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Question Performances: Filtering out weak Android phones (Google Play Console)

Discussion in 'Android' started by Starbox, May 31, 2021.

  1. Starbox

    Starbox

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    Sep 17, 2014
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    I went looking into the pre-publishing section of my app to see what issues creeped up and looked into the Performances section.
    There was a little video there and I saw a Google tester struggling with my simple app, with the game obviously being slow as hell and highly unresponsive. The phone had a Mediatek MT6737M chipset (cheapset yeah) but I do not know all types of chipsets and configurations that simply suck.

    So, is there any efficient way to filter out all the crappy Android phones that can make one's app run slowly and suffer bad framerates, stuttering, hectic touch responsiveness or long frame displays?

    I'd rather limit the range of devices that can receive the app than risk having it be shot down in reviews posted by angry users who use budget phones.

    And, just wondering, is there a point to publishing for Armv7?

    P.S.: Android audio is S***, but that's beside the point. :)
     
  2. AcidArrow

    AcidArrow

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    https://support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/7353455?hl=en
    Yes. Last time I checked 64bit is still not universally supported on android.
    Are you getting glitches? That's totally Unity's fault.
     
  3. Starbox

    Starbox

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    I actually already landed there but hardly had enough solid data to build rules. Some phones are well optimized and manage lower quantities of RAM adequately while others are perf hogs and would just ruin anything. I couldn't even know if it's the processor's fault really or a bad implementation on the manufacturer's part.
    The filtering is going to take a lot of time.

    Well I can see myself not caring much about universality if going for maximum support means terrible experiences for millions of users. My rather rough opinion is not to care about them but some might disagree. The plans are for a massive shift towards a full 64 bits environment around 2022-23. In this article they also say;

    Big architectures with 64-bits OSes is a combination found on expensive phones (4Gb+ of RAM usually). So one has to take into account the revenue strategy too since if you go mainly for IAPs, then your core of whales might be in that upper tier, but also how many players you actually need.

    There's a plugin to correct that but I also remember reading that it was not exclusive to Unity, although it appears Unity seriously amplifies the issue at hand, depending on the phone being involved. I wouldn't mind an average of 40ms but some of my testing phones suffer much greater latencies. It's making the game unplayable and that's another reason why I'd filter out some devices if I knew how to target all of those that would likely present the same problems, but I understand that's data almost impossible to get one's hands on.
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2021
  4. AcidArrow

    AcidArrow

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    We had many issues with glitches that went away when we moved the audio to FMOD Studio. Also older versions of Unity didn’t have this issue, it is Unity’s fault.
     
  5. Starbox

    Starbox

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    You discover something everyday, I didn't have that one in mind and I'm surprised by its freeness. Is there a catch?
    More importantly, does it solve major lag issues while allowing me to continue using sound modifiers through Unity's mixer?
    Overall I look at the installation procedure and it just tires me. I've been adding, modifying, implementing tons of plugins and fiddling with updates, I'm not really willing to add another layer of tools to correct one single issue that's caused at the engine's level.
    Obviously not all devices come with AAudio either.
     
  6. AcidArrow

    AcidArrow

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    For over 200k revenue per year or over 500k budget, you need to pay a fee per game.
    You also need to put their logo in your splash.
    Unity's mixer gets disabled if you use it.
     
  7. Starbox

    Starbox

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    Yes, all solutions thus far render Unity's sound management moot. Goodbye effects and all that. It's so absurd.
     
  8. Starbox

    Starbox

    Joined:
    Sep 17, 2014
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    It is most painful to exclude devices. Filters only filter the search (displayed devices) but I haven't found a way to translate the filters into an inclusion or exclusion list for publishing.
    Thus far, I first create filters for the devices I want to exclude so that these devices, and only them, appear.
    Then I have to force the console to display 500 devices, select all of them with the box at the top of the selection column.
    Since the selection system is very stupid and coded by monkeys, the main selection box at the top of the selection column is:

    - general to all pages in that it won't untick itself as I navigate through all the pages.
    - not general as it will select only all devices on the current page.
    - general since if you click on it and it was already ticked, you will lose the selection of the other pages.

    You can verify this as the number of selected devices is indicated at the bottom of the page. If you tick the box, it will show you something like more than 500 devices selected, but it will never go above that if you try to make several selections at once across many pages, unless you decide to pick each device one by one. :confused:
    So, in order not to lose the amount of devices currently selected on a given page, you must already press "exclude [these] devices" (that's the big blue button that will validate your exclusion selection). Once you do that, you'll be automatically kicked out of the exclusion mode.
    Meaning that you to scroll up the whole list, then press "manage devices" and again, then, "exclude devices", then scroll down again to display the next page. Page Up and Page Down buttons are most useful here, I can tell you that!
    Fortunately, in all this mess, the page index is not reset so you stay on the last one.
    Oh and every time you will be nagged by a popup that asks you if you're sure you want to exclude some 500 S***ty devices.

    Yes, I might be the only person doing this in the world since obviously this tool has barely been improved upon and used otherwise I'm sure a lot of people would have complained how complicated and tedious this whole process quickly becomes, but doing this I know that I have filtered out a whole chunk of Android devices which I know will be bad because of their low specs. Or maybe others devs have already written their own robot that does it automatically, I suppose.
     
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2021
  9. Starbox

    Starbox

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    LOLOLO I found a hack.
    Select all devices with the top box (main button at the top of the selection column), then go to the next page and then tick the box of the first device at the top of the list: it will put the top box in a state wherein it can be pressed because it's in "partial selection" (you might even have a dash to appear inside it if you're lucky).
    As you press it, it will indeed select all devices on the current page.
    DO NOT PRESS IT TWICE ON THE SAME PAGE OR YOU WILL LOSE ALL YOUR SELECTION!
    Rince and repeat until you reach the last page and then press "exclude [these] devices".