Recently, high-end mobile devices have become so powerful that they are able to match performance with low-end laptops, and, as such, games today have a wider device applicability. The biggest concern with audio processing on specifically mobile devices is the CPU draining battery and expelling heat from such a compact device. While it’s possible to recharge your phone, or play with a power cable connected, playing games with a super hot device in your hands is rarely comfortable. And even though you might have a power bank or a power connector close by, the whole idea about having a phone is that it’s ‘mobile’ and is usable without a power connector. While adapting for mobile, you should therefore closely monitor and manage the CPU usage to get a sense of battery drain and heat.

To customize your content for a certain platform, a common method is to exclude assets or features. Another method is to further optimize the material sent to platforms with lower performance, by the use of compression, limits, or other ways of unnoticeably reducing concurrent layers in the soundscape. Good practice is to agree with your team on project limits, SoundBank size, or general audio quality, so you’ll know how much you need to optimize your game for low performance platforms.