New this build: new Cordova export option to replace PhoneGap Build/Crosswalk, improvements to Z order bar selection, a 'recreate initial objects' action, and a batch of other improvements and bug fixes.
New Cordova export option
We continue to adjust Construct 2's export options to reflect the best ways to publish HTML5 games. Previously we have had two separate export options for Android (via Crosswalk) and PhoneGap Build. Since adding them, Crosswalk has gained support for Cordova (the library PhoneGap is based on) and the two options ended up generating more or less identical files. Further, the 'PhoneGap' export option also should actually work with any other Cordova-compatible platform, such as Ludei's webview-based builds. To reflect this the 'Android' and 'PhoneGap Build' export options have been replaced by a single 'Cordova' export option that should work with the Intel XDK (both Crosswalk and non-Crosswalk builds), PhoneGap Build (as ever), and Ludei's webview-based builds.
Since the terminology can be a little bit confusing, here's a quick refresher:
- Cordova is the open-source library currently maintained by the Apache software foundation that powers PhoneGap Build, Crosswalk, and more.
- PhoneGap is Adobe's distribution of Cordova. 'PhoneGap' is a trademarked name which an open-source project cannot use, which is why the library has a different name.
- PhoneGap Build is Adobe's Cordova-compatible online build system.
- Intel XDK is Intel's Cordova-compatible online build system.
- CocoonJS Webview/Webview+ is Ludei's Cordova-compatible build system.
- CocoonJS Canvas+ is a non-browser wrapper which is not Cordova-compatible, and is no longer supported by Construct 2.
It's also worth a reminder that Crosswalk is the best way to support Android 4.0-4.4 since it's based on the full Chromium browser engine. On these versions the normal Android web view (which is what you get with PhoneGap Build and any other non-Crosswalk build for Android) is very poor, lacking many features and often with inadequate performance. However from Android 5.0+ the Android webview is also powered by Chromium and has full support for WebGL, Web Audio, WebRTC and more, and is as good as Crosswalk. So in the long term with Android 5.0+, any Cordova-compatible platform will work well, but Crosswalk is preferable if you need to support older Android 4.x versions. This will likely be necessary until Android 5.0+ has a vast majority market share, which given Android's slow upgrade process could take a couple of years.