CircuitPython 5.0.0 Beta 1

This is a Beta Release

This is release 5.0.0 beta.1. Beta releases are largely feature-complete, but are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale OLED and e-paper displays, extensive additions and improvements to BLE support, support for the STM32F4 and Sony Spresense microcontrollers, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Beta 0

• Add MP3 playback support and audio improvements. Thanks to @jepler, @urish, @Dar-Scott
• Various BLE fixes and improvements including pairing support, raising specific BluetoothErrors and extended advertisements. Thanks to @kattni, @tannewt and @dhalbert
• Filesystem creation now includes code.py. Thanks to @iayanpahwa
• Added Korean translation thanks to @rafa-gould and @jepler
• Additional Chinese Pinyin translations. Thanks to @hexthat
• The @micropython.native decorator will no longer throw an exception when it isn't supported. It will fallback to using byte code. Thanks to @theacodes
• Fixed displayio ePaper support that lead to displays not updating. Thanks to @tannewt
• Fixed displayio support in STM32F4. Thanks to @hierophect
• Fixed UART blocking behavior on SAMD. Thanks to @dhalbert
• Fixed crash from attempt at long living frozen code. Thanks to @dmgrime
• Removed Robo Hat MM1 M0 board. Thanks to @wallarug
• Switched to GCC 9 for builds. Thanks to @jepler

New Boards

Find downloads for all boards, including these, at https://circuitpython.org/downloads.

New since 5.0.0-beta.0

• shIRtty. Thanks to @sarfata
• PYB Nano V2. Thanks to @hierophect

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x

• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes in _bleio since 4.0.0. Please use the latest adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming.
• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• Moved audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer, which is only available on M4s. Moved audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Added I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord,including @cbyr2401, @CedarGroveStudios, @Dar-Scott, @dhalbert, @dmgrime, @hexthat, @hierophect, @iayanpahwa, @jepler, @Jerryn, @kattni, @ladyada, @makermelissa, @rafa-gould, @sarfata, @tannewt, @theacodes, @urish, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-beta.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Beta 0

This is a Beta Release

This is release 5.0.0 beta.0. Beta releases are largely feature-complete, but are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale OLED and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, support for the STM32F4 and Sony Spresense microcontrollers, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Alpha 5

• The _bleio module API has been reworked. There is now a Connection class which manages BLE service discovery. Advertising and initial connection setup have been moved to Adapter. Central, Peripheral, and Scanner have been removed. Thanks @tannewt, and thanks @dhalbert for reviews and bugfixes.
• STM32F4 port: All thanks to @hierophect.
  • urandom now uses the on-chip random number generator.
  • Support neopixel_write.
  • Raise STM32F405 clock speed.
  • Add microsecond delay routines.
  • Shut off DAC when not in use.
  • Add default board.I2C(), board.SPI(), and board.UART() devices.
  • Support displayio.
• Refactor pin-reset and pin-never-reset routines to common-hal. Thanks @hierophect.
• GitHub Actions: do not try to upload to Amazon S3 if running in a fork. Thanks @jepler.
• Prevent build issues due to xargs overflow. Thanks @jepler.
• Allow boards to change USB interface description text, replacing the default "CircuitPython". Thanks @theacodes.
• Fix displayio.I2CDisplay reset issue. Thanks @makermelissa.
• Allow board builds to to enable @micropython.native decorator. Thanks @theacodes.

New Boards

Find downloads for all boards, including these, at https://circuitpython.org/downloads.

New since 5.0.0-alpha.5

• Winterbloom Sol. Thanks @theacodes.

New since 4.1.0

• Adafruit Circuit Playground Bluefruit. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Adafruit Circuit Playground Express with displayio: displayio turned on for CPX. Thanks @tannewt.
• Adafruit Feather STM32F405 Express. Thanks @hierophect.
• Adafruit HalloWing M4 Express. Pin additions. Thanks @makermelissa.
• Adafruit ItsyBitsy nRF52840 Express. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• Adafruit Monster M4SK. Fix pin errors. Thanks @kattni.
• Adafruit PyPortal Titano. Thanks @brentru
• Arduino Nano 33 BLE. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• PewPew M4. Thanks @deshipu.
• PyBoard V11. Thanks @hierophect.
• Robo HAT MM1 M4. Thanks @wallarug.
• STM32F411E Discovery. Thanks @hierophect.
• STM32F412G Discovery. Thanks @hierophect.
• Serpente. Thanks @arturo182.
• Snekboard. Thanks @keith-packard.
• Sony Spresense. Thanks Sony @kamtom480.
• Sparkfun QWIIC Micro with and without flash. Thanks @edspark.
• StringCar M0 Express. Thanks @cgrover.

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x

• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes in _bleio since 4.0.0. Please use the latest adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming.
• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• Moved audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer, which is only available on M4s. Moved audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Added I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord,including @CedarGroveStudios, @dhalbert, @hierophect, @jepler, @Jerryn, @ladyada, @makermelissa, @tannewt, @theacodes and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-alpha.5.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 5

This is an Alpha Release

This is the fifth alpha release of CircuitPython 5.0.0. Alpha releases are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale OLED and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, support for the STM32F4 and Sony Spresense microcontrollers, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Alpha 4

• Circuit Playground Bluefruit: disable onboard speaker by default. Thanks @jepler.
• Adjust on-board DotStar brightness to accommodate different inherent brightnesses for different versions of DotStars. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Add microprocessor.cpu.voltage to measure voltage supplied to chip. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Better PyPortal Titano display support. Thanks @brentru and @ladyada.
• Allocate two available I2C objects on Circuit Playground Bluefruit and Arduino Nano 33 BLE to accommodate on-board I2C sensors. This is at the expense of dropping down to a single SPI peripheral.
• Remember original specified PWMOut duty cycle and use when recalculating to avoid accumulating errors. Thanks @theacodes.
• Allow setting max USB packet size for MSC. Thanks @kamtom480.
• Parameterize stack location and limits. Thanks @kamtom480.
• Support __bytes__() builtin. Thanks @tannewt.
• Improve unix build support for undefined architectures. Thanks @jerryneedell.
• Fix various minor code problems found by automated code-scanning tool. Thanks @jepler.
• Update lib/tinyusb to fix HID issues. Thanks @dhalbert and @hathach.
• Update frozen modules. Thanks @tannewt.
• On nrf, deactivate PWM on PWMOUT.deinit(). Thanks @jepler.
• nrf: use analog reference voltage that matches other ports. Thanks @jepler.
• Additional German translations. Thanks @Retoc, @Senuros, and @kickbutts.
• Addition Pinyin translations. Thanks @hexthat.
• Improve rtc documentation. Thanks @theacodes.
• Improve automation of module support matrix in documentation. Thanks @sommersoft.
• Improve README.rst. Thanks @darkmusic.
• atmel-samd: Fixes for AnalogOut and AudioOut. Thanks @jepler.
• Remove unsupported ports from ports source tree. Thanks @dhalbert.
• Stop running unneeded thread tests, which sometimes break the builds. Thanks @jepler.
• Always build certain modules needed by all ports. Thanks @hierophect.
• Improve release build handling. Thanks @tannewt.
• Make build fail when boards are missing. Thanks @tannewt.
• Do not re-upload release assets already uploaded. Thanks @tannewt.

New and Improved Boards

Find all boards at https://circuitpython.org/downloads.

• itsybitsy_nrf52840_express. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• arduino_nano_33_ble. Thanks @dhalbert and @ladyada.
• serpente. Thanks @arturo182.
• stringcar_m0_express. Thanks @cgrover.
• sparkfun_qwiic_micro_no_flash and sparkfun_qwiic_micro_with_flash. Thanks @edspark.
• circuitplayground_express_displayio: displayio turned on for CPX. Thanks @tannewt.
• sparkfun_qwiic_micro_with_flash
• pyboard_v11. Thanks @hierophect.
• feather_stm32f405_express. Thanks @hierophect.
• spresense. Thanks Sony @kamtom480.
• robohat_mm1_m4. Thanks @wallarug.
• hallowing_m4. Pin additions. Thanks @makermelissa.
• monster_m4sk. Fix pin errors. Thanks @kattni.

Upcoming BLE Changes

This release does not include a substantial and breaking revamp of the APIs presented by _bleio native module and adafruit_ble library. These BLE changes will be merged into master soon after this 5.0.0-alpha.5 release. We expect the next alpha or first beta release to include these breaking changes.

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x!

• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes since 4.0.0. The _bleio API is a work in progress and will change as 5.0.0 progresses. Please use the latest pre-release adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming. The adafruit_ble library is evolving too but will hide underlying changes in _bleio.
• Move audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer and is only available on M4s. Move audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Add I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord,including @3ach, @ATMakersBill, @AdinAck, @Anton-2, @CedarGroveStudios, @CollinCunningham, @DavePutz, @Mr-Coxall, @Retoc, @Senuros, @TG-Techie, @ThomasAtBBTF, @alexwhittemore, @anecdata, @arturo182, @brentru, @darkmusic, @ddiminnie, @deshipu, @dhalbert, @dmopalmer, @dunkmann00, @edspark, @gallaugher, @hexthat, @hierophect, @iayanpahwa, @iraytrace, @jedgarpark, @jepler, @jerryneedell, @jpecor, @kamtom480, @kattni, @kdb424, @kevinjwalters, @kickbutts, @ladyada, @loganwedwards, @makermelissa, @nis, @rdagger, @santaimpersonator, @shazz, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tannewt, @theacodes, @timvgso, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-alpha.4.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 4

This is an Alpha Release

This is the fourth alpha release of CircuitPython 5.0.0. Alpha releases are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale OLED and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Alpha 2

• Add bare bones STM32F411 and STM32F412 support. Thanks to @hierophect, @cr1901, @pigrew and @hathach
• Add I2SOut support to nRF52840. Thanks to @jepler
• Add random dithering to ColorConverter to reduce color banding 16-bit gradients. Thanks to @matthewnewberg
• Fix board.A1 mapping on CircuitPlayground Bluefruit. Thanks to @kattni, @jepler, @caternuson and @dhalbert
• Fix misbehaving status LED and filesystem flush on SAMDs. Thanks to @dhalbert, @jerryneedell, @jackdanielsmurphy and @rdagger
• Fix PWMOut deinit on nRF52840. Thanks to @kattni and @jepler

New and Improved Boards

• PewPew M4 Thanks to @deshipu
• STM32F411E Discovery Thanks to @hierophect
• STM32F412G Discovery Thanks to @hierophect

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x!

• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes since 4.0.0. The _bleio API is a work in progress and will change as 5.0.0 progresses. Please use the latest pre-release adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming. The adafruit_ble library is evolving too but will hide underlying changes in _bleio.
• Move audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer and is only available on M4s. Move audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Add I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@_cli_ninja, @anecdata, @AnthonyDiGirolamo, @arturo182, @ATMakersBill, @bmeisels, @brentru, @C47D, @caternuson, @CedarGroveStudios, @charlesburnaford, @cr1901, @dastels, @Ddbricetti, @davep, @deanm1278, @deshipu, @devoh, @dhalbert, @fede2, @hathach, @hexthat, @hierophect, @hybotics, @jackdanielsmurphy, @jasonp, @jepler, @jerryneedell, @josh, @jp, @kattni, @kevinjwalters, @klardotsh, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matthewnewberg, @MikeB, @MrCertainly, @mytechnotalent, @nickzoic, @ntavish, @ntoll, @OldCrow, @pigrew, @ptorrone , @rdagger, @reply2jh, @rhooper, @s-light, @sajattack, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tammymakesthings, @tannewt, @TG-Techie, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-alpha.2.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Alpha 4 is the same as Alpha 3 with an improved upload script.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 3

Please use Alpha 4. Alpha 3 does not include builds for all boards. They are identical besides a release script improvement.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0 Alpha 2

This is an Alpha Release

This is the second alpha release of CircuitPython 5.0.0. Alpha releases are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, and PWM audio support.

Download from circuitpython.org

Downloads are available from circuitpython.org! The site makes it easy to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Most builds are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 5.0.0 Alpha 1

• Mixer has been improved to include per-voice volume, moved to audiomixer and is only available on M4s. Thanks to @deanm1278, @sommersoft and @jepler
• Adds .hidden property to displayio.Group and displayio.TileGrid. Thanks to @tannewt
• Add beginnings of STM32F4 USB support. Thanks to @hierophect
• Fix DotStar status led by correctly adding additional clocks. Usually shows as purple incorrectly. Thanks to @jerryneedell and @dhalbert.
• Fix Display.rotation. Thanks to @dastels
• Update Chinese Pinyin translation. Thanks to @hexthat
• Fix displayio.I2CDisplay to correctly release bus. Thanks to @jerryneedell and @tannewt
• Fix _stage to correctly work after display refactor. Thanks to @deshipu

New and Improved Boards

No new boards.

Breaking Changes and Deprecations from 4.x!

• The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. wait_for_frame and refresh_soon have been removed. In both 4.x and 5.x, auto refresh will automatically refresh the display so they can be removed. The new auto_refresh property and refresh() function can be used to control when the screen refreshes and at a specific rate.
• The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes since 4.0.0. The _bleio API is a work in progress and will change as 5.0.0 progresses. Please use the latest pre-release adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming. The adafruit_ble library is evolving too but will hide underlying changes in _bleio.
• Move audioio.Mixer to audiomixer.Mixer and is only available on M4s. Move audioio.RawSample, and audioio.WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.
• Add I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg which will be removed in 6.x. Use I2C.writeto_then_readfrom() instead.

Known Issues

• See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.
• Pin A1 on Circuit Playground Bluefruit is not functional, due to a typo in the pin mapping table.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@_cli_ninja, @anecdata, @AnthonyDiGirolamo, @arturo182, @ATMakersBill, @bmeisels, @brentru, @C47D, @caternuson, @CedarGroveStudios, @charlesburnaford, @dastels, @Ddbricetti, @davep, @deanm1278, @deshipu, @devoh, @dhalbert, @fede2, @hathach, @hexthat, @hierophect, @hybotics, @jasonp, @jepler, @jerryneedell, @josh, @jp, @kattni, @kevinjwalters, @klardotsh, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matthewnewberg, @MikeB, @MrCertainly, @mytechnotalent, @nickzoic, @ntavish, @ntoll, @OldCrow, @pt, @reply2jh, @rhooper, @s-light, @sajattack, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tammymakesthings, @tannewt, @TG-Techie, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 5.0.0-alpha.1.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 5.0.0-alpha.1

This is an Alpha Release

This is alpha release number 1 of CircuitPython 5.0.0. Alpha releases are meant for testing. Use the latest stable 4.x release when first starting with CircuitPython.

When you find a bug please check the current known issues and file an issue if something isn't already known.

5.0.0

5.0.0 is the latest major revision of CircuitPython. It features many improvements and enhancements to displayio, including grayscale and e-paper displays, extensive additions and changes to BLE support, and PWM audio support.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

Most builds are available as both UF2 and bin files here along with test builds.

New Features, Updates, and Fixes since 4.1.0

• displayio has been extensively improved and extended. Thanks @tannewt. Other contributors also noted.

  • Add support for monochrome and grayscale displays.
  • Add support for many kinds of e-paper/e-ink displays
  • Add support for I2C displays such as OLED displays.
  • The displayio refresh API has been revamped to be simpler. This is an incompatible change.
  • Clean up display when terminal starts starts. Thanks @brentru.
  • Add fill_row() and add rotation property. Thanks @dastels.

• BLE support has had extensive additions and changes. Thanks @dhalbert.

  • Add Central support: scan for advertisements and act as a service client. (Central and Scanner).
  • A Peripheral can now discover services provided by a central, and act as a BLE client in addition to being a server.
  • Descriptors can now be discovered and specified.
  • Attribute data lengths can now be specified.
  • Add security support, including legacy pairing and encryption, and attribute security. Bonding implementation is in progress.
  • The default CIRCUITPY device name is now CIRCUITPYxxxx, where xxxx is the last four hex digits of the address, allowing multiple devices to be distinguished.
  • The bleio module has been renamed to _bleio to indicate that it is meant to be used only for writing BLE libraries, and that its API may change between CircuitPython minor versions. There are many incompatible changes since 4.0.0. The _bleio API is a work in progress and will change as 5.0.0 progresses. Please use the latest pre-release adafruit_ble library for end-user BLE programming. The adafruit_ble library is evolving too but will hide underlying changes in _bleio.

• Audio changes and fixes:

• Add PWMAudioOut to provide audio output on nRF boards. Thanks @jepler.

• Fix Audio DMA hangs. Thanks @jepler.

• Move Mixer, RawSample, and WaveFile to the new module audiocore. However, for backwards compatibility, they are still available in audioio. They will be removed from audioio in 6.0.0. Thanks @jepler.

• Allow using a pre-allocated buffer in WaveFile. Thanks @deshipu.

• The generic touchio support implemented for nRF is now available for all boards without specialized touch support, notably SAMD51 boards. Thanks @nickzoic and @dhalbert.

• Add I2C.writeto_then_readfrom(). Deprecate stop= arg. Thanks @tannewt. All applicable libraries were updated to take advantage of this change. Thanks @kattni, @caternuson, and @jerryneedell for testing all these changes on hardware.

• Fix a bug on nRF boards without 32Khz crystals. Thanks @bmeisels and @dhalbert.

• Fix a pin validation bug in rotaryio. Thanks @dhalbert.

• Update to latest version of TinyUSB. Thanks @hathach for continuing improvements and fixes to TinyUSB.

• Fix potential crashes in time methods. Thanks @jepler.

• Fix USB hangs while using adafruit_hid. Thanks @jepler.

• Enable LTO compilation on nRF boards. Thanks @jepler.

• Build feature enhancements to support minimal build when working on a port. Thanks @hierophect.

• Add scaling support and fix some bugs to _stage. Thanks @deshipu.

• Fix nRF timer definitions. Thanks @ntavish.

• Add on_next_reset() to nRF build. Thanks jepler.

• Add more Pinyin translations. Thanks @hexthat.

• Automate support matrix (which boards support which modules) in documentations. Thanks @sommersoft.

• Make sure new board definitions are being built. Thanks @C47D.

• Update Arch Linux gcc installation instructions. Thanks @AnthonyDiGirolamo.

• The continuous integration builds have been moved from Travis to GitHub actions. More simultaneous jobs are available, speeding up the builds considerably. This does not affect the code, but speeds up the PR cycle. Thanks @tannewt.

New and Improved Boards

• Adafruit HalloWing M4 Express. Thanks @tannewt.
• PyPortal Titano. Thanks @brentru.
• Adafruit MONSTER M4SK. Thanks @tannewt.
• Adafruit Circuit Playground Bluefruit. Thanks @dhalbert
• Start of major port to STM32F4 boards, starting with STM32F411 and STM32F412. Thanks @hierophect.
• Robohat MM1 M4. Thanks @wallarug.
• Blip board improvements. Thanks @ntavish.
• Snekboard. Thanks @keith-packard.

Breaking Changes from 4.x!

• See above, especially in displayio, bleio (now _bleio), and audioio.

Known Issues

See https://github.com/adafruit/circuitpython/issues.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@_cli_ninja, @anecdata, @AnthonyDiGirolamo, @arturo182, @ATMakersBill, @bmeisels, @brentru, @C47D, @caternuson, @CedarGroveStudios, @charlesburnaford, @dastels, @Ddbricetti, @davep, @deshipu, @devoh, @dhalbert, @fede2, @hathach, @hexthat, @hierophect, @hybotics, @jasonp, @jepler, @jerryneedell, @josh, @jp, @kattni, @kevinjwalters, @klardotsh, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matthewnewberg, @MikeB, @MrCertainly, @mytechnotalent, @nickzoic, @ntavish, @ntoll, @OldCrow, @pt, @reply2jh, @rhooper, @s-light, @sajattack, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tammymakesthings, @tannewt, @TG-Techie, @wallarug and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 4.1.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having issues, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

Assets

Builds are no longer stored as assets on this release page, because there are too many of them. Please see the Download from circuitpython.org section above.

CircuitPython 4.1.0

4.1.0's biggest feature is speed! General execution of Python should be 2-5x faster and display refreshing will be faster as well.

It shouldn't break any code compatible with previous 4.x releases.

Download it now from circuitpython.org. See here for the full release notes.

Over 60 boards are now supported by CircuitPython 4.1.0. Check out the new circuitpython.org/downloads page for full list of all available versions.

It's not too late to contribute to CircuitPython! Check out this guide for details. We're always looking to improve and expect many stable releases in the 4.x line to happen through the summer. Subscribe to the Python for Microcontrollers newsletter on adafruitdaily.com for the latest news for all things Python.

circuitpython.org

Downloads are now available from circuitpython.org! This site makes it much easier to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Fixes and Features since 4.1.0-rc.1

• None! This is identical to 4.1.0-rc.1 except for the version number.

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@adafruit, @alexhagerman, @anecdata, @ATMakersBill, @baorepo, @C47D, @deshipu, @dhalbert, @elvis-epx, @iot49, @jandjstudios, @jpecor, @jreese, @kattni, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matt-land, @mikedigitalhome, @mr. Certainly, @mrmcwethy, @ntavish, @ptorrone, @rce1086, @shazz, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tannewt, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 4.1.0-rc.1.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

CircuitPython 4.1.0 Release Candidate 1

4.1.0's biggest feature is speed! General execution of Python should be 2-5x faster and display refreshing will be faster as well.

This is the first and hopefully last release candidate. It shouldn't break any code compatible with previous 4.x releases. Please use the latest 4.x stable release (available from the new website!) when first starting with CircuitPython. It is stable.

Download it now from circuitpython.org. See here for the full release notes.

Over 60 boards are now supported by CircuitPython 4.1.0. Check out the new circuitpython.org/downloads page for full list of all available versions.

It's not too late to contribute to CircuitPython! Check out this guide for details. We're always looking to improve and expect many stable releases in the 4.x line to happen through the summer. Subscribe to the Python for Microcontrollers newsletter on adafruitdaily.com for the latest news for all things Python.

circuitpython.org

Downloads are now available from circuitpython.org! This site makes it much easier to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Fixes and Features since 4.1.0-rc.0

• Fix Bitmap so it causes screen refreshes. Thanks to @tannewt
• Bitmaps track a dirty area so that TileGrids that just show a full Bitmap are minimally refreshed. This speeds up examples like paint and turtle. Thanks to @tannewt

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@adafruit, @alexhagerman, @anecdata, @ATMakersBill, @baorepo, @C47D, @deshipu, @dhalbert, @elvis-epx, @iot49, @jandjstudios, @jpecor, @jreese, @kattni, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matt-land, @Mikebarela, @mr. Certainly, @mrmcwethy, @ntavish, @ptorrone, @rce1086, @shazz, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tannewt, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 4.1.0-rc.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.

CircuitPython 4.1.0 Release Candidate 0

4.1.0's biggest feature is speed! General execution of Python should be 2-5x faster and display refreshing will be faster as well.

This is the first and hopefully last release candidate. It shouldn't break any code compatible with previous 4.x releases. Please use the latest 4.x stable release (available from the new website!) when first starting with CircuitPython. It is stable.

Download it now from circuitpython.org. See here for the full release notes.

Over 60 boards are now supported by CircuitPython 4.1.0. Check out the new circuitpython.org/downloads page for full list of all available versions.

It's not too late to contribute to CircuitPython! Check out this guide for details. We're always looking to improve and expect many stable releases in the 4.x line to happen through the summer. Subscribe to the Python for Microcontrollers newsletter on adafruitdaily.com for the latest news for all things Python.

circuitpython.org

Downloads are now available from circuitpython.org! This site makes it much easier to select the correct file and language for your board. The downloads page is here.

Installation

To install follow the instructions in our new Welcome to CircuitPython! guide. To install the latest libraries, see this page in that guide.

Try the latest version of the Mu editor for creating and editing your CircuitPython programs and for easy access to the CircuitPython serial connection (the REPL).

New Fixes and Features since 4.1.0-beta.1

• Underlying support for RGB status LEDs. Thanks to @C47D
• Correct UART TX pin on SAMD51. Thanks to @rce1086
• Increase busio.UART maximum RX buffer size. Thanks to @iot49
• Swap terminal font on ugame10. Thanks to @deshipu

New Boards

• Adafruit PyRuler. Thanks @kattni
• J&J Studios datum-Distance. Thanks to @jandjstudios
• J&J Studios datum-IMU. Thanks to @jandjstudios
• J&J Studios datum-Light. Thanks to @jandjstudios
• J&J Studios datum-Weather. Thanks to @jandjstudios

Thanks

Thank you to all who used, tested, contributed, helped out, and participated on GitHub and/or Discord:
@adafruit, @alexhagerman, @anecdata, @ATMakersBill, @baorepo, @C47D, @deshipu, @dhalbert, @elvis-epx, @iot49, @jandjstudios, @jpecor, @jreese, @kattni, @ladyada, @madbodger, @makermelissa, @matt-land, @Mikebarela, @mr. Certainly, @mrmcwethy, @ntavish, @ptorrone, @rce1086, @shazz, @siddacious, @sommersoft, @tannewt, and surely more we have missed. Join us on the Discord chat to collaborate.

Documentation

Documentation is available in readthedocs.io.

Here are all the changes since 4.1.0-beta.0.

This release is based on MicroPython 1.9.4 @25ae98f. Support upstream MicroPython by purchasing a PyBoard (from Adafruit here).

Troubleshooting

Check out this guide for info on common problems with CircuitPython. If you are still having, then post to the Adafruit Support Forums and join Discord.