We are pleased to announce the release of Xibo for Windows v2 R253, which includes headline features when used with a 2.3 CMS!

This release works with Xibo CMS version 2 and has legacy mode for version 1.8.

Download Xibo for Windows R253.

Access the following features

• Geo-Location Scheduling (including geo-reporting for devices with a GPS supporting the Windows Location API).

• Interrupt Layouts

• Aggregate Proof of Play (Hourly/Daily aggregations before sending to the CMS)

See the change log below for a full list.

Upgrading

Please Note: Players starting from v2 R252 use a new architecture and their capabilities may not be identical to earlier v2 Players. We recommend testing the Player with your content on one device before commiting to v2 R252 or later.

This Player requires Windows 10.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the FAQ.

If you have a white label build of the application, the upgrade is available in your Xibo customer portal account.

Change Log

• 133: Packaged HTML: Unable to create new htmlpackage The file ... already exists
• 131: Embedded Browser Tag always ends up with IE
• 127: WatchDog: System.ArgumentException: Invalid JSON primitive ": "60"
• 126: WPF: HLS doesn't work in Chrome
• 123: Local video Module not working.
• 122: Show full screen option in Video Widgets not working
• 121: Widget: Video mute not obeyed
• 132: Include the LOCATION tag as an engagement on proof of play
• 105: Geo-Scheduling
• 104: Interrupt Layouts
• 77: Proof of Play aggregation

We are pleased to announce the release of Xibo for Windows v2 R254, which is a bug fix release solving 7 issues.

This release works with Xibo CMS version 2 and has legacy mode for version 1.8.

Download Xibo for Windows v2 R254.

See the change log below for a full list.

Upgrading

Please Note: Players starting from v2 R252 use a new architecture and their capabilities may not be identical to earlier v2 Players. We recommend testing the Player with your content on one device before commiting to v2 R252 or later.

This Player requires Windows 10.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the Administrator Documentation.

If you have a white label build of the application, the upgrade is available in your Xibo customer portal account.

Change Log

• 146: WPF: coordinate positions are transposed
• 143: Invalid JSON Primitive error
• 142: HTML Package extracted even if no new package downloaded thanks to @CA-Mukesh
• 139: Player crashing with stats enabled
• 138: ScheduleManager: Problem assessing interrupt schedule
• 130: Dynamic Widgets not updating
• 136: XMDS: 429/Retry-After

The context
We’re making some changes to our player license pricing!
COVID-19 has created significant challenges for businesses across the globe, driving an increased need to be cost-conscious, minimise initial outlay of funds and spread the cost.

Xibo has always been committed to lowering barriers to entry, providing best-in-class capabilities at compelling and cost-effective rates. In January 2019 we introduced subscription pricing for our commercial players (Android, webOS and Tizen), and our Xibo in the Cloud offering. This allows customers to purchase any of these products on an annual or monthly subscription basis, helping to reduce the upfront costs that would exist on perpetual player licenses.

Over recent years here at Xibo, we have substantially increased the capabilities and features across Xibo products, and increased the range of platforms supported with webOS and Tizen added to our commercial players. Recently we added geo-scheduling and we’re in the midst of extending native interactive functionality too. So Xibo brings best-in-class capability at cost-effective price points.

What’s changing?
To support businesses and organisations that have digital signage requirements and want to spread the costs, we are decreasing our subscription pricing by 21% on Android and 12% on webOS and Tizen players. This change will take effect from 21st of May 2020, and apply to both annual and monthly subscriptions.

A summary of the subscription license pricing changes is shown below:

Pricing for perpetual licensing will be increasing by 10%, but due to the challenges facing the global economy, we are delaying this change until at least September 2020. This will be the first time since the release of these products that we've raised prices.

A summary of the Perpetual license pricing changes is shown below:

The big benefits of our subscription licenses
Spreading the costs monthly or annually is a major benefit of course, but our subscription licenses have more big benefits. Here are a couple:

All major and minor version releases and bug fixes are included for free. We generally release a major version every 12-18 months, so for any customer that wants to stay current, this is a great benefit.

With Subscription, you can scale up and down the number of licenses as needed with ease. This means you can manage short term peaks in demand e.g. for events or seasonal periods, and scale back when they’re not needed.

Get started
Visit our shop and get started. Or if you need help, get in touch with our sales team on sales@xibosignage.com

We are pleased to announce our fourth patch for the 2.3 version of Xibo. The codename for this version is “Wolf”.

14P/Wolf is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 8.74a (Julian years). Max Wolf (Heidelberg, Germany) discovered the comet on September 17, 1884. It is particularly interesting as its perihelion and orbital period change due to the influcence of Jupiter.

This release fixes 30 issues.

Weather Widget

DarkSky has been Xibo's source of weather data for several years, but unfortunately this has come to an end. DarkSky have been bought by Apple and have closed their doors to new API sign-ups, see 2180: Weather: DarkSky has been bought by Apple and is no-longer taking accounts.

Users of Xibo who already have a DarkSky API key will retain access until the end of 2021. Xibo in the Cloud users do not need to take action as this has been handled as part of your Cloud subscription.

We have chosen Open Weather Map API as our replacement to the DarkSky API. Open Weather Map offer a similar plan to DarkSky - please visit the website to get an API key. Enter your Open Weather Map API key on the Forecast/Weather module edit form.

Download

Please use the links below to download this release:

• Xibo for Docker Linux / Windows
• Xibo for Apache/Nginx / WAMP/IIS

You may use any v2 compatible Player with this release. At the time of writing these are the latest:

• Xibo for Windows
• Xibo for Android
• Xibo for webOS
• Xibo for Linux
• Xibo for Tizen

1.8 series Players will also function but please be aware that new v2 features will not be supported.

Changelog

• 2239: Incorrect Event icons when changing repeating Event to Always Daypart
• 2238: Colour Picker not appearing for Dataset Ticker Widget
• 2233: On/Off timers tab for Tizen Profile refers to webOS
• 2231: Weather: Incorrect Current Day Average & wrong units for Morning/Evening/Night
• 2229: Layout Designer: Improve tooltips
• 2227: Layout duration is incorrect if Layout is 24 hours long
• 2226: Stats Migration Task Fails to run with SQL error
• 2225: Schedule Weekly recurrence adds invalid event if edited from a month after the start month
• 2224: Submit Stats - why do we unset the scheduleId in Mongo?
• 2223: Schedule Edit: Delete instance of recurring event, wrong dates
• 2222: Unable to create a Layout copy with duplicated media box ticked
• 2205: Swagger: Layout Model is missing Region embed properties
• 2204: Jalali: Text editor does not work with Jalali Calendar enabled
• 2196: Multiple Display Events issue
• 2195: data not showing for RSS feeds from datasets
• 2192: Agenda View does not render the new Campaign event type 5
• 2191: Tizen Display Profile: Adjustments for Lock Options
• 2188: Add Remote Dataset form - default value for Truncate Dataset
• 2137: Widgets are missing in Designer when using Safari Browser. [Mac only]
• 2237: Datepicker: Week days should start on a Monday for en-GB
• 2235: Display downtime data should be available via the API
• 2228: Displays: Remote management links
• 2234: Playlist duration requires update should be available via the API
• 2232: Update language on "client not licensed" message from CMS
• 2230: Dashboard Bandwidth Graph inaccurate/missleading when Displays have been deleted recently while BW is exceeded
• 2219: New Default Layout
• 2199: Link to the date format manual section from Global Settings thanks to @auchri
• 2187: Helptext on Dataset View and Dataset Ticker row limits is misleading
• 2186: Custom Modules cannot load JSON templates
• 2185: Weather: round the lat/long to 3 d.p

Future development

Our focus from now will be to move ahead with the development of Xibo version 3, which will be our Interactive Signage release!

If you run a network of digital displays, you'll likely find that there are times where you might want to interact with them, perhaps to change system settings or to install software updates.

Digital signage player devices are often tucked away out of sight and out of reach, and so having a means to remotely control those from a distance can be a huge time and money saver in the long run.

One such solution for Android devices comes from Webkey. Webkey is a separate Android application which you can install on your device, and it allows remote access to view and control the device as if you were using a local keyboard and mouse. There are some limitations if your device is not rooted.

We've tested Webkey with the DSDevices DSCS9 Android device and we liked it alot! So much so that from Xibo CMS version 2.3.4 onwards, we've provided a quick and easy way to directly remote control your Android devices using Webkey from the Displays page of the CMS. If you do decide that Webkey is for you, then read on as there's a discount code below!

Getting up and running with Webkey and the DSCS9 is quick and easy.

First visit the Webkey website and open an account there.

Once you have an account, log in and you'll be prompted to pair your first device:

Note in the right hand side the PIN code for your account.

Now we'll download the Webkey APK and install it on our device.

You could do that by saving the APK on to a USB stick, or directly downloading the APK on the DSCS9 using the web browser.

Once installed, open the Webkey app and it will present you with some options. Choose the Enter PIN code option, enter the pin you noted earlier, and then choose PAIR.

You'll next be presented with some permissions options to control which functions of Webkey you want to be enabled. Enable at least Screen Mirroring and File Transfer, but you may also wish to enable GPS location if your device has a GPS. Finally click Done.

You should see your device appear in the Webkey dashboard.

You can click on a device to remote control it directly.

There's also options to transfer files back and forth, or to see the GPS location of the device if you enabled that.

So now wouldn't it be nice to be able to directly launch that remote control from within the Xibo CMS? We thought so too, so from Xibo CMS 2.3.4 onwards, you can enable an option to show a Webkey link on the Displays page of the CMS.

To do that, first open the Screen Mirroring function for your device inside Webkey. You'll see that in your web browser's URL bar there's an address that ends with publicid= and then some letters, numbers and hypens.

So for example if the address was https://webkeyapp.com/mgm?publicid=ba847f0f-bbd7-4a66-bfc8-d0cf42f06de8, you'd highlight ba847f0f-bbd7-4a66-bfc8-d0cf42f06de8 and copy it to your clipboard.

Then go in to your Xibo CMS and go to the Displays page. Find the same device in your list of Displays, and edit it.

On the Remote tab, paste the letters and numbers in to the Webkey Serial field, and then click Save.

Now when you go back to your list of Displays, you'll see a Webkey icon next to each Display you've entered a serial for. Clicking on the Webkey icon will directly launch your Webkey directly in to that specific device (assuming you are logged in to the Webkey dashboard already).

If you're using Webkey commercially or you have more than one device then you'll need to purchase a subscription from Webkey.

You can do that at any time from your Webkey dashboard by clicking the Upgrade button at the top right of the screen.

Webkey have various plans starting from €66/year for up to 10 devices for business use.

You can save 5% from your subscription cost by entering the code XIBO5 in the Referal key box at checkout.

Xibo Signage Ltd does receive a small commission where you use our referral code.

Action Required by 1st August 2021

"TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are now considered deprecated by the security industry in favour of TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3 which offer better levels of security."

Summary

A summary of the content of this article appears below. Please be sure to read the complete article as there is further important information beyond the summary.

• New Xibo Cloud CMS instances created after 12 noon UTC on Friday 5th June 2020 will not accept TLS 1.0/1.1 connections.
• Existing Xibo Cloud CMS instances will stop accepting TLS 1.0/1.1 connections on 1st August 2021.
• If you would prefer your Xibo Cloud CMS stopped accepting TLS 1.0/1.1 connections sooner then please open a ticket with our support team who can arrange that for you.

Android

• To continue using a Xibo Cloud CMS after 31st July 2021 on an Android 4.4 or earlier device, you will need to ensure you have upgraded to Xibo for Android 2 R206 or later if you're running Xibo for Android version 2 or Xibo for Android 1.8 R110 or later if you're running Xibo for Android version 1.8.
• Xibo for Android will no longer support Android 4.4 from version 3 onwards
• Customers using Android 5 or later are advised to read further but do not need to take immediate action.
• DSCS9 Players run Android 6 or Android 7.
• We suggest ensuring that your Xibo for Android installs are running on Android 7 or later based devices

Windows

• To continue using a Xibo Cloud CMS after 31st July 2020 on a Windows computer, you will need to ensure you have upgraded to Xibo for Windows 2 R201 or later if you're running Xibo for Windows version 2, or Xibo for Windows 1.8.14 or later if you're running Xibo for Windows version 1.8.

webOS, Tizen and Linux

No action is required for these Player types.

TLS Background

Secure communications over https form the backbone of the modern internet experience guaranteeing that data flowing is both encrypted, and is being sent to the destination you think it is. Encryption technology has evolved over time and older standards are phased out as the level of protection they offer is considered to be low in comparison to newer protocols.

TLS (Transport Later Security), the sucessor to SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), is a suite of protocols that are used to deliver secure http traffic over the internet. TLS 1.0 was released in 1999 and has known vulnerabilities (all of which are mitigated on Xibo Cloud at the time of writing). TLS 1.1 is rarely used as most software which supports TLS 1.1 also supports TLS 1.2 and uses that in preference. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are now considered deprecated by the security industry in favour of TLS 1.2 or TLS 1.3 which offer better levels of security.

In order to make a secure http connection, the device making the connection and the web server need to be able to speak using the same TLS protocol version. Unfortunately older versions of Android (prior to Android version 5) have TLS 1.2 disabled by default, so an update to Xibo for Android is required to specifically enable that for communication with the CMS.

In order to maintain security of Xibo Cloud, we will be turning off support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 on 1st August 2021. That means you need to ensure any Player devices are compatible before that date.

LetsEncrypt

LetsEncrypt is a popular internet certificate signing authority or CA. On July 8th 2020, they will begin serving certificates in a way which may break compatiblity with older Android devices. It's hard to say exactly which devices will be affected as each manufacturer builds their own list of CAs they trust, but we think that most Android 7.1.1 or later devices will have support for LetsEncrypt certificates.

Xibo Cloud currently uses LetsEncrypt certificates, but will swap to an alternative to maintain comaptiblity with older Android devices in the short term.

We strongly suggest checking compatiblity with the LetsEncrypt X1 root CA and your Android devices, and if possible adding the X1 root CA to the list of trusted CAs on your device before 8th July 2020 as otherwise you may encounter issues with content embedded from third party webservers (eg using the webpage, HLS, or embedded widgets) if they are using LetsEncrypt certificates.

Actions Required for Android Devices

DSCS9

• No immediate action is required to maintain connection with Xibo Cloud. All DSCS9s run Android 6.0.1 and laterly Android 7.1.2 and so will continue to connect to Xibo Cloud without any change.
• If you have a DSCS9 running Android 6.0.1, you may wish to consider upgrading its firmware to Android 7.1.2.
• If you intend to remain on Android 6 with a DSCS9 then we strongly advise installing the LetsEncrypt X1 root CA on your device before 8th July 2020. This is to ensure maximum compatibility with third party websites which you may be embedding in to your layouts.
• DSCS9s running Android 7.1.2 are already fully compatible and need no actions taken.

Non-Rooted Devices running Android version 4

If you have a non-rooted device running a version of Android before Android 5, then please be aware that you will not be able to use Xibo for Android version 3 on this device.

Please ensure you upgrade to Xibo for Android 2 R206 or Xibo for Android 1.8 R110 before 1st August 2021 to ensure you can continue to connect to your Xibo Cloud CMS.

You may find that content embedded from third party webservers (eg using the webpage, HLS, or embedded widgets) stop working over the coming months where you are making secure HTTPS connections.

That will be due to TLS 1.0/1.1 being deprecated on other sites and services and is outside the control of Xibo.

Rooted Devices running Android version 4

If you have a rooted device running a version of Android before Android 5, then please be aware that you will not be able to use Xibo for Android version 3 on this device.

Please ensure you upgrade to Xibo for Android 2 R206 or Xibo for Android 1.8 R110 before 1st August 2021 to ensure you can continue to connect to your Xibo Cloud CMS.

You may find that content embedded from third party webservers (eg using the webpage, HLS, or embedded widgets) stop working over the coming months where you are making secure HTTPS connections.

That will be due to TLS 1.0/1.1 being deprecated on other sites and services and is outside the control of Xibo.

We strongly advise installing the LetsEncrypt X1 root CA on your device before 8th July 2020. This is to ensure maximum compatibility with third party websites which you may be embedding in to your layouts.

Non-Rooted Devices running Android 5 and later

Your device already has support for TLS1.2 so will continue to connect to Xibo Cloud without modification.

We suggest that you check compatibility with LetsEncrypt certificates by visiting https://valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the browser on your device. You must use the built in web browser and not Chrome for this.

If you don't receive a certificate warning, then no action is required.

If you do receive a certificate warning, then please be aware that your device may stop being able to make connections to some https websites after 8th July 2020.

Your device manufacturer may be able to provide you updated firmware.

Rooted Devices running Android 5 and later

Your device already has support for TLS1.2 so will continue to connect to Xibo Cloud without modification.

We suggest that you check compatibility with LetsEncrypt certificates by visiting https://valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the browser on your device. You must use the built in web browser and not Chrome for this.

If you don't receive a certificate warning, then no action is required.

If you do receive a certificate warning, then you will need to import the LetsEncrypt X1 root CA on your device before 8th July 2020.

Actions Required for Windows Devices

Xibo for Windows v2

Please ensure you have upgraded to Xibo for Windows v2 R201 or later version before 1st August 2021.

We suggest that you check compatibility with LetsEncrypt certificates by visiting https://valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the browser on your device. You should use Edge or Internet Explorer to do so.

If you don't receive a certificate warning, then no action is required.

If you do receive a certificate warning, then you should ensure you apply Windows Updates to update your Windows root certificate list.

Xibo for Windows v1.8

Please ensure you have upgraded to Xibo for Windows 1.8.14 or later version before 1st August 2021.

We suggest that you check compatibility with LetsEncrypt certificates by visiting https://valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the browser on your device. You should use Edge or Internet Explorer to do so.

If you don't receive a certificate warning, then no action is required.

If you do receive a certificate warning, then you should ensure you apply Windows Updates to update your Windows root certificate list.

Xibo for Windows v1.7 and earlier

If possible you should upgrade to Xibo version 1.8 or later version.

If you cannot do so, then you may be able to force the .net Framework on your computer to use TLS 1.2 instead. See our FAQ on enabling TLS 1.2

We suggest that you check compatibility with LetsEncrypt certificates by visiting https://valid-isrgrootx1.letsencrypt.org in the browser on your device. You should use Edge or Internet Explorer to do so.

If you don't receive a certificate warning, then no action is required.

If you do receive a certificate warning, then you should ensure you apply Windows Updates to update your Windows root certificate list.

Xibo Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v1.8 R110. This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7.

This is a maintenance release which enables TLS 1.2 on devices running Android OS lower than Android 5. For more information on what this means, see our article: What is TLS 1.2 and why does it affect me?

Download Xibo for Android R110.

Download Xibo for Android R110 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the Administrator Manual. It’s also well worth having a look at the Xibo for Android FAQ's.

If you have a white label build of the application it is available in your account.

We are pleased to announce the release of Xibo for Windows v1.8.14, a maintenance release enabling TLS 1.2. For information on what this means for you, please read our article: What is TLS 1.2 and why does it affect me?

This release works with Xibo CMS version 1.8 and has legacy mode for version 1.7.

Download Xibo for Windows v1.8.14.

Upgrading

Upgrade to this release if you are using 1.8 and are unable to upgrade to version 2.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the Administrator Documentation.

If you have a white label build of the application, the upgrade is available in your Xibo customer portal account.

Xibo Signage are pleased to announce Xibo for Android v2 R206. This release works with Xibo CMS version 2.x and has legacy mode for versions 1.4, 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8.

We have addressed 13 issues in this release:

• TLS 1.2 support on Android 4.4 devices. For more information on what this means, see our article: What is TLS 1.2 and why does it effect me?
• Geo-Scheduling
• Geo-Scheduling: Report last known location to the CMS
• Philips: fix APK upgrade
• Handle rate limiting from the CMS
• Detect a network change and trigger a CMS connection
• With a keyboard connected the i, c and s keys launch menus
• Support intent extras for the Command intent| helper
• Bug: Fix an error with Widgets attempting to call a destroyed webview
• Bug: Web Widgets, viewport sometimes undefined
• Bug: Video unmutes after one loop
• Bug: DST breaks schedule check
• Bug: Fix proof of play in Hourly/Daily mode where a record bridges an aggregation period.

Download Xibo for Android v2 R206.

Download Xibo for Android v2 R206 for DSDevices J18 and J19.

Instructions for upgrading from an earlier release can be found in the Administration Manual.

If you have a white label build of the application, the upgrade is available in your account.

We are pleased to announce our fifth patch for the 2.3 version of Xibo. The codename for this version is “Wolf”.

14P/Wolf is a periodic comet with an orbital period of 8.74a (Julian years). Max Wolf (Heidelberg, Germany) discovered the comet on September 17, 1884. It is particularly interesting as its perihelion and orbital period change due to the influcence of Jupiter.

This release fixes 19 issues.

Download

Please use the links below to download this release:

• Xibo for Docker Linux / Windows
• Xibo for Apache/Nginx / WAMP/IIS

You may use any v2 compatible Player with this release. At the time of writing these are the latest:

• Xibo for Windows
• Xibo for Android
• Xibo for webOS
• Xibo for Linux
• Xibo for Tizen

1.8 series Players will also function but please be aware that new v2 features will not be supported.

Changelog

• 2267: Playlist Editor: Delete multiple failing with > 4 requests
• 2263: DataSet Upper and Lower limits not quite correct
• 2262: Refactor SASS structure
• 2261: Display Bandwidth Limit accepts negative values
• 2260: User Library quota accepts negative values
• 2259: Displays menu: Sorting by Remote column issue
• 2256: Filtering: useRegexForName always takes parameters from request
• 2255: Playlist Timeline: Rearranging Widget order using drag and drop is occasionally not working
• 2254: Playlist Timeline: Widget list is partially obscured.
• 2253: Playlist Timeline: Image bubbles remain on screen.
• 2252: Schedule Agenda view: tables positioning
• 2250: Schedule page and Sub-playlist form: Input fields width fix
• 2249: Stats API: don't log missing Layouts in the filter
• 2244: Layout Designer preview: Object name needs to be trimmed
• 2243: Manual and About links not available on horizontal menu
• 2240: When copying a nested playlist, the parent-child relationship between the playlists is not duplicated
• 2265: Stats Search API add campaignId and tags
• 2245: Layout Designer: Publishing with an Empty Region
• 2242: Cached JS on upgrade: cache busting has been removed

Future development

Our focus from now will be to move ahead with the development of Xibo version 3, which will be our Interactive Signage release!