According to The How-To Geek, the second alpha build for the upcoming Kodi 22 ‘Piers’ release is now available for download. This follows the first alpha from September and includes another major version jump for the FFmpeg media library, this time to FFmpeg 8. The changelog highlights the addition of HEIF/HEIC image format support as a key new feature. It also packs fixes for audio channel handling, subtitle detection, and a bug that prevented playing streams with over 256 combined tracks. Users can grab this alpha-quality software from the official Kodi website, but it’s intended for testers, with the stable Kodi 21.3 build being the recommended choice for everyone else.
FFmpeg keeps rolling
Here’s the thing about Kodi’s relationship with FFmpeg: it’s basically the engine in the car. And they’re swapping it out for a newer model mid-development cycle. The first alpha for Kodi 22 moved to FFmpeg 7, and now, just a couple months later, Alpha 2 is already on FFmpeg 8. That’s a pretty aggressive update schedule. It shows the team is committed to pulling in the latest codec support and playback improvements as fast as they can. For users, this should mean better compatibility with newer video files and more efficient transcoding if you use Kodi as a server. But it’s also a potential source of instability—that’s why this is an alpha.
More than just a codec bump
So the FFmpeg news is big, but what else is in there? The HEIF/HEIC support is a quietly important addition. That’s the modern image format used by iPhones and many Android phones. Before this, handling those photos in your Kodi library was a hassle. Now it should be native. I also think the fix for streams with huge numbers of tracks is niche but critical for some power users with massive, complex media files. And the high CPU usage bug fix for Mac? That’s the kind of platform-specific polish that makes a huge difference for those users. It’s not all flashy features; a lot of this is about tightening the bolts.
Should you download it?
Look, it’s an alpha. The announcement itself warns that bugs are expected. Unless you’re a developer, a very enthusiastic tester, or someone specifically plagued by an issue that’s listed as fixed, you should probably steer clear for now. The current stable version, Kodi 21.3, just finished rolling out and has already received some backported fixes from this development cycle. It’s the reliable choice. But if you want to see where the project is headed and help squash bugs, you can find the downloads under the ‘Prerelease’ section. Just don’t be surprised if something breaks. The full details are in the official Kodi 22 Alpha 2 announcement post.
