I've started work to get my games to scale nicely on the higher-res displays like the Xoom and Galaxy Tab 10.1.
I've made use of the ldpi/mdpi/hdpi/xhdpi folder naming convention for my resources which works nicely for layouts and graphics, but not so much for text size scaling. The problem is that an Evo and a Galaxy Tab 10.1 (for example) are both mdpi devices and will map to the same layout file. Yet, I need to scale the text size for some of my TextViews differently for these two devices. For the record, I'm using dp for the text size units.
Any ideas would be much appreciated.
Mike
Consider using sp for text sizes.
Apply different layouts based on screen size (not screen density), as described at http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html.
Related
trying to get my head around screen sizes so my app looks the same on different devices.
I have two devices a galaxy s3 and a galaxy tab 8. both have the same resolution screen 720 x 1280 but the s3 is 4.7 inches while the tab is 8 inches
When I do a linear layout I set padding to 130 at the top so that the first textview is 130 pixels from the top so the image on the background is not obscured.
This is fine on the s3 but when I load it on the tab the padding needs changing to 190 pixels for it to look the same.
I cant get my head round if the height of the screen resolution is the same (1280) on both devices why do i need larger padding on the screen
is there a way of working out how to make the textview appear on the same location on both devices
Any help appreciated
Mark
Yes there is a way.
First off all you should use DP or SP unit instead of PX. The DP unit have in consideration the size of the screen and the screen resolution. You can see more in here:
What is the difference between "px", "dp", "dip" and "sp" on Android?
Also you can create a folder in res and add different sizes for different devices.
Example:
You already have the folder 'values' with the file 'dimens.xml' in there you can add margins and sizes variables.
If you create the folder 'values-large' and copie the file 'dimens.xml', you can change the sizes of the variables and maintain the name.
In devices 'large' it will load different values from the rest of the devices.
You can see all documentation in here: http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
Hope it helps you.
You need to add 2 different layouts for 2 different screen sizes. In fact you can provide multiple screen support limited only by your considerations. You can customize layout according to the screen sizes. Here is the official documentation to help you get going.
First of all, you need to use dp instead of px to do these kind of stuff. The reason the result is wrong is that the number of dots per inch on the s3 is much higher than that of the galaxy tab 8. You should really read this link to understand more.
[http://www.captechconsulting.com/blog/steven-byle/understanding-density-independence-android][1]
I have designed attached screens for my app. The app targets android 1.6 and above. Currently the app is running on majority of hdpi and mdpi devices and few devices having some odd resolution like 1024x600 with 169 dpi, 1024x600 with 179 dpi, 1024x600 with 240 dpi. I have provided alternative layouts to support multiple screens in below mentioned folders.
layout: Default layout resources.
layout-hdpi: For hdpi screens. Few layouts in my projects need to be specifically optimized for this.
layout-mdpi: For mdpi screens. Few layouts in my projects need to be specifically optimized for this.
layout-large: Default layout resources for large screens.
layout-large-hdpi: Layout resources for hdpi screens having resolution 1024x600
layout-sw400dp-v11: This is mainly for 7" tablet. Only devices running Honeycomb or above can recognize this.
Now I also need to add support for qHD screens(540x960 having 256 dpi or similar). Below is the example screen I need to design and add support for qHD screens. This screenshot is taken on HTC Incredible S having resolution of 480x800 with 240 dpi.
I have designed layout for qHD screens so that it will look same on those screens as well.
Now, I have below questions:
1. Am I having right directory structure for providing alternative resources considering I need to support hdpi, mdpi and above mentioned odd screens? If not, how should I provide alternative resources as for those screens? I really need to design separate file so that the UI looks the same across multiple screen resolutions and densities.
2. qHD Screen are having 256 dpi. That means those screens are hdpi screens. I already have resource for hdpi screens which looks as above on most of the devices. but when I view it on qHD screens, it looks like below screenshot. So, how do I provide alternative resource for qHD screen such that it won't affect my current layout resources which are showing good on most of the devices?
#Espiandev
A qHD, hdpi device has a display-independent pixel (DIP) screen size of 360x640, whereas the Incredible S's is 320x533 hence why some of the images are higher up the screen relative to others. So essentially, the qHD device can show more stuff that the Incredible S, per screen. See here for an explanation of DIPs and some more tips
-- Thank you for this insight. I am aware of this. Also I have read post by Dianne Hackborn,; "New Tools For Managing Screen Sizes" - http://android-developers.blogspot.in/2011/07/new-tools-for-managing-screen-sizes.html
From what it looks like, you're currently using some margin or padding above the goal/gain/to go parts, I'd instead suggest changing their gravity to bottom (i.e. align them to the bottom of your screen) and then use a margin or padding below the item.
-- No I am not using padding or margin for these parts. Its a relative layout where goal/gain/togo buttons are below that meter tape button. As you have suggested setting gravity to bottom and have bottom padding; yes, I had tried that as well but then distance between that meter tape button and these circles increase and I have to modify sizes and margins between those glasses, button below that and meter tape button which created different layout file. When you view this screen on small screen devices, views will overlap as small screen devices can show less views.
But I'd work on making your app adaptable to screens rather than trying to divide screen sizes up like this, as you shouldn't really need separate layout resources for mdpi, hdpi etc.
-- I agree that Normally I shouldn't need separate layout for mdpi and hdpi screen. But the requirement here is that screen should look exactly the same on all screens. Like, all views within that yellow circle should not go outside of that circle. That button at the center should be always at the center. Also, the relative sizes of those 3 little circles at the top and below meter tape button should be same. This left me no choice than creating different layout for mdpi and hdpi screen.
I have created different layout file for qHD screen. Now my question is where do I put that so that qHD devices will use that file and other devices will continue to work as those are working now.
A qHD, hdpi device has a display-independent pixel (DIP) screen size of 360x640, whereas the Incredible S's is 320x533 hence why some of the images are higher up the screen relative to others. So essentially, the qHD device can show more stuff that the Incredible S, per screen. See here for an explanation of DIPs and some more tips.
There's no real way to make the UI look exactly the same on the Incredible S and qHD devices. Unlike iOS devices, screen sizes are very varied. From what it looks like, you're currently using some margin or padding above the goal/gain/to go parts, I'd instead suggest changing their gravity to bottom (i.e. align them to the bottom of your screen) and then use a margin or padding below the item. That way it will hopefully stay aligned with your lunch/dinner boxes. If you post your XML file, that will help diagnose the problems.
Before Android 3.2, I don't believe there is a way to distinguish the two cases above, but after 3.2, you can use the swXXXdp (shortest width) attribute. But I'd work on making your app adaptable to screens rather than trying to divide screen sizes up like this, as you shouldn't really need separate layout resources for mdpi, hdpi etc.
can I change layout dpi that use my application on device?
(on developed application that works fine but on small screen size devices everything looks big )
You'll want to supply resources for all the screen size buckets:
/drawable/ (default images)
/drawable-ldpi/ (small dpi screens)
/drawable-mdpi/ (medium dpi screens)
/drawable-hldpi/ (large dpi screens)
/drawable-xhdpi/ (xtra large dpi screens)
See here for help: http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html
and here for a list of devices using which DPI bucket: http://blog.blundell-apps.com/list-of-android-devices-with-pixel-density-buckets/
small screen size devices everything looks big .
Read this Supporting Different Device
Its an layout issue ,Try to use relative layout and linear layout for placing the objects in xml.And for images use .png extension and use nine patch images ,so that it fits in all screen,this will support most of the screens
You need make images for all DPI screen so that it is supported by all types of devices.
Android automatically sets these images for your application according to your device DPI.
Please be sure of all of your resources and see link. It will help you more.
I am developing for android and my code runs perfect on nexus or any 3.7 inch device.
If I run it on tablet (7 or 10.1 inch) then the fonts and buttons are very small and the spacing is way too big.
If I run it on 2.7 QVGA then the buttons are too big and overlap.
I am using dp and sp all over the layout so I am surprised it didn't adjust according to different screen size/density.
Does that mean that I have to wrte the same XML layout in 3 layout folders (large, medium and small) and put my drawable in 3 different density folders?
Or am I amissing something here. Yes I read the "Supporting multiple screen" document and it just loses me with the details (but I did follow the tips of using dp and sp). I am looking for more of a summary/general approach answer.
dp and sp adjusts according to screen density. Therefore, a screen with 500 dpi and 4000 dpi but with the same SCREEN DIMENTIONS will looks the same.
If they have different screen sizes, it won't fit as you want. If you want to support multiple screen sizes, you'd have to use weights or percentages.
The key is that dp = device independent pixel and it only adjusts according to density, not screen size.
In the most cases if you don't make a tablet app, you don't need to make more than one XML layout for different densities/sizes. All you must do is define dimensions with DP and SP as you said.
But is necessary to provide different images in the drawable folder to show one or other in function on screen size/density.
If you put all images in drawable folder (without specify hdi,ldi or mdi) Android will try to adjust the images but not always works fine.
Hope it helps.
I am stuck in a situation.
I created an application for Samsung Galaxy Tab 7". The same application when i run on the HTC Flyer it shows very small fonts.
I tried following :
I thought may be the screen of HTC Flyer is xhdmi so i crated folders accordingly
res -> values-large-xhdmi -> styles.xml -> <item textsize>20</item>
res -> values-large-> styles.xml -> <item textsize>16</item>
this is not working.. :(
any help will be highly appreciable in this regard.
Thanks.
Check out this recent blog post on sizes: http://android-developers.blogspot.com/2011/07/new-tools-for-managing-screen-sizes.html
A typical 7” tablet has a 1024x600 mdpi screen. This also counts as a
large screen.
The original Samsung Galaxy Tab is an interesting case. Physically it
is a 1024x600 7” screen and thus classified as “large”. However the
device configures its screen as hdpi, which means after applying the
appropriate ⅔ scaling factor the actual space on the screen is 682dp x
400dp. This actually moves it out of the “large” bucket and into a
“normal” screen size. The Tab actually reports that it is “large”;
this was a mistake in the framework’s computation of the size for that
device that we made. Today no devices should ship like this.
So you need to think of the Galaxy as a large sized screen but with hdpi.
THe HTC Flyer will be large sized screen but with mdpi.
When specifying sizes you need to stick with dp, as this normalizes all sizes to scale appropriately for the different density screens. Use a dimension to specify in a xml value resource.
As milind hinted (i think), it is probably better to use the same style for these two screen sizes and specify a dimen resource. This resource can then be customized for the different displays.
The bottom line, however, is that you are using text size differences based on the screen size. The text size should be indicated in dp, so it will scale accordingly to any screen density. Really, the only resources that should be based on screen size are layouts.
If you are plan to make Multiple resolution Supporting android application just you have care about image and xml no other needs that you have same images with three different size putting in different folders like drawable-hdpi, drawable-ldpi, drawable-mdpi. you can make style.xml common for all.
Thanks