NovaCore Development Update – New Builds, GitHub Downloads & What’s Next

Alright everyone, quick NovaCore update.

Development has been moving ridiculously fast lately, sometimes with multiple builds in one day. Because of that, I’m changing how releases and testing are handled so broken or unfinished builds don’t end up spreading everywhere without useful feedback.

NovaCore builds will now be distributed through GitHub. Public TESTER and DEV builds will still be available, but the newest build may be held back briefly for trusted testers first. Once we know it installs, boots and isn’t completely broken, it’ll be released publicly.

What we’ve been working on

• Improved PS5-style Home, Library and Nova Bar design
• Faster and simpler navigation
• Last Played and Last Added library filters
• Game Store catalogue, covers, metadata and sorting improvements
• Download Centre and clearer transfer status
• Homebrew Store improvements
• NEXT System Control integration and diagnostics tile
• Nova Online, rooms, friends and System Link groundwork
• Better cover and metadata refreshing
• Theme persistence fixes
• Trophy database investigation
• Jellyfin and media-player work
• Internal and USB media playback planning
• Linux launcher/installer groundwork
• Game-launch diagnostics
• Discord report bot and structured testing forms
• Automatic bot recovery after crashes, disconnects or PC restarts

There are still known problems. Trophy reading isn’t reliable on every firmware, some themes/settings may still need persistence testing, covers can cause performance issues, and some console services need proper testing on real hardware. NovaCore is still a preview—not a finished 1.0 release.

TESTER vs DEV

TESTER is the safer build intended for focused testing. Experimental or potentially unstable network/download functionality may remain disabled.

DEV contains more experimental features and diagnostics. Expect unfinished sections and possibly more bugs.

Please don’t assume something works just because it appears in the interface. If a feature is marked unavailable, inspection-only or experimental, report exactly what happens rather than forcing it.

We need proper reports

Even if you’re not a trusted tester, your reports still matter. Please use the correct form for the exact build you tested and include:

• Build and package version
• PS4 model
• Firmware
• Exact GoldHEN version
• Fresh install or update
• Connection type
• Clear reproduction steps
• Photos/video where useful
• Exported NovaCore diagnostics and logs

“Doesn’t work” doesn’t give us enough to fix anything. The more accurate the report, the quicker I can trace it.

NovaCore will remain closed-source during active development for now. That may change when it reaches 1.0 or is stable enough. This isn’t about hiding the project—it’s about stopping unfinished code and half-working builds from being reposted without context.

Massive thanks to Lady T, the NEXT System Control developer, everyone testing on different firmware versions, and everyone sending proper logs instead of just shouting at me 😂

We’re nowhere near finished, but NovaCore is getting closer to the dashboard I originally imagined: fast, clean, useful and built around the PS4 homebrew community.

Discord: https://discord.gg/CTYNEyVFx

More soon. 🚀