Memory Leak on Windows Phone (universal export)

Problem Description

Over time, a project exported as a Universal 8.1 (Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1) app from Construct 2 r168 will leak memory only in Windows Phone 8.1. Despite sharing the same code, the Windows 8.1 build does not leak memory. Only the Windows Phone build does.

Attach a Capx

This issue was observed with my own capx as well as your own template files. No need to appach a capx file... simply use the Flapping Bird template with no modifications. I tested and confirmed the same issue occurs.

Description of Capx

Test with Flapping Bird template.

Steps to Reproduce Bug

• Export app from Construct 2 as Universal 8.1.
• Open the project in Visual Studio 2013.
• Run app on Windows Phone
• Do nothing. The app immediately starts leaking memory, even just sitting on the main play screen.
• Try with Windows 8 and notice there is no memory leak.

Observed Result

The app slowly increases total memory used, about 1-2 MBs per minute. Eventually, app crashes as it runs out of memory.

Expected Result

I expect the memory use to remain the same over time.

Affected Browsers

• Windows Phone 8.1 Only.

Operating System and Service Pack

Windows Phone 8.1 (issue occurs on device with Lumia 920, and in emulator)

Construct 2 Version ID

Construct 2 release 168 64bit

So this does not affect any other browsers or platforms? I will look in to this but it may be that it's a problem in WP8.1 itself, since our engine is nearly identical on all platforms, so if the problem was in our engine it ought to show up on other platforms.

No, it does not appear to affect other browsers or platforms. I can confirm the Android version (exported via Crosswalk) does not have the issue.

I thought it might be an issue with WP8.1 itself, but I am able to run other apps on it for several hours. Do you know of any WP8.1 apps made with HTML5 that I could download and test?

Looking forward to more info on this. I'm just waiting on this (or any kind of workaround you might find) to release my app.

Thanks,

Andy

Any updates or an eta as to when I might hear back regarding this issue? I've released my app in Google Play and I'm waiting to hear back before I can release to Windows and Windows Phone.

Mortar Melon is a construct 2 app on windows 8

I am yet to investigate, but it would be helpful to produce the smallest .capx possible that reproduces the problem.

The Flapping Bird template is (considerably) smaller than my alarm app, so that's the best I can do. I'll test a few other templates and let you know.

Worth noting: Interestingly, if I try the examples (like, say, the 8 direction templates), I see a similar behaviour but with cleanup. The memory rises slowly, then returns to normal, rises, returns to normal, and so on. The same example on Windows 8, the memory just stays steady. It looks like as soon the project has events, the cleanup phase doesn't happen.

Andy

I have tested and I can confirm that the issue occurs with the Ghost Shooter (tutorial example) at 264kb, the flapping bird template at 196kb and even the Autorunner template at only 56kb. The Driving Game template at 13kb was not an issue (it did the rise and fall motion I described earlier).

Hope that helps speed things up for you. The sooner I know what's going on, the sooner I can make my future plans. My app is just sitting in the Google Play store waiting for proper promotion while I wait for this to get sorted out.

I mean if you can narrow it down to a single object. You can reduce the stock projects even further. A minimal repro means the closest to an empty project that still causes the problem.

Isn't that your job, since I paid for your application?

I'll see if I have time to do this tonight.

We deal with a very large number of bug reports, the majority of which are user's own mistakes or unrelated issues, and not bugs in Construct 2. To prevent us spending all day deleting things from projects and trying to figure out what they've done instead of working on new features for Construct 2, we ask that before we investigate it that your report include the very strongest possible evidence that the defect is in Construct 2 itself, or in as specific a component as you can possibly identify.

Mortar Melon is a construct 2 app on windows 8

Mortar Melon is currently running on Windows Phone 8 - I haven't tried the universal app exporter yet.

We deal with a very large number of bug reports, the majority of which are user's own mistakes or unrelated issues, and not bugs in Construct 2. ... strongest possible evidence that the defect is in Construct 2 itself, or in as specific a component as you can possibly identify.

I understand that. But when every one of your own tutorials is causing the problem, clearly it is not an issue with my code. And, I gave very specific steps to reproduce the issue with a very small tutorial file that came packaged with the software. It would take you (as it takes me) under 5 minutes to load the tutorial, export as universal, load it in VS2013, and see the problem.

I'm starting to regret my decision to purchase. I like your software, but this is unacceptable. I found a severe bug, and provided you with plenty of information on how to reproduce it. What exactly did I pay for if I'm going to be told I have to solve my own problems with your own code? That's not what I consider to be good customer service.

I did everything you mentioned and I was unable to reproduce this bug. Waited for over an hour.

I did everything you mentioned and I was unable to reproduce this bug. Waited for over an hour.

Thanks for the test. I'd love to know more about your system... what versions of software you're running, etc. And I'd love to see a memory test to get more info (like the images I attached). You can get it by going to the menu: Debug -> Performance and Diagnostics -> and selecting Javascript memory, and start. Make sure you are on the Windows Phone version... it's not an issue with Windows.

I'd also love to get confirmation from Scirra directly if they tested and reproduced the issue.