Kindle Fire first tests with Corona

Solar2D Daily Builds and Public Releases
#1

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!

  1. [+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.

  2. Touch seems laggy compared to iPad1. I guess that’s expected.

  3. [+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.

  4. 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?

  5. 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.

  6. [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.

  7. [+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.

[import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 317896[/import]

#2

Am I the only one crazy about getting games on Kindle Fire? :slight_smile: [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 68552[/import]

#3

I don’t think so, I’ve heard others pretty worked up too :wink:

Have passed on your comments to the team.

Peach :slight_smile: [import]uid: 52491 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 68711[/import]

#4

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
[import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 68748[/import]

#5

Thanks I added #6 now. I pre-ordered the Kindle Fire so I can release close to the day it comes out :frowning:

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. [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 68792[/import]

#6

… 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??

:slight_smile:

Thanks in advance!
~~Kenn [import]uid: 13859 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69185[/import]

#7

… 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.)

[import]uid: 13859 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69191[/import]

#8

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)
[import]uid: 8697 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69197[/import]

#9

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 :frowning: [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69200[/import]

#10

Kindle Fire USB cable

Is the only place to order the Kindle Fire USB cable through Amazon.com? [import]uid: 6288 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69204[/import]

#11

Any small USB cable should work. I use the one that came with my phone. [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69206[/import]

#12

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?
    [import]uid: 9422 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69428[/import]

#13

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. [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69459[/import]

#14

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. [import]uid: 9422 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 69476[/import]

#15

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
[import]uid: 38348 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70640[/import]

#16

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… [import]uid: 10478 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70676[/import]

#17

@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. [import]uid: 99244 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70681[/import]

#18

@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/ [import]uid: 38348 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70713[/import]

#19

@PixelEnvision
Yes, it’s a bug (more info found in reply #3 in this thread) [import]uid: 70847 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70718[/import]

#20

+1 PNG alpha issue [import]uid: 44965 topic_id: 17896 reply_id: 70768[/import]