Beginning Android 3

Chapter 25. Handling Multiple Screen Sizes

For the first year or so after Android 1.0 was released, all production Android devices had the same screen resolution (HVGA, 320×480) and size (around 3.5 inches, or 9 centimeters). Starting in the fall of 2009, though, devices started arriving with widely disparate screen sizes and resolutions, from tiny QVGA (240×320) screens to much larger WVGA (480×800) screens. And, in the fall of 2010, tablets and Google TV devices appeared, offering yet more screen sizes.

Of course, users will expect your application to be functional on all of these screens, and perhaps take advantage of larger screen sizes to add greater value. To that end, Android 1.6 added new capabilities to help better support these differing ...