I'm having some issues in an App that I'm developping in Android:
We are creating an app with support for multiple screens, going from an Samsung Galaxy Ace to a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, Supporting small, medium, large and x-large screens, but, somehow Android is not respecting my layout-xxxx folders. In Eclipse visual layout editor, when I Change the Screen it moves me to the correct folder, for representing that layout. But, In Android, Emulator or Real Device, the Layouts in their folder aren't displayed the correct way.
My folder structure is like the ones, mentioned at Android Developer:
res/layout-xxxx
res/values-xxxx
I've also read that since Android Honeycomb, somethings changed, the small,large,xlarge qualifiers became depecrated. So We created folders using layout-swdp, and we thought that would be the Solution for Devices with honeycomb +. But, soon we realized that this didn't work.
So, Is there a exact way to do this?. To make Android respect or force, these folders?.
Also, in Android 2.2 when using Dimens, the App didn't start. It tells that there's no dimen 0x01. Thank you In Advance.
Personaly I would use Screen pixel density (dpi) for each layout.
That is:
ldpi: Low-density screens; approximately 120dpi.
mdpi: Medium-density (on traditional HVGA) screens; approximately 160dpi.
hdpi: High-density screens; approximately 240dpi.
xhdpi: Extra high-density screens; approximately 320dpi.
Added in API Level 8
See http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#AlternativeResources
The folder should be:
values > Standard phone screen
values-sw600dp > 7" phone/tablet screen
values-sw720dp > 10" tablet
You have to initialize <dimen name="myvariable"></dimen> in the XML file within those folders and call inside your XML.
Example:
<Button
android:id="#+id/btnHome"
android:layout_width="#dimen/myvariable"
android:layout_height="#dimen/myvariable"
android:text=""
android:background="#drawable/homebutton" />
And it will resize based on the screen size.
I am working on my app and that ensures the size is same across all three screen.
Related
hi I'm new in android developing and it's my first app.
I have made these folders in address : app\src\main\res for supporting multiple phone and tablet screens and put proper dimens.xml files in them.
values-ldpi
values-mdpi
values-hdpi
values-xhdpi
values-xxhdpi
values-xxxhdpi
values-sw600dp
values-sw768dp
values-sw800dp
first of all, are they complete or am I missing some screen sizes?
second, I've tested the app on several devices and it's working fine and has proper user interface in all phones but on the Galaxy Grand Prime which has a 5 inch 540 x 960 pixels display that means 220 dpi. this phone using hdpi dimens but UI is a bit messy.
The following pictures may make my point better :
Proper UI , as it is shown in other devices
VS
UI in galaxy grand prime 220 dpi display
as UI is completely OK in other devices, I thought I should make a specific dimens.xml file for that kind of dpi, so I made values-sw220dp. but after that other phones used this dimens instead of hdpi dimens and problem got worse because UI was fine in the galaxy phone and was not proper in other hdpi displays. and now I don't know what should I do.
can anyone help me in this issue?
at last sorry because of flaws in my english , as you can guess I'm not a native.
are they complete or i'm missing some screen sizes?
If you read the guides which I mentioned at the end of my answer you will find that there are very many possibilities of defining resources folders. I think nobody will want to implement all of them.
Usually you look at your app and then decide on maybe three or four screen sizes you want to support. I think "sw220dp" is important, if only to show a message that your app needs more space :-).
So there could well be three to five layout folders (sw220dp, sw320dp, maybe sw480dp, sw600dp, maybe sw820dp). If you need orientation-dependent layouts, then the number will be twice that much. (Why ? That's explained very well in the guides linked below)
You already know that there are different types of resources. Some of them do not depend on the screen resolution (e.g. layout files), some do (drawable resources).
So first of all you decide which screen sizes you want to support. Let's say they are "phone", "tablet" and "220dp". You create three layout files by the same name "my_activity.xml" and put them in three folders
for the really small window: res/layout-sw220dp
for the mobile phone: res/layout-sw320dp
for the tablet: res/layout-sw600dp
By the way, "sw" stands for smallest width which is the minimum length of the screen, no matter what the orientation is currently.
Now let's assume you have created three different layout files and all of them contain an ImageView like this:
<ImageView
android:layout_width="24dp"
android:layout_height="24dp"
android:src="#drawable/my_picture" />
This is where the screen resolution comes into play: 24dp is a size value in "density-independent pixels". It will be resolved depending on the screen resolution of the device. So you need different versions of my_picture.png, and for this you need different folders for drawables. They are named after the different categories for screen resolution so the runtime knows which png file to pick:
res/drawable/ldpi (although I read somewhere you can skip that because the pictures will be scaled down from hdpi nicely)
res/drawable (here go the resources for res/drawable-mdpi as well as every drawable resource for which resolution does not matter, e.g. drawables defined via xml files)
res/drawable-hdpi
res/drawable-xhdpi
res/drawable-xxhdpi
res/drawable-xxxhdpi
Helpful links:
Providing Resources
Supporting Multiple Screens
This is my first time working with multiple screens. I want to build my application for multiple screens i.e from sw320dp to sw720dp. I have created the following layout folders.
res/layout-sw320dp
res/layout-sw360dp
res/layout-sw480dp
res/layout-sw600dp
res/layout-sw720dp
I have copied all the xml files inside these folders. Is there anything else I need to add to make sure all the layouts support multiple screens. I have gone through the android documentation but I am not clear with the manifest.xml part. If anyone implemented multiple screen support in their application, so please do provide a description and implementation of the same.
Step 1 -You have to create different values folder for Different values for different screens.
Go to Your Project / app / src / main / res.
Right click on res and create different values folder in it.
Step - 2. Create folders named
values-large
values-small
values-sw320dp
values-sw320dp-hdpi
values-sw320dp-xhdpi
values-sw320dp-xxhdpi
values-sw480dp
values-sw600dp
values-sw720dp
Step - 3. Create dimensions.xml file in values folders.
Different values for different screen size.
values-ldpi 2.7" 240*320 ldpi
values-ldpi 3.3" 240*400 ldpi
values-ldpi 3.4" 240*432 ldpi
values-mdpi 3.2" 320*480 mdpi
values-hdpi 4.0" 480*800 hdpi
values-hdpi 3.7" 480*854 hdpi
values-xhdpi 4.7" 1280*720 xhdpi
values-xhdpi 4.65" 720*1280 xhdpi
values-sw480dp 5.1" 480*800 mdpi
values-sw480dp 5.4" 480*854 mdpi
values-sw600dp 7.0" tablet 1024*600 mdpi
values-sw720dp 10.1" tablet 1280*800 mdpi
when you attach dimension.xml file with your layout than you will get direct effect with your screen size.
This will help you to set dimensions for all type of screens.
There is a difference between supporting multiple screen sizes and creating different layout.xml files for each screen size.
In all the apps I've ever worked on, there were really only three different kinds of screens we cared about: small phones (years-old devices that our users weren't upgrading), "regular" phones (e.g. modern-day Samsung or LG phones etc), and tablets. Even considering those three kinds of screens, we often didn't need to create more than a single layout.xml file for a single screen.
If you have just one layout.xml file, it will display itself on any screen size. To "support" multiple screen sizes, you just need to make sure that your content looks good on short phones and tall phones, on wide phones and narrow phones, on phones and tablets, etc. This generally comes down to using dimensions like match_parent, or layout_weight to fill available space, etc.
It is only when you actually need to change what elements are on screen (as opposed to how big elements are) that you need to create extra layout.xml files. For instance, perhaps you know that a certain set of text + images just won't fit on smaller phones. Then you can create one res/layout/layout.xml that has only the text, and another res/layout-sw360dp/layout.xml that has the text + the image. Or maybe you have some content that you want to display side-by-side on a tablet, but you only want part of it on phones. Then you can make one res/layout/layout.xml with the normal content and one res/layout-sw600dp/layout.xml with the tablet-only content.
Regardless, when you decide that you do want to make multiple versions of a layout for different screen sizes, the only thing you have to do is create copies of your layout.xml in different layout-swXXXdp folders. Don't bother with layout-large unless your app supports really old API levels; the swXXXdp method is much more accurate and solves the same problem (but was only added in API 13).
Hey you dont need to do anything in manifest.
You have done the part with layouts.
Next you can do is to add support in drawable folder i.e. different density images for different sizes.
And if different screens require different values(dimentions etc) you need to create multiple file in values.
I'm working on android application and got in trouble of multiple screen support. I developed the app for 1080x1920 and when i tested the app on my friends Micromax Unite 2 with resolution of 480x800, it was something else. So i made two folders in the layout as:
layout-1080x1920
layout-480x800
thinking that the 480x800 device will pick up the layout-480x800 folder. But no it used the layout-1080x1920. So what should i do? So that the device having resolution of 480x800 works on layout-480x800
I suggest naming the folders as such:
layout-sw600dp
Where sw600dp means Screen Width 600dp. This layout folder will be used by devices with screen widths of 600dp or more (typically all 7-10 inch tablets, or just very dense screen). And when you are targeting for the phone use just the layout folder without any specified criteria. All phones not matching the sw600dp will use the default layout resources. Possibly also consider using
layout-sw600dp-port
if you need to use specific layouts for portrait orientation, likewise you can do
layout-sw600dp-land
if you wanted to specified layouts for landscape.
The link cricket_007 provided is where I learned this information
Note that 1080x1920 equates to about 540 x 960 dp in dp measurement, which is why I suggested to use the particular 600dp for width
giving the folder names pixel according to android screen support dev page. Even if you know all possible resolutions for every device, the android system takes those *xml files/drawables etc specified by their DPI, not PX. Those dpi resolutions still can change on runtime, such as, when your activity uses a tool bar (which is not part of your dpi resolution). Name your folders layout-xlarge, layout-large, layout-normal, layout-small for *xml layouts. I suggest to put 4 different xml files with same name in each of them and try it again for different devices.
As i new in android development i just want to know is there any way to develop Android application for different screen sizes ?
help me.
Thank you in advance
Just add this in your project.
res/values/main.xml
res/values-sw600dp/main.xml -> 7+ inches
res/values-sw720dp/main.xml -> 10+ inches
Create this folder and just copy your xml file in all the folders.
Put your main.xml in those folders:
res/values/ //your default values (in your case for phones)
res/values-large/ //specfic values for relatively big screens
res/values-xlarge/ //specific values for really big screens
large: Screens that are of similar size to a medium-density VGA
screen. The minimum layout size for a large screen is approximately
480x640 dp units. Examples are VGA and WVGA medium density screens.
xlarge: Screens that are considerably larger than the traditional
medium-density HVGA screen. The minimum layout size for an xlarge
screen is approximately 720x960 dp units. In most cases, devices with
extra large screens would be too large to carry in a pocket and would
most likely be tablet-style devices. Added in API level 9.
see more infos here: http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/resources/providing-resources.html#ResourceTypes
Google provide good article how to support multiple screens
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
General advices:
use layout - for for mobile phone layouts
use layout-sw600dp folder for 7inch tablets layouts
use layout-sw720dp folder for 10inch tablets layouts
use dimens.xml in values folder to define dimentions for your UI
you also can use
values-sw600dp and values-sw720dp with its own dimens.xml file for 7 and 10 inch tablets
Writing apps for multiple devices requires one to have good knowledge on basic concepts like : what is Dpi, Screen density , Orientation etc.
Article below is good place to start for:
Supporting Multiple Screens
http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
What I have in my project is:
values-small;
values-normal;
valuse-large;
valuse-xlarge;
these folders contain the dimensions of the images and texts for all the screen sizes;
But should I add hdpi,mdpi... although I've added the size of the image in dp, and the size of the text in sp..?
example:
<dimen name="btnwidth">60dp</dimen>
<dimen name="btnheight">60dp</dimen>
<dimen name="fsinlistview">25sp</dimen>
because I am not getting the needed result on all the devices...
So why the dp and sp aren't being fixed depending on the screen dpi?
Create a Single layout for default screens 4.7 inch (hdpi) in layout folder and dimensions in values folder. This is your superset.
Now let say you want your layouts for 7inch devices.
Create values-sw320dp folder for 7inch in Portrain orientation
Now lets say you want your layouts for 10 inch devices
Create values-dw720dp folder
NOTE :- For landscape just add "-land" in front of folder names.
Now lets say you have new devices such as Xperia SP (4.7' and XHDPI) and Nexus 5(5" and XXHDPI).
For these, you can create values-xhdpi and values-xxhdpi folders..
I hope you got the point of how to create folders..
Now your superset is defined in values folder. Most of the dimensions will be used from here only. Now run your app in other devices. Whatever mismatch is occuring just add that specific dimension in their respective values folder
The answer from #RahulGupta is pretty flawed. You should more follow what #amalBit has written.
As mentioned in my comment, the basic idea is to have a very flexible layout with some basic "cross screen" settings that you can and should follow
For example: The Settings list has on a phone maybe 16-32 dp margin on the sides, on a xlarge tablet like the Nexus 10 it has a way bigger margin. I highly doubt that the Settings screen was built with dozens of dimens files to fit all and every screen resolution, dimension and dpi. I guess that is basically just using one default for all and for the bigger tablets it is using a bigger value. So maybe a differenciation between 320dp and 720dp.
My suggestion: Start small with one layout, one dimens.xml file in your values folder and use a normal phone for your development. When you have done the layouting on it, check it on different screens and see if you need to modify something. Normally on a low res/low dpi device, the paddings/margins and sizes should scale correctly and in a good visual way.
The biggest "issues" you will face with 7"+ tablets and for them I would just start by creating a separate dimens.xml file and increase the dimens I need to make it better looking.
Normally the default values folder should contain 80% of your "style", the rest are just additions to make them fit perfect.
Check this link Supporting multiple screens.
From the above link:
320dp: a typical phone screen (240x320 ldpi, 320x480 mdpi, 480x800 hdpi, etc).
480dp: a tweener tablet like the Streak (480x800 mdpi).
600dp: a 7” tablet (600x1024 mdpi).
720dp: a 10” tablet (720x1280 mdpi, 800x1280 mdpi, etc).
Check out this converter.