The development app allows you to push content to it over wifi. This will greatly reduce iteration time as you don’t have to bundle and install every time you wish to test your changes. You install the development app on your device(s), start the app and then select the device as a build target from the editor.
Any application that is bundled in Debug mode will be able to act as a development app. On Android a stand-alone version of the Defold engine is available and on iOS you need to manually bundle and sign the application using your own signing identity and provisioning profile.
Any iOS application that has been bundled as a Debug variant will be able to act as a development app. It is recommended that you bundle a Debug variant of the application that you are currently working on. This will ensure that the dev app has the correct project settings and uses the same native extensions. Follow the instructions in the iOS manual to bundle for iOS. Make sure to select Debug as variant!
The same recommendation as for iOS to bundle a Debug variant works for Android. In addition to this option there’s also a stand-alone version of the Defold engine available as a ready made .apk file that you can install on a device and use for iterative development wirelessly.
The stand-alone version will only work for projects without any native extensions. If your project contains native extensions you must bundle a Debug variant of your project to ensure that the dev app contains the native extensions that you intend to use.
Download the file, then issue the following adb
command from the location of the .apk:
$ adb install dmengine.apk
4445 KB/s (8706017 bytes in 1.912s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/dmengine.apk
Success
The development “dmengine” app is now available on the device.
To launch your game on your device, the dev app and editor must be able to connect, over the same wifi network or using USB (see below).
When connecting over USB on Windows to a dev app running on an iOS device you first need to install iTunes. When iTunes is installed you also need to enable Personal Hotspot on your iOS device from the Settings menu. If you see an alert that says tap “Trust This Computer?” tap Trust. The device should now show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
On Linux you need to enable Personal Hotspot on your device from the Settings menu when connected using USB. If you see an alert that says tap “Trust This Computer?” tap Trust. The device should now show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
On newer iOS versions the device will automatically open a new ethernet interface between the device and computer when connected using USB on macOS. The device should show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
On older iOS versions you need to enable Personal Hotspot on your device from the Settings menu when connected using USB on macOS. If you see an alert that says tap “Trust This Computer?” tap Trust. The device should now show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
On macOS it is possible to connect over USB to a running dev app on an Android device when the device is in USB Tethering Mode. On macOS you need to install a third-party driver such as HoRNDIS. When HoRNDIS is installed you also need to allow it to run via the Security & Privacy settings. Once USB Tethering is enabled the device will show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
On Windows and Linux it is possible to connect over USB to a running dev app on an Android device when the device is in USB Tethering Mode. Once USB Tethering is enabled the device will show up under Project ▸ Targets when the dev app is running.
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