~40% faster on animated PNG) and added rich image metadata reporting (text, gamma, chromaticities, sRGB/ICC color profile, physical dimensions, timestamps, and ancillary chunks)
• ✨ Optimized GIF decoder (~12–24% faster); Netscape loop count now surfaced in metadata
• ✨ Optimized WEBP lossless decoder (~40% faster)
• ✨ Optimized WEBP lossy decoder (~2–14% faster); static lossy VP8 without alpha now decodes to native YUV420P planes (no RGB conversion)
• ✨ Added new config options: decoders.maxImageSourceBytesMB (128), media.mrlManagerCleanupInterval (60 min), media.txMultiTextureFrameThreshold (5), media.txNetworkCache, media.ffmpegNetworkCache, media.ffmpegNetworkCacheMaxBytesMB (10), media.ffmpegAnalyzeDurationMs (7000), media.ffmpegProbeSizeMB (10), media.platforms.allowMatureContent, network.requestTimeoutMs (15000), network.maxRedirects (10), network.maxTextBytes (16 MiB)
• ✨ Added JOML 1.10.8 as a library dependency
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] Redesigned the entire standalone app on a new backend-agnostic 2D RenderEngine/RenderSystem (OpenGL 3.2 core backend; architected so Vulkan can drop in without touching widgets), vertex batching, rounded rects / circles / arcs / gradients / glow / shadow primitives
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] Added more test cases, thumbnail previews, status badges.
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] Enhanced Mouse experience on controls and buttons
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] Added a FrameLimiter with monitor-aware pacing for drivers ignoring swap interval
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] New LoadingScreen with animated boot splash and 8-frame duck animation, eased progress driven by WaterMedia.completedWorkSteps()/totalWorkSteps()
• ✨ [WaterMediaApp] Exit-confirmation dialog with ENTER/ESC bindings
• 🛠️ Changed: MRL ready state flips true on success or failure; callers must now check hasError()/exception() separately
• 🛠️ Changed: FFMediaPlayer HW-decoder priority — D3D11VA now precedes D3D12VA
• 🛠️ Changed: FFMediaPlayer quality auto-aligns — when initial quality is UNKNOWN, it is corrected once real video stream dimensions are known
• 🛠️ Changed: FFMediaPlayer open-failure logs now include decoded av_strerror text instead of swallowing the return code
• 🛠️ Changed: HTTP requests across FFMediaPlayer, TxMediaPlayer, and audio slaves now build headers from a unified RequestHeaders.defaults(uri) (no more hand-baked User-Agent/Accept/Referer)
• 🛠️ Changed: MRL source resolution delegated to PlatformAPI.fetch(URI); loader threadpool switched to ThreadTool.createRecomendedThreadPool(...)
• 🛠️ Changed: ambiguous/wrong Content-Type (e.g. application/octet-stream) is now resolved by sniffing the leading bytes with a URL-extension fallback, so mislabeled media from CDNs no longer fails to open; non-HTTP requests force a real connection instead of letting the URL handler guess the MIME type and existence
• 🛠️ Changed: the MRL manager periodically forgets expired or errored MRLs to free memory (interval configurable via media.mrlManagerCleanupInterval)
• 🛠️ Changed: BiliBili CDN cookie/UA/Referer now flow through RequestHeaders on every DataSource (including live); WaterMediaConfig.media.platforms.biliBiliCookie honored at request time
• 🛠️ Changed: Mature content is now gated behind media.platforms.allowMatureContent (disabled by default) — Twitch (streams, VODs, clips) and PornHub throw MatureContentException before any data fetch; MRL#blocked() reports the gated state
• 🛠️ Changed: NetworkServer.maxUploadSizeMB <= 0 now disables the size cap (was always enforced); NetworkAPI.upload honors WaterMediaConfig.network.requestTimeoutMs
• 🛠️ Changed: [WaterMediaApp] AppBootstrap quick-scan fast-path skips the GUI when all jars are cached; otherwise a console window with progress and 5-second auto-launch is shown; renamed Sideloadable → Extension, BOOTSTRAPPED_FLAG → APP_FLAG
• 🛠️ Changed: [WaterMediaApp] HomeScreen, PlayerScreen, MRLSelectorScreen, OpenMultimediaScreen rebuilt (ConsoleScreen and SourceSelectorScreen removed; Grid and Selector removed in favor of ListView/StackContainer)
• 🐛 Fixed: GIF decoder writing 0x00000000 at the transparent index even on frames whose GCE had no transparent-color flag (non-transparent GIFs were getting holes)
• 🐛 Fixed: NETPBM PAM RGB_ALPHA decode was emitting an extra 0xFF byte between RGB and A, shifting every subsequent pixel
• 🐛 Fixed: NetworkServer#handleUpload no longer NPEs / throws NumberFormatException on missing or malformed Content-Length (returns 400)
• 🐛 Fixed: NetworkServer partial/aborted uploads are cleaned up — half-written file and its ID directory are deleted on mid-transfer IOException
• 🐛 Fixed: TxMediaPlayer reset/release no longer leaks lifecycle threads or the ImageReader
• 🐛 Fixed: implausible frame rates reported by some HLS streams (e.g. the 90 kHz clock) no longer break frame pacing — values outside a sane range are now rejected
• 🐛 Fixed: JVM crash on HLS streams whose audio/video parameters fail to probe (sample rate 0) — the stream is now torn down cleanly instead of dividing by zero