I still don't see how you can effectively do any of this when a device can report itself as "normal" but with a DPI of 240, but it could still range from 480x800, to 480x845 - a difference of 85 pixels, which may cut off some of your images if you make a layout for 480x845 and it displays on a 480x800 screen.
I don't think you have to be resolution dependent of course, but I'm having a hard time putting my question into words. It just doesn't feel like this works right. I still think if android would have scaled everything up for you it would have been much easier to understand and use. -Brad On Sep 14, 5:50 pm, jtoolsdev <[email protected]> wrote: > I happened to hear from Samsung about a particular app they were > interested in having ready for the India release. The app was 1.5 > compatible and interestingly the ImageView bitmap scaled fine even to > WVGA 854x480 without any changes. Guess that's why I never heard from > any users that it was postage stamp. I bumped the target to 1.6 > leaving 1.5 as the minSDK and check for the display width. > Fortunately this graphic is simple enough and I already had scaling in > the drawing routine. If it the display is larger than 480 then it > doubles the size of the bitmap and draws accordingly. This solves the > problem for a 1024x600 size emulator. Again this is a simple layout > so I can get away with it. Anyone see any holes in this approach? I > can't imagine any screen widths between 480 and 600 pixels but who > knows. > > BTW, when people change from 1.5 to 1.6 Target you may run into some > problems such as I offer the ability to backup the database file to > the SD card. Under 1.5 that worked fine but requires a permission > with 1.6 for it to work. There was an issue with SQL too on a couple > of other apps. > > - Brian > > On Sep 14, 12:56 pm, String <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I've spent a good bit of today making a couple of my apps scale well > > to tablet size, so I'll chime in here. > > > My experience currently is the following: > > > - If your activity could benefit from a completely different layout > > for tablets (>5" screen), then do so, in a res/layout-large > > directory. > > > Otherwise, make your existing layouts scale: > > > - Use layout classes (like RelativeLayout and LinearLayout) which > > scale naturally. > > > - Use 9-patch drawables liberally. It may be helpful to re-use your > > existing > > hdpi drawables for large configurations. > > > - Use <dimen> resources in res/values-large to specifically target > > dimensions (like font sizes & margins) to tablets. > > > I actually enjoyed the process, once I got into it... Creating > > emulator instances for the Dell Streak and Galaxy Tab, then making my > > apps look good on them one, was quite satisfying. > > > String > > > On Sep 14, 8:18 pm, niko20 <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I guess my problem is that if you look at the graph on > > > >http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html > > > > It only shows "large" as the 480-800 pixel medium density, and 480x854 > > > pixel medium density. > > > > So what I'm saying is it's still only considered "480x854" for > > > example. So if you designed a layout to look good and you made buttons > > > that were "70dip", then even on a larger pixel screen the buttons are > > > still 70dip ...so you end up with a big empty space. > > > > I guess maybe to answer my own question, you would probably have to > > > set buttons to use relative layout commands instead of any specific > > > "size" such as dips or mm. So you would set the main parent to fill > > > the screen (fill_parent) and come up with your layout based on all > > > relative from that? > > > > Thanks for the input! > > > > -niko > > > > On Sep 14, 1:44 pm, Dianne Hackborn <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > DroidX is a normal screen, larger screens like the 7" samsung are large. > > > > You can provide a different layout for large if that is what works for > > > > you. > > > > > On Tue, Sep 14, 2010 at 11:27 AM, niko20 <[email protected]> > > > > wrote: > > > > > I've been studying the screen support of Android and yes, while it IS > > > > > flexible, I still don't see how you can support a "really large" > > > > > screen like the Samsung tablet is going to have. I think no matter > > > > > what you end up with lots of wasted real estate. > > > > > > The problem is the Android doesn't automatically "scale up" your app > > > > > if you run in compatibility mode - rather, it fits it into a postage > > > > > stamp instead. > > > > > > Because of this, how can you really make an app that will "never" have > > > > > some postage stamping at all, unless you use all 9patch drawables and > > > > > Absolute Layouts? (Well, you could draw the GUI yourself, which is > > > > > what my Reloop Sequencer does) > > > > > > As an example, my drum machine app, Electrum Drum, has a certain > > > > > layout for the buttons and pads. Now, on a larger screen, it would be > > > > > nice to just make all the buttons and pads BIGGER. I need the same > > > > > layout relationships between all the elements though. Basically I just > > > > > want a "scaled" up version of the UI. Maybe I can achieve this with > > > > > 9patch drawables and relative layouts? > > > > > > The issue is I could certainly make "large" graphical elements (if not > > > > > use a 9patch drawable) but there is no way for something, for example, > > > > > to know that hey, I have LOTS of space I can use. Let's say for > > > > > example, that you want a completely different layout on a tablet - say > > > > > you want more buttons, etc, on your layout now. You can't do it > > > > > because there is no way for the android app to "know" that this > > > > > "large" screen is actually larger than "large". A Droid X probably > > > > > reports itself as large, although the screen is only 4.x inches or so, > > > > > where you would not have room for those extra buttons. This is no > > > > > where near as large as 7" or 10", even at a pixel density of 170 or > > > > > 240. > > > > > > I think the default behavoir would have been better to scale up images > > > > > in compatibility mode, and if the dev could provide higher res images > > > > > then it would use them of course (put them in the large high dpi > > > > > folders), but I don't see how a layout itself can scale correctly in > > > > > really large cases like a tablet. > > > > > > We need some better explanation of how to handle these cases. While > > > > > the blog and the dev site touch on much of it, I still don't > > > > > understand how a normal app is going to be enabled to scale up easily. > > > > > It would have been easy if Android would have just "magnified" the > > > > > view, but it doesn't. > > > > > > -niko > > > > > > -- > > > > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > > > > > Groups "Android Developers" group. > > > > > To post to this group, send email to > > > > > [email protected] > > > > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > > > > [email protected]<android-developers%2Bunsubs > > > > > [email protected]> > > > > > For more options, visit this group at > > > > >http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en > > > > > -- > > > > Dianne Hackborn > > > > Android framework engineer > > > > [email protected] > > > > > Note: please don't send private questions to me, as I don't have time to > > > > provide private support, and so won't reply to such e-mails. All such > > > > questions should be posted on public forums, where I and others can see > > > > and > > > > answer them. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Android Developers" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/android-developers?hl=en
