I looked at how frequent binaries got released on github.
In 2023 there was release 1.2.0 , 1.3.0, 1.4.0, 1.5.0, 1.5.1, 1.6.0 and 1.7.0.
In 2024 there was a single release 1.8.0 that got a smaller fix in january 2025 1.8.1.
The 1.8 version had many changes. For sure enough to make many different releases over the year.
Is there a special reason why the release versions are not that frequent any more and the project is collecting a bigger amount of changes before a new release is build?
I see it a benefit when users could test new features more often.
Also from the security point of view there is a benefit when the ESP-IDF gets updated more often.
We have a development portal available with nightly builds that enables this:
The primary challenge with more frequent releases is the testing process, which requires several full days of work. While some of this testing is automated, we still need to manually test across various hardware platforms — a time-consuming effort.
To reduce this workload, we’ve streamlined our supported hardware by discontinuing support for Arduino UNO and MEGA boards.
If users are interested in helping with pre-release testing, we would greatly appreciate volunteers. Your support can help us release updates more frequently while ensuring stability and reliability.