LaunchBox for Android 0.24 Released

[Jason Carr]

I just uploaded LaunchBox for Android 0.24 to the Play Store, and it should be available shortly. Here's the change log:

• New long-press menu is available in the games lists (either by touch or by holding down the A button on a controller)
• Games can now be deleted via the long-press menu in the games list, and you can choose whether or not to delete game media and/or game files
• Added Yabo Sanshiro and Yaba Sanshiro Pro emulators for Sega Saturn (now working properly)

In between desktop development, my primary plan for the Android app going forward is to get it functional without the desktop exporter. Personally I find the desktop exporter to be the best solution by far, but the number of requests coming in for importing things directly on their Android device suggest that it should be a priority. So that will be my focus from the Android side here for a bit, starting with editing games and such.

[Jason Carr]

And the update is live.

[RedDevilus]

Can we have an in-game list of emulators abit like we have with the desktop one?

Also is there a feature poll like for desktop version or a roadmap for immediate ,semi-long or low priority requests.

Thanks in advance

Edited September 17, 2019 by RedDevilus

[Soxbrother]

I'd like to ask if it will be possible later on, to change the order in which the systems/consoles/handhelds appear ?

Right now the order is : Game Boy - Game Boy Advance - Game Boy Color

I'd like it to be : Game Boy - Game Boy Color - Game Boy Advance

So more like a chronological order, maybe on a per system basis, instead of alphabetical like it is now.

[PiperCalls]

12 hours ago, Jason Carr said:

I just uploaded LaunchBox for Android 0.24 to the Play Store, and it should be available shortly. Here's the change log:

• New long-press menu is available in the games lists (either by touch or by holding down the A button on a controller)
• Games can now be deleted via the long-press menu in the games list, and you can choose whether or not to delete game media and/or game files
• Added Yabo Sanshiro and Yaba Sanshiro Pro emulators for Sega Saturn (now working properly)

In between desktop development, my primary plan for the Android app going forward is to get it functional without the desktop exporter. Personally I find the desktop exporter to be the best solution by far, but the number of requests coming in for importing things directly on their Android device suggest that it should be a priority. So that will be my focus from the Android side here for a bit, starting with editing games and such.

That's great to hear (direct setup on Android). I already have all my roms & assets on my STV and don't use LB on PC so I've just been in a holding pattern on full setup with LBA. You're doing great work...thx....Piper

[Jason Carr]

14 hours ago, RedDevilus said:

Can we have an in-game list of emulators abit like we have with the desktop one?

Also is there a feature poll like for desktop version or a roadmap for immediate ,semi-long or low priority requests.

Thanks in advance

We'll get something like an in-game list of emulators in once we allow adding new platforms on Android. There's currently no public poll or roadmap. I'll take requests any time though.

5 hours ago, Soxbrother said:

I'd like to ask if it will be possible later on, to change the order in which the systems/consoles/handhelds appear ?

Right now the order is : Game Boy - Game Boy Advance - Game Boy Color

I'd like it to be : Game Boy - Game Boy Color - Game Boy Advance

So more like a chronological order, maybe on a per system basis, instead of alphabetical like it is now.

Gotcha, yes, we'll add sorting options in eventually, probably along with a Sort Title so you can adjust it.

[laprocket]

Maybe I'm missing something, but is there a way to add games to an already exported platform or do I have to re-select all the games I want.  If select on game and export to my phone it deletes all other games previously exported.  Thanks

 

[Jason Carr]

41 minutes ago, laprocket said:

Maybe I'm missing something, but is there a way to add games to an already exported platform or do I have to re-select all the games I want.  If select on game and export to my phone it deletes all other games previously exported.  Thanks

 

That is how it works currently, as it overwrites the previous platform XML file. That is by design with the current version. You can export platforms separately, but you'll have to re-export entire platforms.

[gonzalo_hvega]

Are we still a ways out from BigBox themes?

[Solo187]

On 9/17/2019 at 1:24 AM, Jason Carr said:

I just uploaded LaunchBox for Android 0.24 to the Play Store, and it should be available shortly. Here's the change log:

• New long-press menu is available in the games lists (either by touch or by holding down the A button on a controller)
• Games can now be deleted via the long-press menu in the games list, and you can choose whether or not to delete game media and/or game files
• Added Yabo Sanshiro and Yaba Sanshiro Pro emulators for Sega Saturn (now working properly)

In between desktop development, my primary plan for the Android app going forward is to get it functional without the desktop exporter. Personally I find the desktop exporter to be the best solution by far, but the number of requests coming in for importing things directly on their Android device suggest that it should be a priority. So that will be my focus from the Android side here for a bit, starting with editing games and such.

Also, Custom cfgs for retroarch. I have tons that i use for overlays etc. Thats the only thing missing for me. The other stuff i can wait for. Currently im running launchbox on pc & Arcbrowser on my shield because it has all the features i need right now. But it is a little buggy & has a tendency to crash alot for wotever reason. So eventually im hoping to switch fully to launchbox on my shield too. Once all the features i need are implemented. Also, the launchbox start up times can be quite lengthy with alot of systems imported. Oh & the vice_sc Core for retroarch & the Hataroid emulator for the st. The retroarch core appears broken on android for now.

Edited September 19, 2019 by Solo187

[neil9000]

11 minutes ago, Solo187 said:

Also, Custom cfgs for retroarch. I have tons that i use for overlays etc. Thats the only thing missing for me.

Thats what core/game/content overides are for, you havent actually needed to specifically load configs in Retroarch for a long time. Just load a game in a core, change any settings you want and save a override that will be autoloaded on future launches

[Solo187]

3 minutes ago, neil9000 said:

Thats what core/game/content overides are for, you havent actually needed to specifically load configs in Retroarch for a long time. Just load a game in a core, change any settings you want and save a override that will be autoloaded on future launches

Yes, I know about overrides. But i prefer to use separate cfgs. Not everything saves in a override. And sometimes they don't even work. As an example of something that doesn't save in an override, retroarch hot keys. I might want my trigger button for fast forward whilst using one core, but i might need that trigger for normal use in another core. I've found these kinds of things dont save using overrides

[neil9000]

Just now, Solo187 said:

Yes, I know about overrides. But i prefer to use separate cfgs. Not everything saves in a override. And sometimes they don't even work. As an example of something that doesn't save in an override, retroarch hot keys. I might want my trigger button for fast forward whilst using one core, but i might need that trigger for normal use in another core. I've found these kinds of things dont save using overrides

Hmm, fair enough i guess, but that is what the hotkey button is for in Retroarch, so you can use any buttons on the controller while holding another. In my case i have select/back as the hotkey then i can use every other button on the controller for Retroarch functions if i so need. Whatever works for you though i guess.

[ALIE]

@Jason Carr could it be possible to long press and select multiple games for deletion? 

[Soxbrother]

What is the best solution when you have imported a system and there are a few missing images ?

The few missing images are there in the pc app,  but are missing in the Android app.

 

I've manually added them and edited the xml file, but then it says the xml is corrupted and the system isn't loaded. So I've copied the original xml back in place.

Maybe you have to edit the xml with a special program for it not to get corrupted ?

I was editing the xml with notepad.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

[nearvanaman]

49 minutes ago, Soxbrother said:

What is the best solution when you have imported a system and there are a few missing images ?

The few missing images are there in the pc app,  but are missing in the Android app.

 

I've manually added them and edited the xml file, but then it says the xml is corrupted and the system isn't loaded. So I've copied the original xml back in place.

Maybe you have to edit the xml with a special program for it not to get corrupted ?

I was editing the xml with notepad.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

I was able to edit the xml on my computer (using Notepad++) and copy it successfully to my phone. When I edited it the version that was already on my phone, I had the corrupted xml issue too. 

Thanks.

[Soxbrother]

1 hour ago, nearvanaman said:

I was able to edit the xml on my computer (using Notepad++) and copy it successfully to my phone. When I edited it the version that was already on my phone, I had the corrupted xml issue too. 

Thanks.

Ok. I did edit the xml on my pc with the regular notepad, but I'll try again with notepad++. 

Thanks for the info.

Edited September 20, 2019 by Soxbrother

[Jason Carr]

On 9/17/2019 at 11:32 AM, gonzalo_hvega said:

Are we still a ways out from BigBox themes?

Yes, we're still a ways out from Big Box themes.

On 9/19/2019 at 5:40 AM, Solo187 said:

Also, Custom cfgs for retroarch. I have tons that i use for overlays etc. Thats the only thing missing for me. The other stuff i can wait for. Currently im running launchbox on pc & Arcbrowser on my shield because it has all the features i need right now. But it is a little buggy & has a tendency to crash alot for wotever reason. So eventually im hoping to switch fully to launchbox on my shield too. Once all the features i need are implemented. Also, the launchbox start up times can be quite lengthy with alot of systems imported. Oh & the vice_sc Core for retroarch & the Hataroid emulator for the st. The retroarch core appears broken on android for now.

Hi Solo; I'm sure we'll get custom configurations in there eventually, but to be honest I don't think it will be a priority because I doubt very many people use them. There's always stuff I can do to help with performance and such, but what device are you using and what are the actual startup times? This is the first I'm hearing of them being an issue, and it's usually less than a second or two.

I'll add that core and that emulator to my list to add.

On 9/19/2019 at 11:40 PM, ALIE said:

@Jason Carr could it be possible to long press and select multiple games for deletion? 

Yes, eventually. I was looking for a way to do that currently, but it was proving way to time consuming because I was having to reinvent yet another wheel. But yes, I can't imagine we'll be able to continue on forever without multiple selection.

@nearvanaman @Soxbrother No idea why XML files would be getting corrupted when you edit them. They're just simple text files with an XML extension, and they should be perfectly fine to edit in any text editor, including Notepad. I have noticed though that sometimes the Windows functionality to copy files to Android devices can be sketchy, especially when copying files multiple times, so who knows, maybe that was the issue.

[nearvanaman]

7 minutes ago, Jason Carr said:

 

@nearvanaman @Soxbrother No idea why XML files would be getting corrupted when you edit them. They're just simple text files with an XML extension, and they should be perfectly fine to edit in any text editor, including Notepad. I have noticed though that sometimes the Windows functionality to copy files to Android devices can be sketchy, especially when copying files multiple times, so who knows, maybe that was the issue.

Yes. When I had an issue I was opening the Android file on my Windows machine, editing and trying to save back on Android. But when I opened a Windows version, edited and then copied to my Android, it was fine. 

[Soxbrother]

15 minutes ago, Jason Carr said:

 

@nearvanaman @Soxbrother No idea why XML files would be getting corrupted when you edit them. They're just simple text files with an XML extension, and they should be perfectly fine to edit in any text editor, including Notepad. I have noticed though that sometimes the Windows functionality to copy files to Android devices can be sketchy, especially when copying files multiple times, so who knows, maybe that was the issue.

I haven't tried it again, but I will post an update if I get it working.

I can always ceate a new export if I can't get it working by editing the xml file.