Android testing/publishing - some questions.

DanielDoe

Next week I'm going pro and I have a few questions about Android devices and testing.

1) Can I have only one Android device to make some basic testings (if music, sound and apps work) or do i have to buy more.
Can I run KindleFire app on Nuke or Nexus 7? Of course with all aspect ratio problems.

2) Can Kindle Fire run apps from Google Play or there is only Amazon Store avaliable on this device?

3) If you want your app run on mobile phones like Samsung S3, what resolution do you choose?

If there is anything else importaint please let me know.

PixelMetal

Just test on as many devices as you can. If you work in an office - or really, any job, or if you're too young for a job, relatives - ask people to give you their old phones when they get rid of them. I've collected a dozen or so Android/iOS handset models at no cost over the past year or so this way.

1:
One thing I've noticed is that, due to most Android phones being 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio, the scaling/resolution is not really an issue outside of how terrible fonts look - they're not anti-aliased the way graphics-based artwork is, but the artwork looks just fine 99% of the time, and with a simple rule to check screen size you can get around the aspect ratio problems for the graphics by dropping in a different background that matches the aspect ratio and using the same rule to define the positions for the game interface.

So, really, the problem is just the fonts, and unfortunately it doesn't seem we can set the size of these dynamically, which is, IMO, a huge oversight by the GS dev team, as being able to do so could eliminate this issue entirely. Maybe @SaladStraightShooter has some insight on when this longstanding problem will be addressed?

2:
Kindle Fire can runs apps from Google Play, yes.

3:
As per answer 1, you can make a mostly "universal" build, and font readability will most likely be the biggest issue.

DanielDoe

ok, thanks for this informations!