LaunchBox for Android - 1.24 Beta Thread

[x4ml]

Hi Everyone,

A new beta round has begun for Android for version 1.24.

The first beta is out and adds importing games from Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, a redesigned Remote Storage page, custom Game Cache and Extraction folders, 3D box images, page transitions, and a falling snow overlay. It also brings faster games views and startup, plus a long list of fixes.

We would really appreciate focused testing, especially around the new cloud storage imports and network game downloads.

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Testers: Things to Focus On

Please help us validate the following:

Beta-1:

• Cloud Storage Imports: In the import folder picker, choose Google Drive, OneDrive, or Dropbox, sign in, pick a folder, and import a platform. Play a few games and confirm they download the first time you play them, that interrupted downloads continue where they stopped, and that the imported game counts look right.
• Remote Storage Page: Open Options > Remote Storage (previously NAS Management). For each cloud service, test signing in, checking the connection, switching accounts, and signing out. Confirm your existing network drives still connect. Network drive passwords are now kept in Android's secure storage, so you may need to enter them again after reinstalling LaunchBox.
• Update Games on Remote Storage: Run Update Games with "Add New Games (Found on Remote Storage)" on network drive and cloud storage platforms. Confirm new games are added, existing games are not duplicated or offered for removal, and you are asked to sign in again if a cloud service needs it.
• Network Game Downloads: Download games from network drives and cloud storage. Confirm downloads start right away, cancelling a download shows no error, and when the device is low on space LaunchBox tells you how much space is needed instead of showing a system error.
• Game Cache and Extraction Folders: In Options, set the Game Cache Folder and Extraction Folder to another location, such as your SD card. Confirm new downloads and extracted ROMs go there, games you already downloaded still launch, and removing games or platforms cleans up their downloaded copies.
• 3D Box Images: Turn on 3D Box Images in Options or in a games view's View Settings. Confirm 3D boxes download and display correctly, and games without one fall back to the front box image.
• Page Transitions and Snow: Try the LaunchBox Curtain and LaunchBox Fade transitions in Options > Page Transition, and turn on Snow in Options > Snow with different size, density, speed, and wind settings. Watch for stuttering, flickering, or slowdowns, especially on lower-end devices. If you're comfortable with XAML, try creating your own Transition.xaml in the Transitions folder.
• Performance: Open games views, return to previous pages, and scroll quickly through large platforms, especially in the Boxes Grid and Wheel views. Confirm game images appear without needing to scroll or select another game, and report any slow startup or stuttering while pages load.
• Single-Screen Detection: On single-screen devices such as the AYN Odin 2, and while screen recording, confirm LaunchBox no longer switches to dual-screen mode. Dual-screen users, please confirm both screens still work as before.
• New Emulators and Cores: If available, test MAME4droid Current and the RetroArch MAME and Mednafen ST-V cores for Sega ST-V (previously Sega Titan Video), and the Gearlynx and Holani cores for Atari Lynx. Existing Sega Titan Video games should now get metadata and media.

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Beta 1 Changelog

• Added a "3D Box Images" option to Options and to each games view's View Settings. When it is on, games views show 3D box art from the LaunchBox Games Database, downloading it as needed, and fall back to the front box image for games without one
• Added importing platforms and games from Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox. Choose one of them in the import folder picker, sign in, and pick a folder. Games download the first time you play them, interrupted downloads continue where they stopped, and games from Google Drive show the Google Drive logo
• Added MAME4droid Current, the RetroArch MAME (mamearcade) core, and the third-party RetroArch Mednafen ST-V (mednafen_stv) core as emulators for Sega ST-V. LaunchBox downloads the Mednafen ST-V core automatically and replaces it when a newer version is released
• Added page transitions, which you can turn on in Options > Page Transition. LaunchBox Curtain sweeps a curtain with the LaunchBox logo across the screen and spins the cube while the next page loads, LaunchBox Fade dissolves the previous page into the next one once it is ready, and you can design your own in Transition.xaml files in the Transitions folder in your LaunchBox folder, like theme views
• Added falling snow that shows on every screen and keeps falling as you move between pages. Turn it on and change the flake size, density, speed, and wind in Options > Snow
• Added the "Game Cache Folder" and "Extraction Folder" options to Options. Choose another folder, such as one on your SD card, for games downloaded from remote storage and for ROMs extracted when you play them, while images, videos, and other data stay in the data folder. Games you have already downloaded or extracted keep working from where they are
• Added the RetroArch Gearlynx (gearlynx) and Holani (holani) cores as choices for Atari Lynx. LaunchBox downloads the core automatically the first time you play a game with it
• Improved game image downloads while browsing. Downloads for games you have moved past are cancelled, and the same image is no longer downloaded twice
• Improved how quickly games views open and how smoothly you return to the previous page, especially in the Boxes Grid and Wheel views
• Improved app startup speed and reduced stuttering while pages load
• Improved the NAS Management page, now called Options > Remote Storage. Next to your network drives, you can sign in to Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, check their connection, switch accounts, or sign out
• Improved how network drive passwords are stored. They are now kept in Android's secure storage and are hidden on the Remote Storage page. You may need to enter them again after reinstalling LaunchBox
• Improved network game downloads. They start without the previous 5-second wait, cancelling a download no longer shows an error, and if the device doesn't have enough free space, LaunchBox says how much is needed instead of filling the storage and showing a system error
• Improved Update Games for network drives and cloud storage. The "Add New Games (Found on Remote Storage)" option, previously "Add New Games (Found on NAS)", also checks your Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox folders, folders inside other scanned folders are no longer scanned twice, and you are asked to sign in again if a cloud service needs it
• Fixed game images sometimes not downloading until you scrolled or selected another game, and fixed a crash that could happen while images were downloading in the background
• Fixed the dual-screen Statistics screen not appearing while a game is running when the selected launching view comes from a theme that doesn't support dual screens. LaunchBox now shows the built-in view instead
• Fixed a platform category such as Arcade, Consoles, or Handhelds sometimes showing every platform after returning from a game, instead of only the platforms in that category
• Fixed LaunchBox switching to dual-screen mode on some single-screen devices, such as the AYN Odin 2, and showing only the Details screen with no way to reach Options. Hidden system displays and screen-recording displays are no longer treated as a second screen
• Fixed downloaded copies of network games being left in the Game Cache folder after removing the game, removing missing games, or deleting its platform without deleting game files
• Fixed Update Games offering to remove network drive games as missing when one of their folders couldn't be read. The drive is now skipped for that scan instead
• Fixed Sega Titan Video games not getting metadata or media. The platform is now named Sega ST-V, matching the LaunchBox Games Database, so it uses MAME metadata and media like other arcade platforms
• Fixed the selection in popup menus with more choices than fit on the screen staying at the top while the list scrolled. It now moves to the middle of the menu, like in Options
• Fixed a crash when importing games if LaunchBox couldn't prepare its games database files, for example when the device storage is full. The import now stops and shows an error message instead

Thank you for helping us refine LaunchBox for Android. Your testing and feedback continue to make the app better with every beta.

[HugoBR]

Hi. I'm using the lastest beta, but the game box covers aren't showing up. Actually, I've had this problem since 1.23 when using any theme, with the exception of the Wheells with Two Collumns theme.

I'm using a Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro

Edited 3 hours ago by HugoBR