Android Apps on Tablet

suncitysuncity Posts: 368
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I have heard that Apps on Android tablets (10" tabs like Nexus 10) are not specific to the tablet. That they are just the phone App's scaled up - with questionable results in terms of not only the design but the technical quality.

Whereas the iPad Apps are iPad specific.

Is this accurate?

I'm coming oh so very close to getting a Nexus 10, and I just want to ensure a few things...

Thanks
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  • barky99barky99 Posts: 3,921
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    seen apps on an ipad that are small rectangles in middle of screen, size of an iphone --- presume some older/free apps will be like this on whichever platform?
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Android apps scale up gracefully to any size due to the way they are made.

    iOS apps have to be custom made to each device specifically, so unless there is an iPad app it will be small on screen or really large with scaled bitmap graphics.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    Its slightly misleading propaganda from the Apple fans.

    As I understand it, it you run a non-tablet app on an Ipad, you get, as barky says, a little display with huge black borders, completely horrible.

    However that's not the case for Android. Android apps aren't (generally) programmed for a specific resolution, they work with what is available. So if you have a higher resolution, it shows you more data. e.g. instead of showing you 3 lines of text, it shows you 6 lines of text. It doesn't show you 3 lines really big, there is no 'scaling up' as you might imagine, or how Apple 'scale up' to support ipad 3 resolutions.

    Of course, this does rely on developers coding their app semi-competently, but the bar for this is far lower than requiring the app to be coded specifically with tablets in mind. Its like worrying if you get a bigger,higher-res monitor for your PC, will MS Word be useable.

    in short, its really nothing to worry about. I've not found a simple app that doesn't work fine on my Nexus 7, and many look great.
  • suncitysuncity Posts: 368
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    Not talking about the icon, dude, moreso the specific app.

    For instance:

    http://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2012/11/Screenshot_2012-10-30-22-30-30.png

    vs

    http://marketingland.com/wp-content/ml-loads/2012/11/IMG_0147.png

    The iPad one is custom for a screen that size, with navigation icons to the left, etc.

    Whereas the Android just looks like the phone sized app, spread out to fiil a 10" screen.

    Have they sorted this out? Surely the bigger Apps would be on top of it?
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    Android apps scale up gracefully to any size due to the way they are made.

    Some do look fine - but there are still some out there that look dreadful.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    alan1302 wrote: »
    Some do look fine - but there are still some out there that look dreadful.

    Examples?

    I can only think of one, Game Dev Story, which as you can see from the screen shot, was designed for resolutions significantly below most smartphones, let alone tablets.
    https://lh6.ggpht.com/ku4HaGMiKrDPrAVqxL3Odx8CTQem953NBHEG8Vl_bCLHS6SqvRKMXdc6yFeKt8mtHFgD
  • RoushRoush Posts: 4,365
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    Android apps scale up gracefully to any size due to the way they are made.

    iOS apps have to be custom made to each device specifically, so unless there is an iPad app it will be small on screen or really large with scaled bitmap graphics.

    Hardly gracefully. 'Stretched-UI' is great for resizing an app to a similar size screen that it was designed to run on, but it creates an un-engaging user experience when scaled up to larger screen sizes such as tablets as the content on the screen just ends up being spread out with a lot of wasted space on the screen.

    That's why Google recommend that Android apps have a specific user interface designed for tablets and not using stretched-UI as a solution to tablet UIs.

    The screenshots posted suncity are a good example of the difference between a stretched smartphone app running on a tablet and an app with a tablet specific UI.
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    paulbrock wrote: »
    Examples?

    I can only think of one, Game Dev Story, which as you can see from the screen shot, was designed for resolutions significantly below most smartphones, let alone tablets.
    https://lh6.ggpht.com/ku4HaGMiKrDPrAVqxL3Odx8CTQem953NBHEG8Vl_bCLHS6SqvRKMXdc6yFeKt8mtHFgD

    There was a pool game - don't remember which one. Quite a few are like it though.

    It's a bit like when you play old PC games and they can't stretch to modern resolutions.
  • suncitysuncity Posts: 368
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    So with the super dooper HD screen of the Nexus 10, where are the real advantages to be had?

    If App's are loading *not optimum* streams are only going to be as good as the uplaoder submitting, which 9/10 isn't good.

    Hmm, decisions.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    suncity wrote: »
    So with the super dooper HD screen of the Nexus 10, where are the real advantages to be had?

    If App's are loading *not optimum* streams are only going to be as good as the uplaoder submitting, which 9/10 isn't good.

    Hmm, decisions.

    well it depends on what you're using it for. You won't get Angry Birds in super duper high res, but photos, websites, etc will all utilise the full resolution.

    Obv the likes of iplayer are streaming at best HD so won't offer anything more on super duper high res.
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    paulbrock wrote: »
    well it depends on what you're using it for. You won't get Angry Birds in super duper high res, but photos, websites, etc will all utilise the full resolution.

    Obv the likes of iplayer are streaming at best HD so won't offer anything more on super duper high res.

    Actually, Angry Birds should be one of the better ones as there are HD versions available.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    Roush wrote: »
    The screenshots posted suncity are a good example of the difference between a stretched smartphone app running on a tablet and an app with a tablet specific UI.

    Twitter is a poor example on both. Lots of whitespace on both, the only difference is icons down one side rather than at the top.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    alan1302 wrote: »
    Actually, Angry Birds should be one of the better ones as there are HD versions available.

    HD is still way below the Nexus 10 resolution though.
  • alan1302alan1302 Posts: 6,336
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    paulbrock wrote: »
    HD is still way below the Nexus 10 resolution though.

    I know that - was meaning it will look a lot better than an app that's low res to start with as at least the graphics will be at a higher starting point.
  • paulbrockpaulbrock Posts: 16,632
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    alan1302 wrote: »
    I know that - was meaning it will look a lot better than an app that's low res to start with as at least the graphics will be at a higher starting point.

    yep agreed.
  • Anika HansonAnika Hanson Posts: 15,629
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    iOS has over 300,000 iPad specific apps. Android have very few apps that are made specifically for tablets. In my experience most apps ran ok on the nexus 7 (7 inches), but many did not scale up well on the galaxy tab 2 10.1. Many of the iPad specific apps have additional/different features/interface, they are not simply scaled up professionally to match the higher resolution.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Any app that isn't universal or explicitly made for iPad will appear as a small window in the middle of the ipad. That is bad.
  • BrokenArrowBrokenArrow Posts: 21,665
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    The ipad has fixed hardware, so apps don;t really need to do any scaling.

    Android has never had a fixed resolution from the word go, apps have to work on multiple devices all with different shapes and sizes.

    There are API's that let you query the screen and adjust the display to suit.

    Temple Run, for instance works just as well on a 55" HD TV as it does on a small phone.
  • Anika HansonAnika Hanson Posts: 15,629
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    Any app that isn't universal or explicitly made for iPad will appear as a small window in the middle of the ipad. That is bad.

    That's not true. I have some apps that are optimised for the iPhone 5 but run fine on my ipad mini. I think a downside is that many apps you have to purchase twice, a version for the iPhone/iPod and another for the iPad.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    Btw, i do not mean that all Android apps just look great. They still have to be coded properly for multiple resolutions, its just that the API allows that to be done for any resolution if the dev puts the effort in.

    Where as apple apps still need patching with updates from XCode if new OS' come out with different resolutions.
    That's not true. I have some apps that are optimised for the iPhone 5 but run fine on my ipad mini. I think a downside is that many apps you have to purchase twice, a version for the iPhone/iPod and another for the iPad.

    If you have to buy it twice it means its not universal, and the dev has had to make a custom version for it.
  • c4rvc4rv Posts: 29,509
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    Android devices have always varied in resolution from day one. So apps generally should have been coded to cope for that and modern apps generally do. But these days you also need to consider PPI as you could have devices with same resolution but different screen size. So while a HD screen on a 10" display x number of line of data is fine, the same on a HD screen on a 5" is probably not so good.

    Anyway, I really would not worry about any of this, basically the vast majority of decent android apps scale perfectly from 2.7" phones to 10" tablets.
  • suncitysuncity Posts: 368
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    Thanks for the insight guys.

    Out of interest, does anybody here have a Nexus 10? Or ever used one? how did you find it?
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    suncity wrote: »
    Thanks for the insight guys.

    Out of interest, does anybody here have a Nexus 10? Or ever used one? how did you find it?

    I have one and love it. I think i've found one game that didn't work on a large screen (and they even screwed up the input etc) since christmas.
  • Anika HansonAnika Hanson Posts: 15,629
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    I have one and love it. I think i've found one game that didn't work on a large screen (and they even screwed up the input etc) since christmas.

    It's a shame you can't see them in the shops. I really want to see it.
  • whoever,heywhoever,hey Posts: 30,992
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    It's a shame you can't see them in the shops. I really want to see it.

    That is very very annoying indeed. I just wanted to say pop into a shop and try one for your self, but you cant.

    It really is my favourite purchase in recent times. From the
    * multi-user aspect - great for a family
    * full screen widgets - i have page with just calendar and email, another with twitter etc
    * folders on the bar at bottom (name?)
    * gorgeous display - you have to see the timescapes trailer 4k 2560p to believe the image and resolution
    * magnetic cover sleeping.
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