PC, Android Testing, GS Android Viewer????

sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
edited February 2013 in Working with GS (Mac)
Ok.

Before my blood pressure hits Nuclear.

I have been through the CookBook.. I have browsed the forum.. How Do I test a project on Android?

The Cookbook says that the Android Viewer is only good from Mac?
But Windows users can Ad-Hoc.. so what is the process for Adhoc testing?
I have tried publishing an APK so that I can use that on my device to test (figured it was a fair alternative) but only to find out that my 2 Android devices (and millions more) cannot install unsigned APK's..
I went to do a Sign APK in the GS creator, which brought me to a whole new level of WT@%#

I have the updated Android SDK
Windows 7 HP
GS 0.10.0 Beta
Motorola Xoom - Android 3.2
Motorola XT615 - Android 2.3.7
GS Android Viewer 0.10.1 (usable with PC as source?)

I have found a number of forum posts which Start this conversation, but never really seem to bring it to a successful test!

Comments

  • patapplepatapple Member Posts: 873
    It is very easy.
    Go and download the APK of the GameSalad Viewer from the website.
    Install it.
    Open the app on your Android device.
    Open GameSalad on your PC and choose "Preview on Android".
    That's it.
  • OrbInteractiveOrbInteractive Member Posts: 14
    I'm with you here brother.. How do you test Andriod from a PC?..
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    @patapple And where Exactly is this magical Preview On Android button? A few tutorials say that it will "Appear" which it hasnt. (a little Android icon) and even the Viewer App says it will Appear...

    Others say that you have to change something in Preferences.. which all I have there is Automatically Check For Updates (which I doubt will help me here)
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    I have ran adb.exe on my PC and my device is seen.. I used the stumbled description of how to install the Viewer apk.. (stumbled meaning that it's easier just to copy it to your device and install it)

    I run the Viewer. WiFi connected, USB Iistening.. but no GS found.. no appearance of the Android button on my GS creator...
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    @Durauk Now I might be 100% wrong here, but I believe you can only do Anything with Android (testing, publishing etc..) with a Pro version. Which is why I put a dent in the credit card the other day.. but currently I am not much further than I was before.. (inexperience on my part)
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    this is what I meant by the threads never seem to end in a successful test..
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    edited February 2013
    @sparkania

    I had the same problem a while back.

    http://forums.gamesalad.com/discussion/51836/very-quick-yes-or-no-question-do-you-need-gamesalad-pro-to-test-on-kindle-fire-hd#latest


    You can still use the Viewer to test on Android without a Pro Membership.

    But it's not working for me either.

    I get the android viewer button, but the device refuses to connect :/



    File a bug report,
    Chakku
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    I don't even get the button..
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    @sparkania

    I know this probably sounds redundant, but is you're device on, with the GameSalad Viewer app open ?


    Chakku
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    yup.. tried opening
    app first, then GS creator.. no change
    GS Creator then app.. no change
    all the while with USB -and- WiFi running.
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    @sparkania

    Re-install GameSalad.



    Chakku
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    way ahead of you. even re-downloaded it..
  • ChakkuChakku Member Posts: 1,513
    @sparkania

    Try it with a blank new project?

    Chakku
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    just tried again.. nope
  • sparkaniasparkania Member, PRO Posts: 300
    What are the dependencies?

    Would I see something other than Gamesalad.exe *32 in my task manager?
    Is there something I should be doing with my Firewall?
    and if so... What?
  • I have the same problems. I followed everything to the letter on the tutorials on this website. in my CMD window it sees my android device and i can run all adb commands.

    Now i also would love to know how to get the GS viewer app to recognize my GS creator, because it isn't doing that. So i also don't get the icon.

    Now i was reading alot about that different versions don't work together, so i started to check this and found the following:

    My creator (pc) is version 0.10.00 and the APK for the viewer is 0.10.1. This matches with the MAC version of the creator, and not the PC one. So i am thinking this is the problem, i already send an email to the support, but i don't have an answer yet if this is the thing that makes it not work.
  • OrbInteractiveOrbInteractive Member Posts: 14
    *face palm* .. No movement on this thread it seems.

    Note, I have a Pro license for Windows (not sure why I don't have the forum icon), have installed the viewer on my Asus Transformer, gone through all the steps mentioned above, save reinstalling GS... No success.

    I think we are all getting it that the viewer is a iOS only feature. So far I've also only seen ad-hoc being done iOS as seen in this video

    So question is, does anyone know how to create ad-hoc build using Windows to test on the Andriod?
  • mrpacogpmrpacogp Member Posts: 400
    For the forum icon ask some Moderator.
  • OrbInteractiveOrbInteractive Member Posts: 14
    Ok, for those who may be coming to this thread looking for the answers I was.. here is how you make an ad-hoc build for your Andriod device with a PC!!!!!!!

    Quick high level overview,
    1) While in Windows Creator go to the file menu and select "Publish". Yes, you actually have to go through the publishing process and must have a Pro license to do this for Andriod.

    2) When you select publish you'll need to log-in and answer some questions. You'll then need to select Andriod as the Platform and fill out the necessaries for publishing. Like filling in the Nickname, Display Name, you'll need an icon, etc.. Input however much detail needed in order to click on the "Generate APK" button.

    3) Once clicked your app will be queued for generation which takes about 5-10 mins.

    4) Refresh the page after awhile and you'll have a message about your app being ready.

    5) Great, you can now download your .APK, which is the installer for your game. BUT, you need to sign your apk first before it will install. If it's not "signed" then your device will deny you.

    6) To get it signed I just downloaded the APK using the "Download Project" button just to the side of "Generate APK" you hit earlier. Note you could try using the "Sign APK" button, but it didn't work for me. It's just supposed to launch your creator I think but see next step where we I do it manually.

    7) If you've downloaded your APK, you can just crank up your Creator, go under the 'Tools' menu and select "APK Signer".

    8) To proceed through this signing business you need to have the JAVA and Andriod SDKs installed(see links at end for details). The keytool(JAVA), jarsigner(JAVA), and zipalign(Andriod) executables are located in folders that these SDKs create. You'll have to locate them once you've got everything installed.

    9) Executables selected, now you need to fill in the keystore stuff which you come up with yourself, the keystore/key names and passwords.

    10) Finally package to sign field is your APK you downloaded earlier.. find it wherever you downloaded it and at last hit the "SIGN" button.

    11) From here, simple.. plug in your device to your PC and move the new signed APK file to your device. For me it was as easy as moving a file to flash drive. Drag and drop baby.

    12) Find the file on your device, I used a file explorer app that came with my tablet.

    All you gotta do it open/click on the apk, it will ask you to install.. bam!!! Your done sucka.. you got your ad-hoc. You can just launch the app by clicking on the icon and play.

    For sure the first time is the pain in the ass, but after that its a pretty quick process since the keystore stuff is all filled in.. you can just keep using an already setup project when publishing.. maybe 10 min for each ad-hoc build and 95% of it is waiting for the que.

    These links below will give you more details on publishing and setting up the SDKs. You can also search for a few videos on the whole signing process if you get stuck. Hope this helps yal!

    http://cookbook.gamesalad.com/tutorials/4/parts/11
    http://cookbook.gamesalad.com/tutorials/4/parts/20
    http://cookbook.gamesalad.com/tutorials/4/parts/49
  • littlecoolpuglittlecoolpug Member Posts: 1
    edited April 2015

    I may have found your problem,
    I had this problem once before too,but then i discovered that I was using the highest "stable" version which doesn't have compatibility with the GS Viewer so I downloaded the "Candidates" version which does have compatibility with the GS Viewer and then it fixed the problem completely, hope this works for you too!
    Download other versions here: http://gamesalad.com/download/releases
    -P.S, if you just click the "download" button for windows it will automatically download the latest stable version (that's not compatible with GS Viewer)
    ALSO make sure your android GS Viewer version is the same as your Game Salad Creator (your computer one) you can download the GS Viewer to the right of the windows download on this page: http://gamesalad.com/download/releases
    -PUG B)

  • Maybe i am meMaybe i am me Member Posts: 25

    this prob is too long but not even have how to fix it WT@!

Sign In or Register to comment.