App runs fine with Quick Launch but not after manual packaging and install

Development Pipeline & Plugins
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1

Hi,

I’m working on a VR project (for Android standalone) using Unreal Engine 5.5.

I’m encountering an issue where the app runs perfectly when I use Quick Launch from the editor (via USB cable), but fails to start properly when I use “Package Project” > Android (ASTC) and then install the .apk manually on the headset.

In the second case, the app installs, launches, but stays stuck on a black loading screen or doesn’t load correctly — even though I assume both methods (Quick Launch and manual install) should technically produce the same result.

I’ve tried cleaning the build, double-checking project settings, and verified that everything seems consistent between both methods.

Could you help me understand what might be happening under the hood with Quick Launch that doesn’t happen when installing the packaged .apk manually?

Thanks in advance for your support!

Best,

2

Hi there,

This usually happens when the apk is failing to find the associated OBB files (content is usually in the OBBs, while the executable code is in the apk) for the project.

You should be able to confirm this by checking the output of `adb logcat` with your device connected via USB, or the logs from Meta Quest Developer Hub (assuming you are using a Meta device). If you see something like the following:

[GameActivity] Checking for file : patch.com.gamecompany.XXXX.obb

[GameActivity] which is really being resolved to : /storage/emulated/0/Android/obb/com.gamecompany.XXXX/patch.com.gamecompany.XXXX.obb

[GameActivity] … Whoops… missing; go go go download system!

Then the game code is failing to find the necessary OBB content files.

This can happen due to mismatched or missing OBB files. You should check that the OBBs on the device, after the apk install, match what you have in your package output directory. Checking that the file sizes match exactly is usually a good sanity check. You can also pull the OBBs off the headset and compare them to using something like vBinDiff or wxHexEditor, if you want to be absolutely sure they are the same. (I have had issues in the past where the OBB is missing half the data after install. Like it was only partially copied).

This issue usually comes about due to the way you are installing the apk on the headset. I know for Meta headsets the simplest way to install an apk is just to drag the apk onto the Meta Quest Developer Hub. Unfortunately, if you have multiple OBBs for your project, this will not install the extension or patch OBBs. This can result in this seemingly silent black screen failure you are getting. This is the most common cause of this issue. To fix it you can just manually copy the OBBs into the OBB directory on the headset under /sdcard/Android/obb/[app-name] after you install the apk.

If you instead use the installer bat, in the package output directory, it should copy all OBBs onto the headset correctly. However, I have had issues with this in the past where the install bat failed to copy all OBB files onto the device, or copied them incorrectly, so still double check this.

Hopefully this should solve your issue, but let me know if it doesn’t.

Regards,

Lance Chaney

3

Thank you so much I will look into it !