Your PC games, in your hands.
Nova plays games from your PC on Android handhelds, phones, tablets and TVs. Browse your library with a controller, see 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 and Steam Deck builds are in alpha.
Get Nova · Explore Nova · Quick start · Join the Matrix community
- 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 and codec, 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.
- 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.
- It understands your host. With Polaris, Nova knows the launch choices your PC offers, who owns a session and what Doctor found. Any Moonlight-compatible host still gets pairing, browsing, Wake-on-LAN, launch and streaming. Steam controls and the Android Tailscale readout need Polaris 1.5.0-beta.2 or newer.
- Leave on your terms. Disconnect keeps the game running for later. End Session asks before stopping the game you started, and Watch joins a stream without taking it over. Stream reports save what you saw and send nothing unless you share them.
Polaris Aurora is the default look, with five more themes to choose from.
1.5.0-beta.2 adds a seventh, < Congratulations, Director >: charcoal, warm
white and red. See them in the theme gallery.
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, alpha | Nova-Linux-x86_64-alpha.flatpak from Releases; see the Linux guide and Steam Deck guide |
| Steam Frame, experimental | A separate ARM64 alpha, only when a release includes it; 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.
- Install Nova, open Hosts, find or add your PC, and pair.
- Pick a game, check Play Setup, and play.
- 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.
- 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.
- Experimental and off by default: PyroWave on Linux and Steam Frame and in Nova Beta for Android, plus SGSR 1 upscaling for PyroWave SDR streams in Nova Beta for Android. In one short Control test on a Retroid Pocket 6, 720p looked good with or without SGSR 1, with no noticeable difference, and native 1080p looked nicer. That's one look at one scene, not a measurement; the PyroWave guide has the details.
- Alpha is maturity, not a channel. The Linux and Steam Deck build ships in stable and beta releases; its wider desktop interface is in 1.5.0-beta.2. Steam is optional for ordinary Linux use, and the Frame alpha is not Steam Frame Verified.
- 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.
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.
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.
Focused fixes, docs, translations and careful feature work are welcome. Explain the problem and keep changes scoped; see CONTRIBUTING.
Nova is free and open-source software licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.