Audio latency on android devices

silentin · March 6, 2026, 8:25am

Godot Version

4.6

Question

Hi everyone,

I’ve seen several threads about audio latency on Android from around 2023, but it’s now 2026 and I’m still experiencing the same problem.

On desktop builds (Windows/macOS) my sounds play instantly and feel perfectly responsive.
On Android builds there is a noticeable delay between the action (e.g. player attack, collecting an item) and the sound playing.

Some details about my setup:

Godot version: 4.6
Platform: Android (tested on multiple devices)
Audio nodes: mostly AudioStreamPlayer2D / AudioStreamPlayer
Sound formats: I switched from MP3 to WAV, and try OGG
Project settings: I’ve tried adjusting audio/driver/output_latency (e.g. setting it to a lower value) but it didn’t solve the issue.

My questions:

Is there currently any officially recommended way to achieve low-latency audio on Android with Godot 4.6?
Are there any practical workarounds or project settings that significantly reduce audio delay on Android in real projects (besides using WAV and preloading sounds)?

On desktop everything is fine, so this seems specific to the Android audio backend.

Any up‑to‑date advice for 2026 would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

anon39987850 · March 6, 2026, 8:31am

I guess it’s maybe an android related issue. Do other apps work fine?

wchc · March 6, 2026, 9:48am

It seems to be a general problem with the current audio driver that might be resolved with this proposal:

github.com/godotengine/godot-proposals

Replace the current audio driver with Oboe on Android

opened 01:36AM - 26 Feb 21 UTC

mattkwang

topic:audio platform:android

### Describe the project you are working on Godot Audio on Android ### Des…cribe the problem or limitation you are having in your project Godot's audio setup on Android currently uses [OpenSL ES](https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/audio/opensl), an older audio API supported on Android API 9 and above. This API has high device coverage, but is bulkier and less suitable for low-latency applications compared to the native [AAudio](https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/audio/aaudio/aaudio) API introduced in Android API 26. ### Describe the feature / enhancement and how it helps to overcome the problem or limitation [Oboe](https://github.com/google/oboe) is Android's recommended modern audio API, acting as a C++ wrapper library that chooses between OpenSL ES and AAudio depending on device support and best performance. Oboe is compatible with API 16 onwards (covers 99% of Android devices). We expect this to modernize Godot's audio setup on Android, with lower audio latency and minimal loss of device coverage. ### Describe how your proposal will work, with code, pseudo-code, mock-ups, and/or diagrams We will create a class `AudioDriverOboe` housed under `godot/platform/android`, which will take the place of `AudioDriveOpenSL` in `OS_Android`. Much of its functionality will mirror `AudioDriverOpenSL`, informed by Oboe's [migration guide](https://github.com/google/oboe/blob/master/docs/OpenSLESMigration.md). Steps: 1. Add Oboe to `godot/thirdparty` and link with SCons build system. 2. Implement `AudioDriverOboe` with the set of methods inherited from `AudioDriver`, and modify `os_android.h` to use it. More implementation details are available if requested. 3. Develop test apps for latency measurement and potentially device coverage. `AudioDriverOboe` Member variables: ``` Mutex *mutex static AudioDriverOboe *s_ad (singleton) AudioStream player AudioStream recorder bool active bool pause ``` `AudioDriverOboe` Implemented API: ``` const char *get_name() Error init() void start() int get_mix_rate() SpeakerMode get_speaker_mode() void lock() void unlock() void finish() void set_pause(bool p_pause) Error capture_start() Error capture_stop() Constructor AudioDriverOboe() ``` For latency testing, the simplest version is the [Larsen test](https://source.android.com/devices/audio/latency/measure#larsenTest) with two AudioStreamPlayer nodes, one that records audio input and one that plays the input continuously. By measuring the time between sounds, we capture the sum of input and output latency, with some device/engine overhead. This should serve as an adequate measure for approximate latency improvement. For testing device coverage, we should have a test app that covers audio features on Godot. This may be using the [mic_record](https://github.com/godotengine/godot-demo-projects/tree/master/audio/mic_record) demo or some variation upon it which will use both input and output. If run on some device farm or set of devices, we may use app crashes or bad sound behavior to verify minimal loss in coverage. ### If this enhancement will not be used often, can it be worked around with a few lines of script? N/A. This is expected to be used for all Godot games exported for Android. ### Is there a reason why this should be core and not an add-on in the asset library? This proposal changes the audio (a core element of the engine) intending to impact all games for the Android platform. Android Games DevTech Team @ Google

In the documentation of this setting, it says this:

Note: This setting is ignored on Android.

You can try fiddling with AudioServer::get_output_latency() to adjust your actions to match the audio latency:

Here someone mentioned that changing the file format to OGG fixed the problem for them.
Another person mentioned that changing volume is instantanous, so if that makes sense in your case then you can try doing the same.

pooly · May 11, 2026, 9:49pm

this is the easiest way to get the biggest latency win on android. with these interfaces on, android blocks the stream for fast track access, see the part about interfaces here Audio latency | Android NDK | Android Developers

I only had to make changes to audio_driver_opensl.cpp mainly: for output mix remove evironmentalreverb: should look like this { // Create OutputMix without optional effect interfaces (required for fast-track). res = (EngineItf)->CreateOutputMix(EngineItf, &OutputMix, 0, nullptr, nullptr); } then here remove effectsend and add the configuration: / Create the music player */ { // Request only the interfaces that are compatible with the Android fast-track path. const SLInterfaceID ids[2] = { SL_IID_BUFFERQUEUE, SL_IID_ANDROIDCONFIGURATION }; const SLboolean req[2] = { SL_BOOLEAN_TRUE, SL_BOOLEAN_TRUE }; res = (*EngineItf)->CreateAudioPlayer(EngineItf, &player, &audioSource, &audioSink, 2, ids, req); ERR_FAIL_COND(res != SL_RESULT_SUCCESS); } SLAndroidConfigurationItf configItf = nullptr; res = (player)->GetInterface(player, SL_IID_ANDROIDCONFIGURATION, (void)&configItf); if (res == SL_RESULT_SUCCESS && configItf) { SLuint32 performance_mode = SL_ANDROID_PERFORMANCE_LATENCY; (*configItf)->SetConfiguration(configItf, SL_ANDROID_KEY_PERFORMANCE_MODE, &performance_mode, sizeof(performance_mode)); }