Creating an Android app from Storyline doesn't rotate
Aug 25, 2023
Hi,
I have been asked to create an interactive demo for our sales team that they want as an offline Android app.
After publishing from Storyline 360, I'm using Voltbuilder https://volt.build/ with a zip file generated as Cordova. I used their default template for the Cordova setup.
I've put all the Storyline content in the www folder and renamed as index.html.
Voltbuilder generates the test app fine and I can install it on my phone. However, as yet, I can't get it to rotate and I need it to display in landscape mode.
First version, classic player (as just testing concept) showed as Portrait with a "Launch button" in the background of the app and a small single page of Storyline with no navigation, and didn't appear to run beyond that.
Second attempt, using the modern player. Under preview/responsive settings in Storyline I set it to Allow playback tablet / mobile to "Landscape" only.
When launched as an app, I just get a black screen with a phone symbol and arrows saying "please rotate your device" in portrait mode.
Can someone suggest a way to create an Android app that works in landscape on a tablet from Storyline content please!
7 Replies
When you rotated your device after seeing the phone symbol with arrows on the black screen, did the app not start? Did the black screen remain?
Just last week I used Volt Builder to create an Android app and it started and worked fine in landscape mode after rotating the device when prompted. I used the Modern Player; I haven't tried the app builder with a Classic SL file. I only tested on a tablet so far, not a phone.
Just installed my test app on my phone. As with the tablet, I was prompted to rotate the phone and then the app started. All good.
Thanks for the prompt reply. Could you share your settings with me as this is something I haven't done before. Last time I did something like this I used Phonegap, so voltbuilder is a new thing.
thanks
I used a bare-bones setup:
1. Published output in a folder named 'www' (lowercase).
2. I renamed story.html to index.html in the www folder.
3. Minimal 'config.xml' file (see attached) in the root folder.
4. A 'certificates' folder in the root folder; I put an empty Notepad file called 'emtpy.txt' in this folder.
5. Minimal 'voltbuilder.json' file (see attached) in the root folder.
In my case, I am just testing Volt Builder out. I was delighted to see I could generate an Android app that I could immediately download without having to put it on the Google Play or other app store. My client isn't going to sell the app; they just need some of their users to be able to run the Storyline project without an internet connection on a mobile device. Until Articulate has a way for us to do this, Volt Builder seems like a good temporary solution.
Excellent - thank you. I'll try this out later.
Thank you! All works fine now.
In the config.xml file I had there was this line... which stopped it from going to landscape!
Good to know, Karl. Glad it's working now.