Streetcomplete: System requirements?

[vassilevsky]

Hello :)

I don't have an Android-powered device at the moment. I need to buy one.

What are the minimum and recommended hardware requirements to run this app?

• Operating memory size — most devices I see on the local market have 4 GB — is that enough?
• Storage size — does it cache a lot of map data? I saw an issue here that it can't use a memory card. Is this still true?
• Screen size — is a phone screen enough or is it better to get a phablet or a tablet?

Any additional info would be cool as well.

Thanks!

[matkoniecz]

Operating memory size — most devices I see on the local market have 4 GB — is that enough?

Yes. It worked perfectly fine also on 2 GB one (Redmi 4).

Storage size — does it cache a lot of map data?

Right now on my phone it is using 434 MB of space in total - what includes app itself, downloaded quests, map cache and everything else (that is with heavy usage in multiple locations and during road trip).

More rarely used install has around 42 MB of space used.

I saw an issue here that it can't use a memory card. Is this still true?

See how the issue was resolved - by making it movable in https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete/commit/d05ffd9c6087978c0a319b2eb328839f94f8da5f (though I keep on memory card rather downloaded maps of mapy.cz, Osmand, Magic Earth and so on - I never tested this).

Screen size — is a phone screen enough

yes (Redmi 4 has a pretty small screen). Instead, it is possible that tablet sized screen may have some poor handling of that space instead. Not sure whatever no one bothered to report issues or is there no problem of any kind. But most active contributors are using small or small and normal screens, with no or minimal use of tablet-sized screens so some issues may stay unreported and not noticed.

Any additional info would be cool as well.

I would not expect hardware/system limitations on modern phones - though as usual it is possible to run into some unusual device-specific bugs or some not yet encountered issues in Android 11.

See https://github.com/westnordost/StreetComplete/pull/2023#issuecomment-674395459 for info about upcoming deprecation of really old Android versions.

Also, well working GPS is not mandatory but would improve experience of using the app (but standard smartphone-level low quality GPS is sufficient).

[smichel17]

I have a Galaxy S6 (SAMSUNG-SM-G920A) with 3GB ram. Streetcomplete runs fine on it; I think you'll only run into performance issues on very low-end devices, which it sounds like you are not looking at.

I just opened SC, panned around the map for a few minutes refreshing, opening various quests, and generally trying to get as much into ram as possible. Ended up using 250MB. Note, though, that memory usage can vary by quite a bit by device. Red Moon (a screen filter app I develop(ed)) uses 65-75MB on my phone but only 10-20MB on some older phones. I suspect it mostly has to do with screen size and thus, it's a fixed ~50MB extra on my device, not a multiplier.

As for storage, SC on my phone has an install size of 72MB, and is storing 5MB of data and 3MB of cache. However, I cleared the data/cache recently, I think. The app has a setting for how large its map tile cache can get. The largest value is 250MB. I don't think it will use more than around 400MB total under any circumstances unless you're @matkoniecz, apparently.

Screen size is your preference. It will run on small phones just fine, but I think it's nicer on a bit larger of a screen (same for any other mapping/navigation app) -- easier to look around. I'd probably still stick with a phone though (not a tablet), since you'll be carrying it around with you while you map; SC is intended as a survey app, where you walk/bike around to answer the questions as you're actually looking at the site in question, not an app like JOSM for editing from your home.

[matkoniecz]

The largest value is 250MB. I don't think it will use more than around 400MB total under any circumstances unless you're @matkoniecz, apparently.

434 MB is with modified version that dowloads more quests, has more quests and was heavily used in two cities and 2 towns and used during road trip. And I would expect that it will go down as quests will expire and cache will be dropped.

Or when I will reinstall it and use just in one location.

[westnordost]

I'd say the app has no noteworthy system requirements. I run and test it on a Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, a 6 year old mid to low price range phone.

Minimum is:
Android 4.2 (soon Android 5.0)
About 4.3" screen size.

The app is designed to work well with 4.3" screens, so the user experience will probably not be much better for bigger screens, you'll only see more of the map for better orientation.

The app should be usable quite fine using your thumb (so, one-handed), so maybe the user experience is better with phones that are small enough that holding+controlling it is actually possible with just one hand.

Soon I will use ARCore to make it possible to measure widths and heights using augmented reality. ARCore is not enabled on every smartphone because a certain minimum quality of sensors, camera and processing power is necessary. You should check if the phone you are going to buy will support ARCore.

Am 16. September 2020 15:13:32 MESZ schrieb Mateusz Konieczny [e-mail]:

The largest value is 250MB. I don't think it will use more than
around 400MB total under any circumstances unless you're @matkoniecz,
apparently.

434 MB is with modified version that dowloads more quests, has more
quests and was heavily used in two cities and 2 towns and used during
road trip. And I would expect that it will go down as quests will
expire and cache will be dropped.

Or when I will reinstall it and use just in one location.

[matkoniecz]

You should check if the phone you are going to buy will support ARCore.

Though not supporting it would disable only this new quests, everything else will continue to work.

[westnordost]

Here is the list of devices that support ARCore: https://developers.google.com/ar/discover/supported-devices

I'll close this ticket as the question has been answered.