Mobile Development

Mobile Development

Ship a Godot 4.x game to Android and iOS. This covers the platform-specific deltas beyond a generic export: signing, lifecycle, permissions, plugins, IAP, device features, and the mobile renderer/perf budget.

> Related skills: export-pipeline for the generic export flow and CI/CD, responsive-ui for safe-area layout, input-handling for touch, godot-optimization for mobile performance, csharp-godot for C# mobile caveats.

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1. Export & signing

Android: OpenJDK 17 and the Android SDK; set Java SDK Path + Android SDK Path in Editor Settings (per-user, not per-project). Generate a release keystore:

keytool -v -genkey -keystore mygame.keystore -alias mygame -keyalg RSA -validity 10000

Preset fields: Release / Release User / Release Password (keystore and key passwords must currently match); uncheck Export With Debug. AAB is mandatory for new Play uploads. CI env overrides: GODOT_ANDROID_KEYSTORE_RELEASE_{PATH,USER,PASSWORD}.

iOS: macOS + Xcode. Export needs an App Store Team ID + a reverse-DNS bundle Identifier; Godot generates an .xcodeproj you build from Xcode. The iOS simulator supports the Compatibility renderer only.

A custom Gradle build (Project → Install the Gradle Build template) is required for v2 plugins and IAP (Godot 4.2+).

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2. App lifecycle

Real Node notification constants: NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_PAUSED (2015), NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_RESUMED (2014), NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_FOCUS_IN/_OUT (2016/2017), NOTIFICATION_WM_GO_BACK_REQUEST (1007, Android Back). There is no WM_CLOSE_REQUEST on mobile. Autosave on PAUSED; iOS gives ~5 s after pause to finish work before it kills the app.

GDScript

func _notification(what: int) -> void:
    match what:
        NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_PAUSED:
            SaveManager.save_game() # App backgrounded — persist now.
        NOTIFICATION_WM_GO_BACK_REQUEST:
            _confirm_quit()         # Android Back button.

C# Equivalent

The docs only show NotificationWMCloseRequest verbatim; these PascalCase names follow the same convention.

public override void _Notification(int what)
{
    switch ((long)what)
    {
        case NotificationApplicationPaused:
            SaveManager.SaveGame(); // App backgrounded — persist now.
            break;
        case NotificationWMGoBackRequest:
            ConfirmQuit();          // Android Back button.
            break;
    }
}

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3. Permissions

Declare each permission in the export preset as permissions/; request it at runtime with OS.request_permission(name). The result arrives via MainLoop's on_request_permissions_result(permission, granted). The permission must also be enabled in the preset, not just requested.

GDScript

func _ready():
    if "android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS" not in OS.get_granted_permissions():
        OS.request_permission("android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS")
    get_tree().on_request_permissions_result.connect(_on_perm_result)

func _on_perm_result(permission: String, granted: bool):
    print("%s granted: %s" % [permission, granted])

C# Equivalent

public override void _Ready()
{
    if (!OS.GetGrantedPermissions().Contains("android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS"))
        OS.RequestPermission("android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS");
    GetTree().OnRequestPermissionsResult += OnPermResult;
}

private void OnPermResult(string permission, bool granted)
    => GD.Print($"{permission} granted: {granted}");

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4. Calling Android APIs (JavaClassWrapper) — Godot 4.4+

Godot 4.4+ only. JavaClassWrapper.wrap("") calls Java/Kotlin classes with no plugin; the AndroidRuntime singleton (Engine.get_singleton("AndroidRuntime")) exposes getActivity(), getApplicationContext(), and createRunnableFromGodotCallable(callable).

The simpler cross-platform alternative needs no 4.4: Input.vibrate_handheld(duration_ms, amplitude) (requires the VIBRATE permission; iOS needs iOS 13+). See [Plugins](references/plugins.md) for the full JavaClassWrapper/AndroidRuntime API, Toast/Intent recipes, and inner-class syntax.

GDScript

# Godot 4.4+ — requires the VIBRATE permission in the export preset.
func vibrate_ms(duration_ms: int) -> void:
    if Engine.has_singleton("AndroidRuntime"):
        var runtime := Engine.get_singleton("AndroidRuntime")
        var context := runtime.getApplicationContext()
        var vibrator := context.getSystemService("vibrator")
        if vibrator.hasVibrator():
            var Effect = JavaClassWrapper.wrap("android.os.VibrationEffect")
            var effect = Effect.createOneShot(duration_ms, Effect.DEFAULT_AMPLITUDE)
            vibrator.vibrate(effect)

C# Equivalent

The docs are GDScript-only here; the exact C# Variant-marshaling chain (.AsGodotObject() on each Java return) is untested against a device — verify on a real 4.4+ Android build.

// Godot 4.4+ — requires the VIBRATE permission in the export preset.
public void VibrateMs(int durationMs)
{
    if (!Engine.HasSingleton("AndroidRuntime")) return;
    var runtime = Engine.GetSingleton("AndroidRuntime");
    var context = runtime.Call("getApplicationContext").AsGodotObject();
    var vibrator = context.Call("getSystemService", "vibrator").AsGodotObject();
    if (vibrator.Call("hasVibrator").AsBool())
    {
        var effect = JavaClassWrapper.Wrap("android.os.VibrationEffect");
        var oneShot = effect.Call("createOneShot", durationMs, effect.Get("DEFAULT_AMPLITUDE"));
        vibrator.Call("vibrate", oneShot);
    }
}

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5. Device features & safe area

DisplayServer.get_display_safe_area() -> Rect2i (Android/iOS) returns the usable region inside notches/cutouts; get_display_cutouts() (Android) lists the cutout rects. Motion sensors live on Input (get_accelerometer/gravity/gyroscope/magnetometer, returning Vector3, Android/iOS only).

GDScript

func _ready():
    var safe := DisplayServer.get_display_safe_area() # Rect2i
    $UI.position = safe.position
    $UI.size = safe.size

C# Equivalent

public override void _Ready()
{
    Rect2I safe = DisplayServer.GetDisplaySafeArea();
    var ui = GetNode("UI");
    ui.Position = safe.Position;
    ui.Size = safe.Size;
}

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6. Mobile performance & renderer

Use the Mobile (or Compatibility) renderer; the iOS simulator is Compatibility-only. Enable rendering/textures/vram_compression/import_etc2_astc = true (ETC2/ASTC) for Android texture compression. Keep single-arch APKs small; AABs split per-device automatically. Defer deep draw-call/batching tuning to godot-optimization.

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7. C# on mobile

C# Android/iOS export is Godot 4.2+ but experimental. Android C# export requires .NET 9+ (with Godot 4.5); iOS export only from macOS, and the simulator templates are x64-only. C# cannot export to Web. Test the C# export pipeline early — it is the riskiest part of a C# mobile project.

> Deeper: [Plugins (Android v2 / iOS)](references/plugins.md) · [In-app purchases & ads](references/iap-and-ads.md) · [Crash debugging](references/crash-debugging.md)

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Implementation Checklist

• [ ] Release keystore (Android) / provisioning + Team ID (iOS) configured
• [ ] AAB for Play uploads; Gradle build installed if using v2 plugins or IAP
• [ ] Autosave wired to NOTIFICATION_APPLICATION_PAUSED (iOS ~5 s budget respected)
• [ ] Required permissions enabled in the preset AND requested at runtime
• [ ] JavaClassWrapper usage labeled Godot 4.4+; fallbacks for 4.3 if needed
• [ ] UI anchored inside get_display_safe_area(); notch/cutout handled
• [ ] Mobile/Compatibility renderer + ETC2/ASTC compression enabled
• [ ] C# projects: verified .NET 9+ for Android export

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: jame581
• Source: jame581/GodotPrompter
• License: MIT

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.