I’ve created my first game using Unity 4 and it’s working on 3 different devices that I’m using at home.
I’d like to know if I need more testing or if Unity’s default publishing settings (ARM, preferExternal, 32 bit buffer, 24 bit buffer, Force OpenGl 2.0,…) are enough to be accepted by a large amount of Android devices.
I’ve tried using emulators on Eclipse but it’s too slow and I feel like it’s a waste of time.
What do you do before publishing your Android app ?
All you can do is test it on the devices you have access to and hope for the best.
Most of the problems I’ve had are with obscure Chinese brands that I’d never heard of. The only mainstream issue I have had is with Galaxy Tab 2’s that don’t show any buttons or menus when my apps start, but I think that might be an issue with the GUI plugin I’m using, not Unity. Overall my apps work on around 99% of the devices that install them.
I usually just take the default settings and build for a minimum of Android 2.3 which is at about 10% of the market now.
If you do get hated on by owners of a particular device, then you just need to disable that device model in the dev console so nobody else can download it.
Don’t forget to release your apps on other Android markets if you can. It’s incredibly difficult to get started on Google Play these days unless you can afford a big advertising budget.
Thanks a lot for your advices. It’s been a few days since I added my first app on Google Play and it hasn’t been downloaded yet, it seems really difficult as you said. I will try the other markets to see how they work. Thanks again.
Get a friend or two with compatible devices to install and rate your game for you. That should pick things up a little. I had an app reach 1000 installs in 3 months with absolutely no advertising. Purely “organic”. So, like @nburlock said, with a little effort and posting on other sources, if your app is solid, it will take care of itself.
If you built it with Unity, post it in the Showcase forum and ask users to try it out. I bet I check out 2 or 3 games a week that people post and I know I’m not the only one.