Kindle Fire first tests with Corona
Posted on Thu, 2011-11-17 23:56
Hello I just received my Kindle Fire and was wondering if anyone has tested it against their Corona SDK app. I've made a small puzzle game, tested against an iPad1 and it runs fine but on a Kindle Fire I see some weirdness. Any thoughts? The [+2] thing is how many people have experienced the same issue. Thanks!
- [+2] Alpha PNGs look like their slightly off, like their alpha isn't entirely on. When I dissolve into another image I see a brief flicker. You gotta look closely.
- Touch seems laggy compared to iPad1. I guess that's expected.
- [+2] Audio sounds like its off by half a second. I'm using audio.play with WAV & MP3 files. I know there are other options in there, am I using the best one? Its very noticeable.
- I used the 3rd party "rotationfix.lua" and when I turn the Kindle upside down, it rotates towards there, then immediately rotates back! Maybe I shouldn't use this for Android?
- ads.show("banner320x48"..test=true) does not seem to show anything? I'm not sure if it supposed to work on Android, but it definitely works on iOS.
- [SOLVED] Icons on the home screen are totally blurred, even Ansca's default icon, I don't see any docs to solve this. You have to live with the blurry icon during development, extra icons are uploading during submission to Amazon.
- [+2] display.viewableContentWidth/Height is incorrect, it does not take into account the 20 pixel menu bar that is always there. This affects content scaling.
NOTES:
- system.getInfo("model")=="Kindle Fire"
- Screen Size=1024x600, -20 height on menu bar subtracted manually for now
- Kindle Fire Amazon FAQ here.
Replies
Posted on Sun, 2011-11-20 01:26
#2
I don't think so, I've heard others pretty worked up too ;)
Have passed on your comments to the team.
Peach :)
Posted on Sun, 2011-11-20 08:48
#3
Item #4 is a bug that was introduced in build 641.
See: https://developer.anscamobile.com/forum/2011/10/20/android-device-rotation-doesnt-work-starting-build-2011641
Posted on Sun, 2011-11-20 13:04
#4
Thanks I added #6 now. I pre-ordered the Kindle Fire so I can release close to the day it comes out :(
But there are alot of issues that are stopping me. I was gonna release without ads, since it wasn't working, but the blurred icon looks too unprofessional. So I'll wait.
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 09:17
#5
... Errr.... How are people getting their app onto the Kindle to try it? I finally got around to plugging my Fire into my iMac, but adb devices doesn't see it.
What am I missing? Anyone??
:-)
Thanks in advance!
~~Kenn
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 09:37
#6
... Alright, a little searching and I figured this out... here's the FYI:
To do it with USB:
-- From the upper right corner on the Fire, go into "Settings", then "More", then "Device" then "Allow Installation of Applications" to "On".
-- In "Finder" on your Mac (assumably explorer on Windows), drop your .apk basically anywhere.
-- Back on the Fire, you need some type of "File Explorer" app. I searched the Amazon App Store and installed the first free one I found.
-- Open the file explorer, find your App (was easiest to figure out the directory structure by looking at the folder modified times) ... Tap your app and go through the install process.
That's it!
(... Assumably, you could also just email the apk to yourself and open it with email for installation... or put it somewhere on a web page for yourself and open it with Silk.)
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 10:30
#7
I think #6 is to do with that fact it's not been authorized by Amazon, I'm sure when it's approved it uses the non blurred version of the icon. (the 512x512 one probably that you have to upload when you submit)
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 10:40
#8
Yes I've read you need to upload the icon separately when you submit. So while u develop you'll see a really blurry icon:
https://developer.amazon.com/help/faq.html#KindleFire
I still have issues with advertising. Not sure if the network status API works with Android, because it's not being detected. I need it to know whether if I should turn on ads or use my own. Since admobi test ads doesn't show, I might just submit it and hope that it shows up :(
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 11:00
#9
Kindle Fire USB cable
Is the only place to order the Kindle Fire USB cable through Amazon.com?
Posted on Tue, 2011-11-22 11:09
#10
Any small USB cable should work. I use the one that came with my phone.
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-23 12:47
#11
For a Kindle Fire compatible cable make sure you get a Micro-B USB cable. A Mini-USB cable won't work and I'm pretty sure a Micro-A USB cable won't fit either.
I hadn't built for an Android device yet but since my wife just got herself a Kindle Fire I gave it a shot and was able to get my game running on it with little effort. Nice work team Ansca!
I noticed a few of the issues pointed out by tsuriyathep plus a couple other issues:
1. pngs with alpha had visual artifacts. They usually looked like dark outlines around the transparent edges, as if anything with semi-transparency was being composited against black. These artifacts don't show up in the simulator or on iOS devices. Perhaps a pre-multiply alpha issue?
2. Sound FX lagged by about 1/2 second from time triggered. I'm using .wavs.
3. Web popups didn't work. Is there something I need to add to settings.lua for android?
4. All my screen layouts were shifted down about 5%, so objects on the bottom of the screen got cut off, and there was too much space above things at top of screen. The little menu bar that's always on the bottom of the screen made the problem even worse.
5. My Custom font was offset vertically. This was in addition to the vertical offset mentioned in #4. I don't see the font offset on the simulator or on iOS devices.
6. The android .apk file is about 1/2 the size of the .app file for iOS (31 MB for apk vs 58 MB for app). I'm curious why such a discrepancy? Is the iOS .app file needlessly 2x too big?
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-23 14:55
#12
Hi XenonBL, thanks for your input, I'm glad I'm not the only one. Do you think you will submit to Amazon despite these problems? My app is all about Christmas, so I'll be forced to release it soon. It's free with ads only. Since you have web popup problems I suspect that "ads" is not working either. So if I release it, it will be totally free with no ads, then I have to update it later whenever it gets fixed.
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-23 16:34
#13
Just for fun I tried installing the same apk built for KF on a Galaxy Tab running 2.3 and it worked! Maybe that's not surprising but makes me wonder what the difference is to build for Android vs building for KF.
A couple differences I noticed between the two devices:
1. The alpha artifacts on .png images I detailed above were NOT present on the Galaxy Tab. So that problem seems specific to the KF.
2. The KF seems VERY sensitive to touches/swipes. In my code I distinguish between a swipe and a "tap" using the begin and end of a touch event (I can't use real "tap" events due to some other issues). This works fine on the simulator, on actual iOS devices, and on the Galaxy Tab, but for some reason the KF sees even the slightest touch as a swipe rather than as a non-moving tap. Again, the fact that it works fine even on the Galaxy Tab suggests an issue specific to the KF.
@tsuriyathep
My app as currently designed uses IAP and web popups so no, I won't submit to Amazon with this version since I'm going to have to design around the IAP limitation of Corona for Android (unless Ansca gives us an early Christmas present and implements IAP for Android!). Hopefully there's a simple/quick fix for the web popup and ads issues you're having.
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-30 13:08
#14
Thanks for the info regarding app installation of your Corona app on the Kindle. I'm stoked about putting our app on the Kindle. The B&N Nook Tablet/Color is such a pain for app installation, even on the emulator. I'm still trying to get my app to install on the Nook Tablet emulator. Also still waiting on the Nook Dev enrollment to complete. I applied for the Kindle beta developer program and I'm hoping Amazon is distributing an emulator.
To my knowledge, Corona has not announced that their android builds will work for the Kindle but it looks like you are having some luck.
Have you applied to the Kindle dev program and do you know if they provide an emulator or are people just using a generic android tablet emulator?
thanks
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-30 13:37
#15
Regarding #4
Have you tested this on the device?
I'm asking this as I've just installed (for the first time) windows version of CoronaSDK, applied rotation fix to ghosts & monsters sample code.
On Mac Corona simulator it works just fine.
On Windows Corona simulator (exact same project folder) it behaves exactly like you have described. I think it's a bug and ignoring content = "....." directive in build.settings which causes native rotation+rotationfix to run together.
Again, those were just the simulator results of the latest daily build, mac vs win...
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-30 14:22
#16
@sondlerd: Corona recommends you use Galaxy Tab on the simulator. Amazon does not have its own simulator. The Galaxy Tab is close (or exact?) in screen size.
@PixelEnvision: Yes it works fine in the simulator. But in the actual Kindle device it rotates twice immediately.
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-30 18:01
#17
@tsuriythep: thanks for the emulator info.
I wasn't looking hard enough because right there on the blog was the Kindle info: http://blog.anscamobile.com/2011/11/lighting-the-amazon-kindle-fire/
Posted on Wed, 2011-11-30 18:34
#18
@PixelEnvision
Yes, it's a bug (more info found in reply #3 in this thread)
Posted on Thu, 2011-12-01 01:03
#19
+1 PNG alpha issue
Posted on Thu, 2011-12-01 12:32
#20
Hello tsuriyathep,
Regarding #1, we haven't seen this PNG alpha issue on a Kindle Fire and we've tested with several several apps. Can you please send us a small sample project so that we can reproduce it? A screenshot would help too. You can send us a file via the "Report a Bug" link at the top of this web page.
Regarding #2, yes, touches are very laggy, but that's the hardware.
Regarding #3, we've noticed the audio lag too. I don't think we can do anything about it on our end. If you try Angry Birds, notice that it has the same audio lag. If you use Corona's media API, then we've found that there is less latency, but that API has less features compared to Corona's audio API.
Regarding #4, we've just fixed the "system.orientation" property to correctly output the current orientation on an Android device as of this week's daily builds. Try it out.
Regarding #5, we have verified that InMobi ads do work on Kindle Fire. I recommend that you contact InMobi's tech-support group to get this working because it may be an issue with your Android app ID not being fully active yet or an inventory issue. You can contact them via "ansca@inmobi.com".
Regarding #6, the Kindle Fire uses the 512x512 image that you submit to Amazon with your app on the "cover flow" application screen. If the Kindle Fire is unable to find your app's 512x512 image in the Amazon marketplace, then it will use the Icon-mdpi.png instead and will look pixelated.
Regarding #7, the display.viewableContentWidth/Height does not compensate for the statusbar on iOS either... but it's funny that you mention this. I was just talking to someone about this yesterday about setting up these properties to adjust for the statusbar on the top and bottom of the Kindle Fire. Of course, these 2 properties are not enough. We would also need the viewable top/left corner of the display as well. Unfortunately, there is an internal debate on whether or not these properties should compensate for statusbar/navigation bar heights, virtual keyboards, what it should do for transparent statusbars on iOS, etc. So, we're not going to have a solution for this by this coming release. In the meantime, we fixed the display.statusBarHeight property to correctly output the height of the statusbar in pixels as of today's daily build. You can also compensate for the bottom bar manually.
Posted on Fri, 2011-12-02 14:18
#21
I just tried displaying an alpha blended image on top of another image, where there was an alpha gradient along the edges. The alpha came through correctly. The only thing I can think of that would cause this low image quality issue is if Corona cannot get enough memory to load your image, then it will automatically lower the image quality from 32-bit to 16-bit... and if that doesn't work then it will down-sample/scale the image, which reduces its memory footprint by a power of 2. Corona needs to do this for low-end Android devices that have limited memory, but it can also do this if the device is running low on memory too. If this is the case, then Corona will log messages stating so which are viewable in "adb logcat".
Again, I recommend that you send us a sample project that can reproduce this issue. We can't fix it if we can't reproduce it. Thanks!
Posted on Sun, 2011-12-11 18:18
#22
Does the default Corona Icon appear until submitting, or should a grainy version of my custom icon be showing on the home screen of the Fire?
I have all three icons ("Icon-mdpi.png" etc) included in the project, but the only time the icons show up on the device is on the file manager when I am installing the app. After the app installs, it displays the default corona icon.
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Clay
EDIT: The icons are now appearing, I had to fully uninstall the app from the device before reinstalling.
Posted on Sat, 2011-12-24 01:43
#23
I'm also having bad sound lags on the Kindle Fire. Has any one solved this issue?
Posted on Sun, 2011-12-25 20:55
#24
I am having the same issue with audio lag. I will have to try Corona media api to see
how much that helps.
If anyone has anymore sugestions please let us me know
Thanks
Posted on Mon, 2012-01-02 12:12
#25
Everyone,
All Android devices have audio latency issues. It is not a Corona issue. It is an issue with the Android OS and everyone has this problem. I too have noticed that it is especially bad on the Kindle Fire. Try running a free game such as Angry Birds on the Kindle Fire and notice how bad the audio latency is.
Posted on Mon, 2012-01-02 12:18
#26
@Joshua - You are correct. All the games on the fire and nook have audio latency issues.
Can you give us an eta on in-app purchase for android store and amazon store.
Posted on Mon, 2012-01-02 13:46
#27
vopmms,
We plan on adding Google in-app purchase support by the end of this month. The one issue with this being that Kindle Fire does not support this feature, nor does it support Google Maps. Bummer, eh? We'll have to add support for a 3rd party in-app purchasing solution for the Kindle Fire sometime afterwards. The team here has not decided what that 3rd party purchasing solution will be yet, but we understand the importance of this feature so we'll come up with something.
Posted on Mon, 2012-01-02 13:52
#28
awesome that's the best answer we've gotten so far.
Third party inapp purchase for the Kindle Fire would be great.
Posted on Mon, 2012-01-02 23:32
#29
I'm not sure if Amazon will allow a 3rd party IAP solution, Amazon have their own solution but it's in Beta, I know that the Atari App uses it.
Stated in their FAQ....
My app uses Google's in-app purchasing technology. How can I make it work on Kindle Fire?
Because Google's in-app purchasing technology requires access to Google Mobile Services, it will not work on Kindle Fire. We are working on a solution that will let you sell digital content in your apps using Amazon's merchandising and payments technology. Our solution is currently in Beta and available by invitation only. If you would like to join the waiting list for the Beta, please complete and submit this form, and we will follow up with more information as soon as possible.
Posted on Wed, 2012-01-11 00:52
#30
Hello All,
I just thought I might mention something regarding getting your apps installed on to the Nook and Kindle. I use Dropbox and have the Dropbox App installed on all my Android Devices. You can then just download the .apk file from your Dropbox and it installs directly to your device within seconds. It will even overwrite the install and run the updated Build.
Just a little thought....no cables needed at all.
Good look everyone.
Posted on Wed, 2012-01-11 01:05
#31
thanks Rob for that info... i guess i can do the same with androids then? install dropbox, and dl the .apk from there?
thanks!
Posted on Wed, 2012-01-11 02:33
#32
Thanks for the info.
I just tried it, and it does work. But it's way too slow for me.
First it takes time to sync the 8MB APK to Dropbox, and then Dropbox for Android doesn't sync the files to the device. It only displays a list of files available. When you tap on a file, then it starts downloading the file (which takes some more time).
The whole process of syncing the APK from Desktop->Dropbox->Device takes about 2 minutes.
OK....it doesn't sound like much, but getting the APK to the device using the USB cable takes less than 30 seconds. So I guess it's still the cable for me.
Posted on Wed, 2012-01-11 07:51
#33
@ingemar
Yes you are correct is does take a few mins to complete the entire process for the upload etc. But for me I am syncing four devices....once my files get uploaded and can have it installing on all four at one time.
Plus, I just take a quick coffee break during the upload :-)
Posted on Wed, 2012-01-11 08:01
#34
Aha!
Now I can see your point. Having many devices installing at the same time can definitely save some time...
Posted on Thu, 2012-01-19 09:52
#35
I'm in UK and wasn't able to install a file manager, but managed to get around it by going into the quickoffice app that comes with it, then internal storage and there you go, the apps installed and opened! (after putting them on the device)
So now I can build for fire and test on device.
Posted on Thu, 2012-01-26 00:00
#36
I can confirm that semi-transparent pixels are getting composited with black on the Fire. Imade a simple demo of a solid whit .png sitting on a white background.
Setting its opacity to 0.5 will make it grey on the device. It works correctly in the simulator.
Glad to hear that it might only be isolated to the Fire. About to test the Nook now...
EDIT: I can confirm that it happens on the Nook Tablet as well. When I go to build for either of those, I can only choose Android 2.2. Perhaps that is the issue as apparently the issue doesn't happen with 2.3? More testing! ;)
Posted on Thu, 2012-01-26 08:47
#37
Hi firemaplegames, thanks for the confirmation about the alpha pixels on Fire. I thought I was the only one who noticed it.
Posted on Tue, 2012-02-28 17:15
#38
The alpha issue is a big issue for me in my current app. I have a lot of transparency and it only looks odd on my fire. Glad I am not alone. I am also seeing the old RotationLeft bug again, my app flips just fine on iOS hardware but on my fire it wont flip over.
Are there bug cases for these at ansca that we can raise up the priority list?
Posted on Wed, 2012-02-29 12:36
#39
A bug report has already been written up for the alpha issue and it is flagged top priority. We expect to address it within the next 2 weeks.
The rotation issue was fixed in the release version. See the following thread for more details...
https://developer.anscamobile.com/forum/2011/10/20/android-device-rotation-doesnt-work-starting-build-2011641
Posted on Wed, 2012-02-29 12:47
#40
@Joshua
Thank you for the fast responce. Good to know that the alpha bug fix is on the way. Can I get the bug ID so I can keep a look out for it?
As for the rotation, part of the issue may be that I did not know that Android apps didn't have the same auto rotation feature of iOS apps.
I am running 754 right now and my app does not flip over on android when I rotate the device around. It works pefrectly on iOS.
I saw a thread about having to do manual rotation of the app with display groups when the device flips over. Is that still the best choice on Android? I use native calls for popup and webview, how would those be flipped the correct direction?
Thank you again,
Brad
Posted on Wed, 2012-02-29 13:53
#41
Brad,
The alpha blending issue is under case #11763. (Although I'm sure there are more, that's our main/first case.)
Regarding the rotation issue, I'm quite sure that the rotation issues previously mentioned on this thread is fixed. The only thing missing is that Android 2.2 built apps (such as Corona apps) do not support a landscapeLeft orientation. Google did not add support for that orientation until Android 2.3. So, if your app is set up to support landscapeRight and landscapeLeft only, then you only get landscapeRight on Android. If this isn't the case for you, then please feel free to click the "Report a Bug" link at the top of this page and our tech-support team can take a harder look at this.
I hope this helps!
Am I the only one crazy about getting games on Kindle Fire? :)