How do I reduce the File Size of APK?

I made a very basic game, and got a 20MB huge file size, after I built the APK with Crosswalk XDK.

When I exported this android game with construct2 to the folder, I got just 300KB in size. So It seems the XDK is adding all the unnecessary extra size. A game that could easily be just a few MB's.

Are there other builders compatible with Construct 2 than don't add all this extra size?

Another issue is that I am unable to test the games in Genymotion. I can run any other games from Google Play, but it seems the games made built with Crosswalk, don't seem to run, just a black screen. Tried to enable the 2D and 3D acceleration in VirtualBox, but nothing changed.

short answer, you cant if you use crosswalk, sorry :/

you can try the "normal" Android build which is only labeled "Android" in the XDK, may not run as fast as Crosswalk builds on old devices but has a very small apk output!

for my games and testdevices it functions pretty well!

Hi Minions,

I have the same issue. I believe its because the app is a HTML5 app and so the XDK process actually bundles your app with a Chrome Browser environment.

I have also thought of just building as 'Android' but its not clear to me how many devices would have issues with speed or running with this type of build.

Bluestacks (Android Emulator) has the same issue as Genymotion - C2 projects either stick at the black intro screen or wont run at all.

Be great if these issues could be discussed deeper.

JLH1964 - Try out the "Andy" android emulator, i've always had more success with that

When trying to install the so called "Andy" emulator, it corrupted my current VirtualBox installation and virtual devices completely, and then the Andy emulator stopped installation with some error, after the package tried to install itself for more than 1 hour.

short answer, you cant if you use crosswalk, sorry :/

you can try the "normal" Android build which is only labeled "Android" in the XDK, may not run as fast as Crosswalk builds on old devices but has a very small apk output!

for my games and testdevices it functions pretty well!

Hi Minions,

I have the same issue. I believe its because the app is a HTML5 app and so the XDK process actually bundles your app with a Chrome Browser environment.

I have also thought of just building as 'Android' but its not clear to me how many devices would have issues with speed or running with this type of build.

Yeah, I will maybe try another software solution then, or if that doesn't work, then the other option would be to build all manually without any third party software.

I see some great games in google play, that are very small in size and run ultra fast in all devices (old, new, phone, tablet), it seems those apps are manually coded and not built with software.

What I liked about the idea of using C2, is that it was letting me export to a lot of different platforms at once (android, apple, windows8, etc), and doing it manually for each platform would take a lot of time. But if I cannot make it work, I will probably concentrate in android only and do it all manually for now.

I guess C2 isn't really optimized for mobile platforms just yet. But if you consider the rate at which devices upgrade and improve, and the rate at which C2 might evolve along crosswalk and similar solutions. We can safely expect that the file size and other similar problems won't be an issue after much longer.

However, if you export to html5, which is what C2 was originally design for, you get 3-8Mb programs =)

I also struggle tons with crosswalk, it gives me 25Mb apps, that turn into 50Mb after install... And these are apps comparable to other "pro made" apps that often aren't bigger than 2Mb in size. And this really hurts us as developers. But, looking at the bright aspects of it all: C2 apps using Crosswalks work perfectly in every device I've ever tested.

However, I've seen famous apps, that you know should be no more that 5Mb that, just like Crosswalk apps, are over 50Mb in size. So maybe it's isn't such a big deal (the facebook app is 170Mb btw)

I guess C2 isn't really optimized for mobile platforms just yet. But if you consider the rate at which devices upgrade and improve, and the rate at which C2 might evolve along crosswalk and similar solutions. We can safely expect that the file size and other similar problems won't be an issue after much longer.

However, if you export to html5, which is what C2 was originally design for, you get 3-8Mb programs =)

I also struggle tons with crosswalk, it gives me 25Mb apps, that turn into 50Mb after install... And these are apps comparable to other "pro made" apps that often aren't bigger than 2Mb in size. And this really hurts us as developers. But, looking at the bright aspects of it all: C2 apps using Crosswalks work perfectly in every device I've ever tested.

However, I've seen famous apps, that you know should be no more that 5Mb that, just like Crosswalk apps, are over 50Mb in size. So maybe it's isn't such a big deal (the facebook app is 170Mb btw)

Yes, I actually got the HTML5 files and converted to Android using Crosswalk.

And if we use other platform instead of Crosswalk, does it work better?

Anyone tried to deploy the HTML5 files from Construct2, using CocoonJS or PhoneGap?

Do you get smaller file size?

use winrar , it works for me.

use winrar , it works for me.

what do you mean? user 'winrar' to make APK file lol?

And, other guys, is there any better solution by now to reduce APK file size and performs good in all different mobile device?

um anyone know better solution in this?

If the file is big, check your graphics, transparencies and FX, maybe there is something that is eating up a lot of space?

If the file is big, check your graphics, transparencies and FX, maybe there is something that is eating up a lot of space?

you mean during the intelXDK process?

Thx anyway for reply hehe.

> use winrar , it works for me.

>

ex32 loler try with 7-zip its better .... [/rant]

what do you mean? user 'winrar' to make APK file lol?

And, other guys, is there any better solution by now to reduce APK file size and performs good in all different mobile device?

For what you are asking, the answer it wont be , reduce the APK file from the compiler, but the solution to your question will be optimization tips for graphics and sounds, 1 tip if you have sounds , and u only upload for android u can take OGG out or Mp4 not sure wich one is for ios and which is for android, u only need for each of them 1 type of file, android only ogg, i know for sure , the other 1 is for ios, and wav was for html5 but that got updated and u dont need to worrie about it, remove the audio files you dont export 2 , second tip for u is PNG compression,(not the one from c2 cause its gonna make ur game slower) , try using websites that compresses pngs, and keeps quality of it , 1 good example for that is (tinypng [dot] com) and if ur game is still big, u need to choose what type of APK u will export(cordova is compressing bigtime, also phonegap, what i used most of times that is not creating to many buggs and its acceptable as size , default android compiler for android from intel xdk... not sure if u using that.) , next tip will be for your code optimization, remove any unnecessary lines, or loops(as everytick, or similar actions that are always true e.g" is actor alive loop 100 times,. you should read the manual and the tutorials they are a few out) . the last part will allow ur game run cleaner using less cpu even if it has a bigger size, but i doubt it, im guessing u want a size somewhere at 2 mb? but ur game is 13mb? thats nothing most apk 's in google play are 50 mb , and they run slow, if u run faster u win, on ios i dont know but basically its plicable to all apk, or any other formats even pc;s

> If the file is big, check your graphics, transparencies and FX, maybe there is something that is eating up a lot of space?

>

you mean during the intelXDK process?

Thx anyway for reply hehe.

Don't waste your time. The XDK / Crosswalk process adds 18+ mb to even the smallest of games. A stripped down version of chrome is used so that our apps run on devices.

I have apps written in code that are compiled at less than 1mb using Eclipse, that same app in XDK / Crosswalk is 20mb.

It is what it is