Which device resolutions should be kept in mind when developing Android Apps?

Question

I am total newbie to Android but I have some knowlege of iPhone apps.

In iPhone, we develop our app keeping iPhone / iPad's resolution in mind.

In Android, which devices should we keep in mind as there are so many models which runs on Android?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Like iPhone, Android doesn't have any standard resolution to make any application.

But yes in Android you have option to keep your UI (layouts) or images (drawable) with different sizes to handle any resolution.

One of the challenges that you will encounter during your time as an Android app developer is developing for multiple screen sizes. There are many things to keep in mind during your adventure into screen sizes. The following list below should help keep you on track.

1. The size requirements for each icon in each density vary for each type of icon. You find launcher icons, menu icons, status bar icons, tab icons, and many more. They are all built differently for each screen density. When building these icons, reference the Android Icon Design Guidelines.
2. Try to always use the density-independent pixel (dip) measurement unit when defining your user interface. This helps your application scale to different devices. The density-independent pixel is a virtual pixel that scales proportionally for each given screen density.
3. Provide the supports-screens element to the AndroidManifest.xml file to help the Android market determine whether your application is compatible with various screen sizes.
4. Provide graphics for high-, medium-, and low-density devices. While this may increase your development and design time, it will greatly improve the usability and appearance of your application.

Here are some tutorials :-

Supporting Multiple Screens

Designer’s Guide to Supporting Multiple Android Device Screens

Designing For Android Tablets

Managing Screen Sizes

And must read Android Design Patterns

Hope this will help.

And Android Asset Studio is best online tool to create Android application graphics assets.

Answer 2

If you are developing an app using the standard view controls, the dip and dp answer is correct.

However, if you plan to design a game you will probably use the surfaceview and do all the drawings yourself (because this is the fastest way if you want a good framerate). Then you also need to scale everything you draw yourself. My way of doing this is to use the screen widht / height and a percentage whenever I need to draw something. Never use pixels. E.g. don't draw a circle with a 32px radius (if you're trying on a 320x480 screen). Draw a circle with a (screenWidth * 0.1f)px radius. Use this for texts size, bitmaps etc.

Answer 3

I suggest you the following reading, it should help you to get an overview on how Android handle various resolutions.

Supporting Multiple Screens

New Tools For Managing Screen Sizes

Answer 4

You can look at the Google stats. Although it says that 90% of screens are Normal (at least 320x480) most of them are 400x800 and 400x854 (source)

Answer 5

Answer is, Nothing About Resolution to keep in mind while developing.. Android is built in such a way

that it adapts to all resolutions if hardware is compatible..