cocos2d for iPhone

A fast, easy to use, free, and community supported 2D game engine

1. 

   crmagicxxx
   Member

   Installed Xcode 3.2.3 today and saw there are some changes in the build procedures...

   First, I want to target devices with even 2.2.1 so here are my settings:

   Architectures: Standard (armv6, armv7)
   Base SDK: iPhone Device 4.0
   Build Active Architecture Only: YES for all except distribution
   Valid Architectures: armv6 armv7
   Targeted Device Family: iPhone
   iPhone OS Deployment Target: iPhone OS 2.2.1

   Now, everything is fine here, those are all setting from previous Xcode (3.2.2), and everything works as expected for debugging, but when I try to build for distribution, everything is doubled: if my project has 200 source files to compile, now it compiles 400 files, and final app size is also near double...

   There is a logic for that of course, as you don't know on which device your app will run (armv6 or armv7), but I am sure it was different with Xcode 3.2.2 e.g. your source files were compiled only once and app size was smaller because of that...

   So my question is:
   Is this expected behavior? Is it normal now that our apps are doubled in size for submission to App Store as all sources are compiled twice?

   Thanks

   Posted 1 year ago #
2. 

   Blue Ether
   Member

   I would say that you probably have "compile active architecture only" selected for your debug builds. So, if you have armv6 selected, it's only building the armv6 binary, of if you have armv7 selected, it's only building the armv7 app. For distribution, its actually building both the armv6 and armv7. This doesn't result in a duplication of asset files, only the binaries. Try right-clicking on the app and select "show package contents" and see what's taking up the memory.

   Posted 1 year ago #
3. 

   crmagicxxx
   Member

   Ok, but that's exactly what I said if you've read my post completely:

   1) Build Active Architecture Only: YES for all except distribution
   2) Source files compiled twice for each architecture

   So yes, you're right that assets aren't doubled, just binary, but that also can be huge increase when you add open feint, ads, etc...

   So to rephrase my question, is it OK now that binary is doubled in size?

   Thanks

   Posted 1 year ago #
4. 

   Blue Ether
   Member

   Yes, it is expected because when you select to build optimized for each processer, then each processor needs its own binary since they are using different instruction sets. This results in you having two binaries, which can increase your app size dramatically.

   If you want a smaller binary, then change your build settings so it only builds for armv6. You'll get back to your original app size, however you will lose some performance on armv7 devices. If you have an armv7 device, test it out using only an armv6 build and see how it runs. Though, I believe having an armv7 build is required for os3.2. I'm not sure about os4, maybe someone else can help with that.

   Posted 1 year ago #
5. 

   crmagicxxx
   Member

   Thank you. If I can remember correctly you can always build for armv6 but v7 devices will not use their full power, but iPad maybe can't even run v6 code...

   But that's not important. I am OK with building bigger binaries. I just wanted to know if that's expected behavior. I somehow imagined it will be more optimized code in the end (regarding the size).

   Best

   Posted 1 year ago #
6. 

   pfg2009
   Member

   Can I hijack this thread and ask a silly question - what is armv6 vs armv7? How do these architectures map to actual devices? That was never clear to me.

   Posted 1 year ago #
7. 

   Blue Ether
   Member

   pfg2009:
   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARM_architecture

   Pre-iPhone 3GS/ iTouch 3rd gen devices all have arm v6 processors. Everything after that has an armv7 processor

   Your Objective C code is compiled into a binary of instructions for the processor. The armv7 is backwards compatible with the armv6, so it can understand a binary of armv6 instructions. However, armv7 has its own new instruction set that makes certain operations faster.

   crmagicxxx:
   I was speculating as to whether there was an Apple-enforced requirement for building to an armv7 instruction set on iPad. Arm7 can run any arm6 code, and the iPad is no exception here.

   Also, at a low level code can either be optimized for performance OR size but no both. You can use optimizations and specify -Os (fastest, smallest) which is a compromize point- not necessarily as fast as -O3 but most likely smaller. As I said, there are two separate binaries built, and there's no getting around the necessary size increase. Armv7 instructions are simply different, not necessarily smaller.

   Posted 1 year ago #
8. 

   crmagicxxx
   Member

   Blue, thanks for clarification

   Best

   Posted 1 year ago #

RSS feed for this topic

Reply

You must log in to post.