CODEWITHSUNDEEP
android
anon
anon

Reputation:

How does Android decide which layout folder to use?

In my application I have 3 different layout folders:

layout
layout-large
layout-xlarge

I did this according to the available Android device screens, described here. So I thought that the screen size in inches is the only thing that is used to decide which layout folder to use. But recent tests with various 7 inch emulator showed that sometimes the layout and sometimes the layout-large folder is used. So can anybody tell me which other factors are used?

Upvotes: 5

Views: 3842

Answers (3)

Tom Susel
Tom Susel

Reputation: 3437

According to Google's android screen support guide res/layout is used for normal screens and is the default folder in which the OS looks.

Upvotes: 0

Joseph Earl
Joseph Earl

Reputation: 23442

7 inch Android tablets are HDPI and large.

xlarge didn't exist at the time they were made, and although most of them have pixel densities around 160 (MDPI) they present themselves as HDPI devices because it looks better.

So the 7inch tablets don't quite fit into the resources system properly, because there wasn't really a way to fit them in prior to 3.0 which introduced new screen-size qualifiers.

Upvotes: 3

FoamyGuy
FoamyGuy

Reputation: 46856

I think size in inches is the only thing that matters. There was a question on here a while back where someone has having some odd results with trying to make emulators pick from the correct layout folders for 7 inch devices. I have a Galaxy tab though and it will always take from layout-large, or layout-hdpi.

Edit: perhaps I was incorrect it seems that type of screen and pixel count may matter too - 

* small: Screens based on the space available on a low-density QVGA screen. Considering a portrait HVGA display, this has the same available width but less height—it is 3:4 vs. HVGA's 2:3 aspect ratio. The minimum layout size for this screen configuration is approximately 320x426 dp units. Examples are QVGA low density and VGA high density.
* normal: Screens based on the traditional medium-density HVGA screen. A screen is considered to be normal if it is at least this size (independent of density) and not larger. The minimum layout size for this screen configuration is approximately 320x470 dp units. Examples of such screens a WQVGA low density, HVGA medium density, WVGA high density.
* large: Screens based on the space available on a medium-density VGA screen. Such a screen has significantly more available space in both width and height than an HVGA display. The minimum layout size for this screen configuration 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 this screen configuration 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.

If you happen to have folders with more than one qualifier like layout-large-mdpi etc you have to pay attention to the precedence order also. this page should help out.

Upvotes: 1

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