I created another [pull request] to add a feature to UE4. This adds an Android input hook for UE4 plugins for a chance to remap controller input. I also added a UE4 plugin test project [UnrealEngine_AndroidInputRemap] to verify that the changes work as expected. [How to handle JAR files in UE4] is a topic that comes up on the community forums.
Category: Android
UE4 JNI_OnLoad Callback
I created a [pull request] to add a feature to UE4. This adds a hook for UE4 plugins for a chance to get the JNI_OnLoad event more easily. I also added a UE4 plugin test project [UnrealEngine_JNI_OnLoad] to verify that the changes work as expected. [How to handle JAR files in UE4] is a topic that comes up on the community forums.
Xamarin Goes Free
Now that the Xamarin and Microsoft deal is complete, [Xamarin will be part of Visual Studio]. The Xamarin yearly subscription will no longer be required to do Android development native in Visual Studio.
Xamarin Android Binding AAR (Java 1.7) support
I ran into a binding issue on Android with Xamarin and Java 1.7 [Xamarin Android Binding AAR (Java 1.7) support]. We’ll see what the gurus have to say.
Also the property to set the [ProgressBar color appears to be missing].
Playing Video from OBB File
I have a Google Play project where the APK size was over 100MB. I had to take the video content out of the APK and put into a split OBB file to get under the size limit. The OBB file wraps a couple MP4 video files and I zipped with 7-zip as a ZIP with STORAGE compression. To play the video, I used a VideoView with the [CustomAPEZProvider] to play video directly from the downloaded OBB file.
Human Interface Guidelines
The [IOS Human Interface Guidelines] can be followed to really make your application shine. There’s no reason why you can’t follow the same guidelines for Android an iOS. Google has similar design guidelines called [Material Design]. [Pixate] is a useful tool for prototyping designs on Android and iOS. The Adobe [Color Wheel] helps pick colors that are constrained by design rules. You can also check your material design with the [Resizer].
Fire TV
Add [Fire TV] to the list of supported devices.
[Developer Portal]
Docs: [ADB Debugging]
Docs: [Identifying Controllers]
Forge TV
Add [Forge TV] to the list of supported devices.
NVidia Shield
Add [NVidia Shield] to the list of supported devices.
[Debugging]
[Developer Portal]
[Expansion Files]
[Implementing In-app Billing]
[Publish Portal]
Nexus Player
Add [Nexus Player] to the list of supported devices.
Google has discontinued the Nexus Player.
Android Consoles on Kickstarter
Kickstarter has a ton of Android console projects.
[OUYA] Successfully raised $8,596,475 USD with 63,416 backers on August 8, 2012.
[GameStick] Successfully raised $647,659 USD with 5,691 backers February 1, 2013.
[Equiso Play] canceled by the project creator on May 2, 2014.
[eROMP] canceled by the project creator on December 14, 2014.
[ZRRO] Successfully raised $200,392 USD with 762 backers March 31, 2015 and later cancelled by the project creators.
[HUBI STICK] funding goal was not reached on July 17, 2015.
[SMACH Z] canceled by the project creator on December 17.
Unreal Developer Console on Android
I’m trying to [find out] if the Unreal tilda (~) developer console works on Android.
Go to Edit->Editor Preferences->Keyboard shortcuts then search “console” and make sure a key is assigned to open the console. “Mobile->Show Console on Four Finger Tap” will enable the developer console to appear on Android.
MediaPlayer Audio Gap
I reproduced an [Android issue] with MediaPlayer where the bug adds gaps to looping audio. I’ll need to do the suggested workaround which is use a SoundPool instead. This is a bug within the Android OS. As usual, created a [repro project].
Android Studio Tutorial For Beginners – How To Build an Android App
Mark Price made an excellent 1-hour tutorial for getting started building your own Java app for Android using Android Studio. It’s a good primer for getting started setting up the app and creating a user interface to do some math logic.
Snapdragon Profiler
The Qualcomm developer portal has the [Snapdragon Profiler] for finding performance bottlenecks and troubleshooting issues on Snapdragon devices. The profiler runs on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
NVIDIA CodeWorks for Android
[NVIDIA CodeWorks for Android] provides all the 32-bit and 64-bit tools that you need for developing on Android.