Why are iOS and Android game data not interoperable? The truth is revealed

One day you get tired of it and want to switch to another platform. Generally, you can make the switch after weighing the price and phone parameters. But if you are a heavy gamer, you have to investigate whether your game account data can be retained after switching platforms.

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For a long time, the lack of connectivity between iOS and Android game data has led to much criticism of the gaming experience. For the same WeChat account, the account data on the two platforms are separate. If one platform is destroyed, the other platform has to start all over again. This is not only the case with iOS and Android, but sometimes switching from Android to Android also faces the same problem.

Why does this problem occur? What protocols does interoperability violate? Why do some data work but others don’t?

Violation of Apple Developer Agreement

We know that behind iOS and Android devices are Apple and Google, and the corresponding app stores are AppStore and PlayStore. When players download games through these channels and recharge with krypton gold, Apple and Google take 30% of the profits.

There is no Google in China, and Android is an open platform, so you can play games after installing a package. If the data is interoperable, game manufacturers can induce players to recharge on the Android side (to avoid commission) and enjoy the game on the iOS side, which violates the Apple developer agreement.

Additional reasons:

1. The user value of Android and iOS is not equal

2. Data interoperability brings operational difficulties

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Server division allows for quick game updates

In 2010-2015, Android versions were severely fragmented, and the Android phone market was dispersed. Each manufacturer maintained its own mobile phone products and system updates at different paces. iOS was relatively stable, and for the convenience of management, game manufacturers chose to divide game servers by platform, which not only dispersed the pressure, but also facilitated the service of players.

At this time, because Apple has fewer models and adapting to the iOS system is quicker and easier, Apple users can usually experience new versions of software and games before Android users. In terms of data feedback, the iOS data managed uniformly by Apple is more referenceable and more valuable than that of Android devices.

Also, due to the uneven speed of version updates, for social software like WeChat, it is not a big problem to lag behind a few versions. If you use the old version of WeChat to chat with others, the worst that can happen is that you can't use the new features, such as tap. But if it is a game, different versions mean different internal game mechanisms, which is equivalent to two groups of players with different rules. It is simply a fantasy to be able to play together. This is the main reason for the separation of game versions and data incommunicability between the two platforms in the early days.

Why do Android and Android sometimes not communicate with each other?

Early servers and traffic were too expensive

In the embryonic stage of China's mobile market, most of our mobile games were still stand-alone games, such as Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds. The only time these games needed to connect to the Internet was when players paid for krypton gold. At that time, online banking was not popular, let alone WeChat and Alipay. Krypton gold still had to be paid by sending text messages to deduct phone bills, because the cost of setting up servers and data traffic was too expensive.

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Birth of channel service

During this period, Android application markets such as Wandoujia, 91 Market, and Kuaik began to become popular. They had their own servers and also served as a new channel for game promotion and distribution. On the other hand, mobile phone manufacturers also built their own UI systems and continued to guide users to download through their own app stores.

Game manufacturers have also found another way out at this time, which is to cooperate with these channel operators to divert server operations and thereby reduce the company's overhead costs; mobile phone manufacturers and other channel parties can also obtain a share of game revenue by managing channel services; players can also download games more conveniently and quickly.

This is what we often call channel service. At first glance, channel service is a win-win-win situation, but the disadvantages are also obvious.

Disadvantages of channel service

Channel servers often offer discounts that official servers don't have to attract players. Players spend less money to buy the same items on channel servers. But when you change your phone or download a game version from another server, all your previous efforts will be reset to zero because the server is different.

The channel service was split again on top of the Android and iOS version breaks.

If players in the channel service want to change their phones, it’s OK if they change from Android to Android, at least they can continue as long as they get the corresponding installation package. But if they change from Android to Apple, or from Apple to Android, the chances of data recovery are slim.

Take Honkai Gakuen 2, which I have played for 6 years, for example. This is a game released by Mihoyo in 2014, and it has gone through the development period of channel servers. Currently, Honkai Gakuen 2 not only provides Xiaomi servers, vivo servers, OPPO servers, etc. that can only be downloaded from different mobile app stores, but also provides game versions such as Sina servers, iQiyi servers, Baidu servers, and Dang Le servers on their official website. The servers of these versions are not connected. Every time the game is updated, players have to download the corresponding version to continue playing, and they are not updated at the same time.

In addition, there are some very magical mixed servers. These are channels that cannot even support themselves, and they hand over the operation rights to the miHoYo server (360, UC, etc.). MiHoYo mixes these players into the same server to reduce the operation pressure and also open up the server in disguise.

PS: Those who can play in the channel server for such a long time are either the liver emperors who have been online for a long time, or the krypton guys who have recharged a lot of money. Also, because the only competitiveness of "Honkai Gakuen 2" is to rush to the percentage ranking of the leaderboard, the mixed server that gathers all kinds of great players is also affectionately called the fairy server by the Honkai Gakuen 2 players.

However, among the many versions, we can also see that "Honkai Gakuen 2" can communicate data between iOS and Android on the national server. This server is also the reason why I have been able to play the game until now.

It can achieve data intercommunication between the two ends. In addition to the fact that the game itself is almost a stand-alone game, miHoYo also adopts the same krypton gold charging standard on both platforms. The money paid by players on both ends and the virtual props obtained are the same. Although miHoYo itself has to bear the 30% commission loss on the iOS side, only with a balance can there be Apple users, which can bring more popularity and profits to this game.

Disguised Intercommunication

As mobile phone performance improves, the mobile game industry matures, and large-scale online battle games become popular. The most typical games are Tencent's "Honor of Kings" and "Game for Peace". At this time, server costs are no longer a problem, and the gameplay is mainly online battles. In addition to keeping the update time consistent, it also avoids the trap of channel services.

On the other hand, this kind of online game with social attributes also promotes interoperability between different platforms, allowing Android and iOS users to team up and play in pairs on different platforms.

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But no matter how hard you try, you can never get around Apple's developer regulations, which results in the same WeChat account logging into Android and iOS as different accounts. Even players on different platforms cannot establish relationships in the same game. "Honor of Kings" does not allow players on different platforms to add each other as friends, become lovers, or become apprentices, and they are not allowed to join the same team.

Disguised solution: Apply for zone transfer

Many Japanese mobile games choose to package players' game data and transfer them to different servers. "Honor of Kings" also launched a region transfer service this year. Players can apply to transfer their in-game characters to different servers, but they cannot take away game friend data, team data, intimate relationship data, master-apprentice data, etc. that were originally not interoperable between servers.

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Just moving from one siege to another.