Google is on the verge of leaving billions in revenue in VR opportunities for Apple. Check the Paul McCartney Google Cardboard app for an example. Virtual reality (VR): when the viewer turns his head, the audio “follows” too late, destroying the 3D audio experience.In other words, it takes more time for audio to “flow” through Android, than data packets to be transferred between continents.
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VOIP apps, such as Skype: if both users are using a high latency Android phone, the overall audio latency is higher than the network latency.Game audio is then “detached” from visuals, making for poor user-experience, preventing immersive gaming experiences. Games: sound effects, such as explosions or gun sounds lag behind by a few frames.Applying effects like a loop roll or echo is very hard too. DJs can not perform beat-matching, as their pre-listening signal in their headphones is far behind the master signal playing for the audience.Music instruments apps, audio effect apps: musicians cannot play together on stage, as the performer using an Android device will be half beat behind the others.Some specific examples on how audio related applications suffer from roundtrip audio latency greater than ~10 ms: To give you a quick example from the Oscar winning film Whiplash, it’s like the drummer is dragging by a half beat behind the band!
Most Android apps have more than 100 ms of audio output latency, and more than 200 ms of round-trip (audio input to audio output) latency. Anything significantly higher tends to disturb us. As any musician will tell you, we as humans are most comfortable with latencies of ~10 milliseconds. The overwhelming majority of Android devices suffer from too high audio latency, preventing developers from building apps that would satisfy consumer demand on Android.Īs such, Google and Android app developers are leaving billions of dollars on the table for Apple and iOS developers because of Android's 10 Millisecond Problem.įor the purposes of this explainer, roundtrip audio latency is simply the difference in time between when an audio input is introduced into a mobile device, undergo some sort of needed processing, and exits the same device. In the Google Play store, the Music category is not even a top five revenue producing app category. Which suggests that music apps monetize disproportionately well on platforms that offer low latency performance such as the App Store/iOS devices. How Android's 10 Millisecond Problem and Android Audio Path Latency Impacts App Developers and Android OEMsĮven though music apps make up only 3% of all downloads in the iOS App Store, the Music app category is the 3rd highest revenue generating app category after Games and Social Networking.
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Startups and developers are unwilling to port and publish otherwise successful iOS apps (with ~10 ms audio latency needs) on Android for fear of degraded audio performance resulting in negative word-of-mouth and a hit to their professional reputation and brand.Ĭonsumers lose because have a strong desire to buy such apps on Android, as shown by revenue data on iOS, and currently, are unable to do so. Many mobile apps that are critically dependent on low latency audio functionality such as some games, synthesizers, DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), interactive audio apps and virtual instrument apps, and the coming wave of virtual reality apps, all of which thrive on Apple's platform (App Store + iOS devices) - and generate big revenues for App Store and iOS developers are largely non-existent on Android.Īndroid Audio's 10 Millisecond Problem, a little understood yet extremely difficult technical challenge with enormous ramifications, prevents these sorts of revenue producing apps from performing in an acceptable manner and even being published (!) on Android at this point in time. Follow practical tips on dealing with latency, Android developers please also see Android Audio Low Latency Primer.]