Posted by Don Turner – Android Developer Relations Engineer

This write-up has a look at what’s altered in the Android environment for audio programmers lately, the audio latency of preferred Android tools, as well as reviews Android’s viability for real-time audio applications.
What’s altered?
Over the previous 4 years we have actually taken a variety of activities that have actually enhanced audio latency.

Latency decrease
These activities, combined with a restored emphasis from gadget suppliers on audio latency, have actually resulted in considerable enhancements in the gadget environment. The typical latency of one of the most preferred Android phones has actually gone down to under 40ms, which is well within the variety needed for real-time applications.

gadget appeal resource: appbrain.com
Greater uniformity
Digging right into the information we can see that in 2017 there was a substantial distinction in between the greatest as well as most affordable worths (222ms).

gadget appeal resource: appbrain.com
Compare that to the information for 2021. The variety has actually decreased by a variable of 8 to simply 28ms, offering a much more constant audio experience. This is extra excellent when you take into consideration that there are currently several OEMs on the most-popular checklist, contrasted to just a solitary maker in 2017. In enhancement, a lot of the tools on the checklist are not premium front runner designs.

gadget appeal resource: appbrain.com
Tap-to-tone latency
Up to currently I’ve been describing round-trip sound latency. Round-journey latency includes 3 elements in the sound chain: audio input, audio handling as well as audio outcome.
Many real-time sound applications produce sound from display faucet occasions instead of counting on input sound. These sort of applications are delicate to “tap-to-tone” latency – the moment drawn from touching on the display to listening to a noise. The latency presented by touching the touch display is anywhere from 10-35ms, with 20ms being rather common on modern-day Android tools.
To price quote tap-to-tone latency offered round-trip latency, you can deduct the audio input latency (usually 5ms), as well as include the touch latency (usually 20ms). In various other words, include 15ms to the round-trip latency. Given the numbers over, this implies the typical tap-to-tone latency of one of the most preferred android phones is likewise well under that needed for the majority of real-time sound applications.
Looking to the future
Despite the considerable decreases in audio latency throughout the Android environment our job is no place near full. 20ms round-tip latency is needed for Android specialist sound applications, as well as 10ms continues to be the long-term objective. And currently some much less preferred tools still have high sound latency. However, if you have actually been keeping back on creating an Android application due to audio latency, it could be time to reevaluate.
To start, look into the Oboe starting overview or video clip tutorials.
Data resources as well as devices
OboeTester
WALT
appbrain.com
superpowered.com/latency
gsmarena.com
juce.com/maq
different inner information resources