Nova

Your PC games, in your hands.

Nova plays games from your PC on Android handhelds, phones, tablets and TVs. Browse your library like a console, see exactly how a game will launch before it starts, and keep the stream's controls a shortcut away. It's at its best with Polaris on a Linux PC, and other Moonlight-compatible hosts work too. Native Linux, Steam Deck and Steam Frame builds are available in Beta.

Get Nova · Explore Nova · Quick start · Join the Matrix community

_{A game page on a handheld: your play time, the stream Nova will ask for, and everything you need before you press Launch.}

What Nova does

Nova is a free, open-source game-streaming client made for the device in your hands. It pairs with the PC where your games live, puts that library on your screen, and stays out of the way while you play.

Browse and launch

• A library that feels like a console. Your host's games appear with their cover art, ready to browse with a controller, touch or keyboard. Stage, Regular and Compact layouts fit a TV across the room or a handheld in your lap, and text and control sizes adjust separately.
• Know before you press play. Play Setup shows where the game will run, its resolution, frame rate, codec and HDR, before anything starts. A choice for one session leaves your host's defaults alone, and its advice is a starting point, not a promise about your network.
• Make the library yours. Wake a sleeping PC with Wake-on-LAN, pin a favorite game to your Android home screen and, with Polaris, fix its artwork in Artwork Studio.

_{Play Setup: every choice for this launch on one screen, for this game or every game.}

While you play

• A sharp, smooth picture. Nova streams H.264, HEVC or AV1, with HDR and 90 or 120 Hz where your device and host support them.
• Controls a shortcut away. Command Center brings tuning, Doctor's advice, the NovaHUD stream readout, input helpers and Steam controls over the running game. Press Guide + Start to open it and Close to get straight back to play.
• Leave on your terms. Disconnect keeps the game running so you can resume later. End Session asks before stopping the game you started, and Watch joins someone else's stream without taking it over.
• Your evidence stays with you. When something looks off, stream reports keep what you saw on your device and send nothing unless you share them.

With Polaris, and with other hosts

• It understands your host. With Polaris, Nova knows the launch choices your PC offers, from Private Stream to Mirror Desktop, who owns a session, what Doctor found and which launch defaults the host keeps. On Android, Host Console opens the Polaris console right inside Nova. Any Moonlight-compatible host still gets pairing, browsing, Wake-on-LAN, launch and streaming.
• Settings that follow the network. On Android, per-PC rules can pick one of your saved Settings Profiles by Wi-Fi, Ethernet, cellular, metered or VPN connection, and Play Setup can tell you whether your link to the PC runs over Tailscale. Connection facts and profiles explains how.

Polaris is the host built for Nova. It runs each game in a private session on your Linux PC, brings your Steam, Heroic and Lutris library along, and shows how every stream is running. Meet Polaris.

Nova comes in a choice of themes, with Polaris Aurora as the default; see them in the theme gallery.

Get started

Get Nova helps you pick the right download for your device. If you'd rather choose yourself:

Your device	Download
Most Android handhelds, phones, tablets and TVs	Nova-Android-arm64-v8a.apk
32-bit Android, including Shield models with a 32-bit app ABI	Nova-Android-armeabi-v7a.apk
Android x86_64 devices and emulators	Nova-Android-x86_64.apk
Linux and Steam Deck, Beta	The x86_64 Flatpak from Releases; see the Linux guide and Steam Deck guide
Steam Frame, Beta	A separate ARM64 Flatpak, when included in the selected release; see the Steam Frame guide

Choose by the Android app ABI, not the processor name: a 64-bit processor can still offer only 32-bit Android app support.

1. Install Nova, open Hosts, find or add your PC, and pair.
2. Pick a game, check Play Setup, and play.
3. During play, Guide + Start opens Command Center. Guide + Y shows or cycles NovaHUD.

Updates and betas. Follow Nova with Obtainium or GitHub Store. Latest is always stable. A beta installs as a separate Nova Beta app (Nova-Beta-Android-<ABI>.apk) with its own pairing and preferences; see updates and betas.

Good to know

• Android 5.0 and later. Codecs, HDR, controls and frame rates depend on your device and host. Check the compatibility guide.
• This page follows the source, which can be ahead of the newest release. Install only files attached to a published release.
• Where each feature works. Steam controls and the Tailscale readout need Polaris 1.5.0-beta.2 or newer; an older host says so instead. The Tailscale readout, per-PC profile rules and the Last Stream card are Android only for now.
• Native clients in Beta. Linux, Steam Deck and Steam Frame have playable builds in active development. Steam is optional for ordinary Linux use. The Linux guide covers setup and current limits; the separate Steam Frame build streams to a virtual 2D screen and is not Steam Frame Verified. Beta describes these clients' maturity; stable and prerelease downloads remain separate release channels.
• Experiments to try when you want them. PyroWave is an experimental codec that trades bandwidth for very fast decoding on a fast local network. It's off by default on Linux and Steam Frame and in Nova Beta for Android. Nova Beta for Android also offers SGSR 1 upscaling, off by default, which sharpens edges when a PyroWave SDR stream is smaller than your screen. The PyroWave guide explains when each is worth trying.

Learn more

• Nova documentation · Quick start · Play Setup · Spaces in Nova · Connection facts and profiles · Compatibility · Steam Deck
• Roadmap · Changelog · Releases
• Matrix community · Issues · Discussions · Security policy · Contributing · Source

_{Screenshots: 1.5.0-beta.2 (details). Website gallery: image sources.}

Acknowledgments

Nova for Android grew from moonlight-android, and every Nova build streams through moonlight-common-c. Thanks to the Moonlight community for that foundation. SGSR 1 is Qualcomm's Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 1 (BSD-3-Clause), adapted after RubyLight's Vulkan port.

AI Transparency

I use tools including Codex, Claude and local models for research, drafting, review and debugging. I review and test changes, decide what ships, and own the engineering and trust-boundary decisions.

Contributing

Focused fixes, docs, translations and careful feature work are welcome. Explain the problem and keep changes scoped; see CONTRIBUTING.

License

Nova is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

_{Website · Matrix · Documentation · Releases · Security}