Keep the screen on or not when idle?

Java on Mobile Devices Android
#1

Hi,

I’m creating my first Android game using libGDX. I have a doubt, looking from a user’s point of view: when user is not playing a game (it’s paused) I noticed that some games keep the device screen lit all time time. I also noticed that some other games allow the screen to turn off. The game is a turn-based strategy, so player might just be looking at screen and “thinking”, and some devices might be set to 1 minute before screen darkens or so. OTOH, keeping it running “forever” wastes battery.

What’s your experience with this? What do you do as developers and what do you prefer as users?

#2

As a user I prefer my screen to still auto shutoff. Please don’t mess with my settings! If I have my screen set to turn off at 2 minutes with no usage, just let it happen!

#3

Could you dim the screen? That wouldnt waste as much battery and does not anger users!

#4

Developer: left it as it. Save me couple lines of code.
User: If your game make me idle or go ‘hmmmm’, then there’s something wrong.

See, even if as user I agreed to turn off the screen, I still wouldn’t make it. No want to add more work.

#5

Personally I like if games keep the phone/screen from sleeping. If I put the phone down for a little while, it’s nice if I don’t have to unlock/wake it all the time to keep playing, and in fact I sometimes find it a nuisance. If I’m taking a long break, I will manually return to the desktop or lock the phone anyway. I can however see where opiop is coming from too.

I guess it just comes down to personal preference. As such, perhaps consider making this an option in your game; it really shouldn’t be much extra work to implement.

nerb.

#6

Ok, conclusion:
Make a setting for it in the settings menu, no standby, standby default, standby x minutes

And everybody has what he wants, no complaints :slight_smile:

#7

Yes, looks like that will be the case. :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone for answering.