Mobile export

Experimental Android and iOS output — building, signing, input and the current limitations.

Experimental

Mobile targets are experimental. They build and run, but the APIs are not stable, performance work is ongoing, and store submission requires manual steps. Do not plan a commercial mobile release on them yet. Progress is tracked on the roadmap.

Prerequisites#

Android — JDK 17, Android SDK 34+, NDK r26+. Point the toolchain at them:

luauengine config set android.sdk-path "$ANDROID_HOME"
luauengine config set android.ndk-version "26.1.10909125"
luauengine doctor --target android

iOS — macOS with Xcode 15+ and an Apple Developer account. Building for a device requires a provisioning profile; the simulator does not.

Build#

luauengine build --target android --release
luauengine build --target ios --release

build/android/
├── MyGame-1.4.0.apk         # sideload / testing
└── MyGame-1.4.0.aab         # Play Store

build/ios/
└── MyGame.xcodeproj/        # open in Xcode to archive and submit

The iOS target deliberately stops at an Xcode project. Apple's signing and submission flow changes often enough that owning it yourself is more reliable than having the toolchain guess.

Configuration#

luauengine.toml

[targets.android]
package = "com.example.mygame"
min-sdk = 26
target-sdk = 34
abi = ["arm64-v8a", "x86_64"]
orientation = "landscape"       # landscape | portrait | sensor
icon = "assets/branding/icon-android.png"

[targets.android.signing]
keystore = "env:ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PATH"
keystore-password = "env:ANDROID_KEYSTORE_PASSWORD"
key-alias = "release"
key-password = "env:ANDROID_KEY_PASSWORD"

[targets.ios]
bundle-id = "com.example.mygame"
minimum-os = "15.0"
orientation = "landscape"
icon = "assets/branding/icon-ios.png"
team-id = "env:APPLE_TEAM_ID"

Touch input#

UserInputService reports touch as it does on Roblox:

local UserInputService = game:GetService("UserInputService")

if UserInputService.TouchEnabled then
	UserInputService.TouchTap:Connect(function(positions, processed)
		if not processed then
			fireAt(positions[1])
		end
	end)

	UserInputService.TouchPinch:Connect(function(_, scale, velocity, state)
		camera.FieldOfView = math.clamp(camera.FieldOfView / scale, 40, 100)
	end)
end

For anything more involved, bind abstract actions once and let the engine map them per platform:

Engine.Input:BindAction("Jump", function(state)
	if state == Enum.UserInputState.Begin then
		humanoid.Jump = true
	end
end, {
	keyboard = Enum.KeyCode.Space,
	gamepad = Enum.KeyCode.ButtonA,
	touch = { button = "jump", position = UDim2.new(1, -120, 1, -120), size = 90 },
})

On touch platforms that draws an on-screen button; elsewhere it binds the key or gamepad button and draws nothing.

Device considerations#

if Engine.Platform == Enum.Platform.Android or Engine.Platform == Enum.Platform.IOS then
	local device = Engine.Device

	print(device.Model, device.MemoryMB, device.Tier)   -- Tier: "low" | "mid" | "high"

	if device.Tier == "low" then
		Engine.Render:SetResolutionScale(0.6)
		game:GetService("Lighting").Technology = Enum.Technology.Compatibility
	end

	Engine.Device.SafeAreaInsets     -- notch/rounded-corner padding for UI
	Engine.Device.LowPowerMode       -- battery saver active
end

Engine.Device.SafeAreaInsets is worth wiring into your UI early — retrofitting notch handling to a finished HUD is unpleasant.

Lifecycle#

Mobile apps get suspended without warning. Handle it:

Engine.App.WillSuspend:Connect(function()
	saveGame()
	pauseAudio()
end)

Engine.App.DidResume:Connect(function()
	resumeAudio()
end)

Engine.App.MemoryWarning:Connect(function()
	Engine.Assets:PurgeCache()
end)

Save in WillSuspend, not on a timer. It is the only callback guaranteed to run before the OS reclaims the process.

Known limitations#

Area	Status
Rendering	Vulkan on Android, Metal on iOS; Future lighting unsupported on both
Audio	Works; occasional latency spikes on Android after resume
In-app purchases	Not implemented
Push notifications	Not implemented
Google Play Games / Game Center	Not implemented
Background audio	Not implemented
iOS App Store submission	Manual, through the generated Xcode project
Build size	Larger than it should be; runtime trimming is in progress