Month: July 2025

July 2025 SL Mobile UG meeting summary: latest releases

Posted on by Inara Pey
Campwich Forest grounds: location for the Monthly Mobile User Group (MMUG)
The following notes were taken from the Thursday, July 31st 2025 Monthly Mobile User Group (MMUG) meeting.

These notes should not be taken as a full transcript of the meeting, which was largely held in Voice, but rather a summary of the key topics discussed. The meeting was recorded by Pantera, and her video is embedded at the end of this summary – my thanks, as always to her in providing it.
Table of Contents

Meeting Purpose

  • The Mobile User Group provides a platform to share insights on recent mobile updates and upcoming features, and to receive feedback directly from users.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
    • The last Thursday of every month at 12:00 noon SLT.
    • In Voice and text.
    • At Campwich Forest.
  • Meetings are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
  • Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.

Resources

Release Updates

[Video: 4:46-10:20]

Latest Releases

Version: 2025.7.560 (Android) – July 23 / 0.1.557 (iOS) – July 22.

Updates

  • Work has been devoted to overcoming some significant infrastructure issues:
    • A bug within one of the core networking libraries resulted in app update cause significant problems for users in the Alpha programme, who received the update first.
    • As a result, the library in question was been updated, but was then found to be incompatible with the version of Unity SL Mobile uses, necessitating a Unity update.
    • Most of this work has gone ahead and is working, although the network-related upgrades still need further testing (e.g. maintaining a connection to the servers when switching from a wifi connection to cellular, or vice-versa).
  • The network upgrade should result in generally better performance.
  • The Unity upgrade brings with it a new renderer, which should offer improved performance across the majority of devices, and the ability for LL to maintain compatibility with newer mobile ‘phones and OS versions.
    • [Video: 25:19-25:52] this upgrade will not directly address issues of rotations being off, textures changing after loading, etc. However, the Lab would like more bug reports sent directly from the app on these types of issue to help identify potential causes.
  • As soon as there is confidence in these updates, a new release of the app will be made.

Upcoming Camera Improvements

[Video: 10:57-14:09]

  • Reset Camera button, which will be displayed when the two-finger swipe to detach the camera from the avatar is used.
  • Rotate around current camera position when the camera is detached from the avatar.
  • Zoom in and out from the current camera position when detached from the avatar.
  • First-person (Mouselook) view.

Feedback on App Notifications

[Video: 14:38-19:53]

  • LL recently started “playing around with some app notifications” (e.g. tips and tricks, links to events, etc.).
  • A request was made to have the ability to opt-in to specific types of event notifications (e.g. only those related to SL sports events or those related to role-play events, etc).
  • Concerned was voiced (by the LL folk at the meeting about the risk of spamming people by sending out too many notifications, but this did not appear to be an issue for those attending the meeting.

In Brief

Please refer to the video for details on the following and other questions which may have had a simple “yes” or “in progress” reply.

  • [Video: 20:01-21:34] Multi-factor Authentication – Make the mobile app a factor in MFA via notification like “Are you trying to log in…?” – seen as a good idea, and something even those at the Lab would like (as all LL accounts use MFA), but it is not currently on the immediate SL Mobile roadmap, due to the complexities in building it out.
  • [Video: 22:01-23:31] Continuity of messages and notification between Mobile and Desktop (e.g. so users get a full history of messages, etc., when moving between Mobile and Desktop):
    • This is a significant project, and requires a fair amount of back-end work involving the server teams as well as the Mobile team.
    • However, it also encompasses the ability for users not to be logged-out of their Desktop session should they log-in on SL Mobile as well.
    • It is hoped that this work, which had been awaiting resources, will be picked-up in early August, with the potential for a more definitive timeline for the release of these capabilities being available at the next Mobile User Group meeting.
  • [Video: 24:21-24:52] Displaying text messages from in-world objects (e.g. via llSay; llInstantMessage, etc.): this is apparently awaiting some UI/UX work, but Pluto Linden was not available at the meeting to address the state of the work.
  • [Video: 29:09-30:55] Inventory access, new users, and future work:
    • First step is to add support for the Avatar Welcome Pack available to the Desktop and Project Zero (viewer in a browser).
    • This is seen as a placeholder to help incoming new users to be able to dress their avatars.
    • Work on inventory access in general on Mobile is described as being a long road. Planning for the next tranche of work on Mobile will be a mix of things for new users to get their bearings and “fall in love with Second Life”, and features to help existing users further augment their Second Life using Mobile.

Date of Next Meeting

LL announce a pause in the current SL AI character designer project

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

On Thursday, July 31st, Linden Lab provided an update on the AI Character Generation project which indicates it it to be paused / closed at the start of September.

The project was initially launched in December 2024 and powered by Convai, a platform for developers and creators proving an intuitive approach to designing characters with multimodal perception abilities in both virtual and real world environments (see: Linden Lab leverage Convai for AI character generation in Second Life). However, it was shortly thereafter suspended as a result of community feedback, before being re-launched to a wider audience of potential users at the end of February 2025.

The Character Designer was launched as an experimental feature to explore the potential of AI-powered characters in Second Life. Built in collaboration with our AI technology partner Convai, this tool enabled residents to create interactive, virtual characters with conversational capabilities.
From elaborate roleplay scenarios to immersive visitor greeters, your projects and feedback have been invaluable. This pause gives us time to carefully evaluate everything we’ve learned and determine how best to evolve this technology in a way that aligns with the broader future of Second Life.
This is not the end of AI in Second Life; rather, it is a thoughtful pause as we refine our strategy and continue exploring new opportunities for innovation.

– Linden Lab blog post

The “pause” is set to come into effect from Monday, September 1st, 2025, with the Lab further noting that as of that date:

  • It will no longer be possible to create, deploy, or run AI Characters using the Character Designer interface.
  • Characters created through the Designer will no longer function or appear in-world.
  • Previously created characters and their memory will not be retained post-pause.
  • Any alt accounts created specifically for testing the Character Generator will remain valid Second Life accounts, and can be logged into just like any other alt account.

Community support for the project will continue through the following channels:

  • A dedicated forum thread for on-going Q&A and feedback.
  • Second Life Discord for real-time responses from staff and developers.
  • Support Portal for any account-specific issues.

In addition, those who have used the Character Generator are encouraged to record their work during the wind-down period and share video through the forum thread or suitable platforms.

The sunsetting of this project does not mean the end of further possible projects and experiments in the use of AI technologies, with the blog post also stating:

 This is not the end of AI features in Second Life—we’re using this moment to regroup and plan for future development … We are actively and cautiously experimenting with other AI technologies to enhance Second Life’s creative potential, performance, and immersion. The insights from this project are already helping to inform future efforts.

For further information, please refer to the official blog post, which includes a short-term FAQ.

A Further Reality Escape in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Reality Escape, July 2025 – click any image for full size

It’s been just four months since my last visit to Reality Escape, the Full private region held by Tripty (triptychlysl). It’s a place I appreciated at the time (as noted in A Reality Escape in Second Life), both for its own beauty and for the way it carried forward themes and elements found in Tripty’s earlier build, Books, Coffee and Chairs, Oh My! which I’d visited in 2023. So when Tripty dropped an invite on me to come visit the latest iteration of the setting, I was only too happy to accept.

Tripty’s region builds are always somewhat personal to her, something made gently clear by a sign waiting to be found within the landscape: WARNING You Are About To Enter Someone Else’s Dream. However, it’s a dream that likely resonates with  anyone visiting the setting, allowing Reality Escape to live up to its name: a place we can all visit and experience a season of escape and indulge in a little dreaming of our own.

Reality Escape, July 2025

As with its previous iteration, this version of Reality Escape once again embraces three comforts I always appreciate: coffee, chairs and books; it also embraces some familiar motifs echoing Tripty’s past builds.

The Landing Point sits to the west of the setting, where wooden decks, complete and partially complete, all standing at the water’s edge with those that are complete offering outdoor seating from the Reality Escape coffee house. From here, the island offers a west-east orientation, with a smaller island to its eastern extent and two very small isles lying just off the coast, one of which lies between Reality Escape and Tripty’s private home and workspace within the adjoining region.

Reality Escape, July 2025

A number of routes of exploration are available from the Landing Point. For example, you can go through the café and the arch of rock beyond it to ravel along the middle of the main island; or you can take the path on the left side of the café as it offers access to paths on the island’s north side and along its coast. Or you can veer to the right of the coffee house and either head down to a small meadow and pond sitting on a little headland, or take another path rising up towards the island’s middle, or follow that path part way up the island and then turn aside to follow the trail and decks offering views and a walks along the southern coast.

What matters here is not the path you take, but the time you take in exploring; while the island might be comparatively small, it is rich in detail, large and small. Some of the obvious locations are sure to attract the eye and camera. One of these are the decks reaching out over the southern waters with their intervening chair bridges, and chair tower and arch – the latter offering a memory of both the setting’s previous iteration and that of Books, Coffee and Chairs, Oh My without imitating either.

Reality Escape, July 2025

Balancing this on the north side of the island is what I think is Reality Escape’s most engaging feature within this iteration. It is here that a slender finger extends out from the island proper, wetlands and shallows at its feet, its sides hanging with ivy and railings along its top marking the route of a path along its back.

Only this is no rocky promontory. Instead, it comprises a series of giant books either stacked up or standing upright or on their edges (allowing their spines to act as the walkway). Thy overlook more giant books floating on the water below, their pages open, together with the words Knowledge Is Power – a valuable admonition is this age where ignorance or falsity are increasingly valued over knowledge, experience and expertise.

Reality Escape, July 2025

With swings and sit points, this promontory is both imaginative and attractive. It is also braced by two more features. To the west of it, and looking like a great flat shelf of rock, lies another giant book its cover festooned with grass and more ivy hanging down from it. Sitting on it is a table set for a tea party and seemingly just missing a certain chap in a hat, a March hare, a dormouse and their guest. To its eastern side, wooden decks and steps descend the cliffs beyond to reach the wetlands whilst offering places to sit of their own.

The smaller details come in many forms and are all-encompassing. From the natural beauty of the setting with its burst of flowers and colour, to the presence of the cats and rabbits keeping an eye on things and the signage to be found scattered around, through the bees busily collecting pollen, these little touch add so much sense of life to the setting. I also liked the little touches of humour, such as the seagull cadging a ride rather than flying himself, or the stone Tibetan monks, one of whom is clutching a curious choice of book…

Reality Escape, July 2025

The little island to the east is neatly linked to the main isle by the hollowed-out trunk of a giant sequoia tree. This bridges the waters between the two, meaning there is no need to get wet feet when moving between them. Small it might be, but with its pond, garden and open-fronted pavilion (where fortune readings can be obtained), it has an attractiveness entirely of its own whilst also fully in keeping with the rest of the setting.

Throughout all of this are multiple places to sit and pass the time. These come in many forms, while most of the chairs in the region offer artistic statements (such as those mentioned above) more than presenting a place to sit. Which is not to say they cannot be sit upon; I enjoyed a latte whilst sitting amidst one chair tower!

Reality Escape, July 2025

As noted, this iteration of Reality Escape might appear small, but it packs a lot into it – more than I’ve described here. As such, I not only suggest you go see it for yourself, but that you allow time to explore all its trails and paths, nooks and crannies and allow the islands and their accompanying sound scape smooth away worries and concerns.

My thanks to Tripty for the invitation to re-visit!

Reality Escape, July 2025

SLurl Details

2025 week #31: SUG Leviathan Hour

Posted on by Inara Pey
TNC Commons, May 2025 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, July 29th, 2025 Simulator User Group (SUG) off-week meeting (which I’ll be referring to as the “SUG Leviathan Hour” going forward). These notes form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript. The notes were taken from my chat log of the meeting and Patera’s video, which is embedded at the end of this article – my thanks to her for providing it.

Meeting Overview

  • The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas is held every other Tuesday at 12:00 noon, SLT (holidays, etc., allowing), per the Second Life Public Calendar.
  • The “SUG Leviathan Hour” meetings are held on the Tuesdays which do not have a formal SUG meeting, and are chaired by Leviathan Linden. They are more brainstorming / general discussion sessions.
  • Meetings are held in text in-world, at this location.

Simulator Deployments

  • There are no planned deployments to any channels this week, only restarts.

In Brief

Also refer to the video for the full meeting.

  • Leviathan has turned his attention back to the issue of some people experiencing failures on logging-in, which he describes thus:
So… the problem is the login.cgi computes a big “viewer return value” (aka the VRV) which it sends back [to the viewer]. It has “Content-type: llsd+xml” header on it, and can be several MB in size. It contains, among other things, the list of your friends, groups, and a skeleton summary of all of your inventory folders. When the data package is very big and your download rate is low… it can take a while for it to arrive. If it takes too long the viewer can timeout on the request… even though login.cgi thought it “succeeded” and sent an alert to the Region where you were supposed to arrive.

– Leviathan Linden

Leviathan believe one aspect that makes the VRV so big is the number of folders within inventory (not the contents of folders, just the count of folders). However, Leviathan believes he has a solution (which is pending deployment):

So anyway: a relatively simple change on the login server allows the data to be gzipped, which can speed up the transmission … The Second Life Viewer (SLV) uses libcurl for its http requests, and it can handle gzipped data implicitly. Any viewer that picked up that capability from SLV should see benefits when login gets the update.

– Leviathan Linden

  • Another issue Leviathan is looking into a bug where Premium+ users can’t upload mesh for L$0 after crossing a region boundary, although he hasn’t found a root cause as yet.
  • There is apparently some exploratory work going on with in the engineering team(s) on the potential to use AI tools for code generation.
  • An update to SLua is in development, and might be deployed to Aditi (the beta grid) in the next week or so.
  • A general discussion on the (currently stalled) game_control project. As noted in my previous Leviathan Hour summary, the game_control work (and the work for a Linux version of the SL Viewer) is currently archived during the most recent switch to the viewer development and release workflow.
  • A Function to Detect Right click (which has it own debate) was raised. Leviathan Linden noted there subject is stalled. This led to an extended discussion on the ticket, and the issue(s) it encompasses. This discussion extended to one on Touch Pointer Capture, together with ideas for extended mouse hover operations, and expanded use of the mouse scroll wheel.

Date of Next Meetings

  • Formal SUG meeting: Tuesday, August 5th, 2025.
  • Leviathan Linden: Tuesday, August 26th, 2025, due to Leviathan being on vacation (unless he can find a volunteer to fill-in for him).

† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.

Lost Place of Norbu: a sub-tropical jewel in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025 – click any image for full size

Designed by Miri (SilentChloe), Lost Place of Norbu is located within a Homestead region and offers  a sub-tropical setting which fully lives up to the Tibetan meaning of its name – “jewel”.

The setting is presented as two islands set within an azure sea and sitting just off what appears to be a rugged and wooded coastal headland. The larger of the two islands is partially surrounded by a sandy beach, the sands of which also reach across the intervening shallows to brush against the smaller island.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

Defined within its About Land description as a lost place near Taiwan, this adult-rated setting offers a lot to appreciate in a relatively small area (a good portion of the region being given over to sandy shallows); including places to sit and pass the time, assorted wildlife, and a partially hidden location that might easily be missed in a rushed visit.

The Landing Point sits on the north side of the region within the aforementioned shallows and facing the larger of the two islands. In appearance, this island almost has the look of a volcanic uprising about it; a tall peak rising from the sands to sit as a high plateau dominated by a huge headless, one-armed statue which may have once represented Buddha.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

Densely canopied with the kind of foliage one might reasonably expect to see somewhere close to Taiwan (itself noted for its sub-topical evergreen forest), the bulk of the this peak – which put me in mind of the sold basalt core of a long-dead volcano – is hidden from the Landing Point by this green canopy, causing the eyes to be drawn to the shoulder of rock extending into the sea on the island’s on its north side and the single-storey wooden building standing upon it.

Reached via a set of stone steps rising from the beach between two lines of bamboo trees, the build mixes places to sit, enjoy Japanese tea or engage in Adult activities, its cool interior.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

Behind it, meanwhile, a path arcs around the eastern side of the main peak, travelling through a small Zen garden and under a Torii gate to reach a southern shelf of rock extending out over the southern waters. Another, stone Buddha, small than the one on the island’s peak and semi-clothed in moss, sits within a stream of water running outward across this rock shelf and fed by a waterfall at its inland end, and which drops into the waters below at its outer end. A simple wooden boardwalk crosses this stream, allowing visitors to follow the path onwards, and so circumnavigate the island’s peak and return down the stone steps back to the beach.

As the sands of the beach do not fully encircle the island, it is impossible to use them as a similar means of circumnavigation, but follow them west and then around to the south from the landing point, and you’ll find yourself passing under the shelf of rock where “little Buddha” sits, then onwards to the island’s hidden gem.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

Guarded by a mix of tall pagoda-like lamps and a Torii gate, all of which stand ankle-deep in lilies and other greenery happy to grow in the shallows, together with hovering water lily lanterns, sits the Shibari House.

Almost entirely hidden from view from above thanks to the rain forest canopy, the name of this place might sound like it is a centre for Adult activities. However, whilst such activities are possible, unless in actual use during a visit, they and cleverly hidden away, allowing the place to apparently take its name from the artwork mounted on the walls of the open-air rotunda.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

Across the sandy shallows and tucked into the south-west corner of the region, the smaller of the two islands is equally as rugged as the larger and well canopied by sub-tropical foliage. A little harder to get around, it offers numerous places both beach-side and up among the rocks of s backbone to sit and pass the time, including an onsen watched over by egrets and with its outer ring of water patrolled by large koi carp.

If the onsen is not to your liking, then there is a waterside gazebo where it is possible to keep an eye on the location’s three elephants. I’m not sure how they found their way here, but they appear to be enjoying wading around in the warm waters, whilst colourful birds circle overhead. Some of the latter appear to appreciate the presence of a Japanese dragon fountain as it dribbles water from a rocky outcrop part-way up the side of the island. It sits close to another little retreat overlooking the Onsen, but I confess I had to resort sitting on the couch within it in order to reach , as I couldn’t find a path up to it.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

It is in several of the couches, chairs and sit points in general that the setting’s more adult nature can be found, rather than in anything overtly displayed; thus, there is nothing within Norbu that might offend the sensitive when visiting. Rather, this is a peaceful setting which genuinely offers a lot to see, appreciate and to photograph.

Finished with a (perhaps too) subtle soundscape and presented within an appropriate EEP setting, Norbu offers an engaging fusion of ideas: a sub-tropical island off the coast of Taiwan but with a strong Japanese influence, wandering elephants, and even a little puffin enjoying a little bit of a tropical vacation. As such, it is well-worth the time taken to visit it.

Lost Place of Norbu, July 2025

SLurl Details

2025 SL viewer release summaries week #30

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week through to Sunday, July 27th, 2025

This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:

  • It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy.
  • This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
  • Outside of the Official viewer, and as a rule, alpha / beta / nightly or release candidate viewer builds are not included; although on occasions, exceptions might be made.

Official LL Viewers

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V7-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • SL Mobile (Beta) version 2025.7.560 (A) – July 23 / 0.1.557 (iOS) – July 22.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links