Beginning Android 4

Part III

Honeycomb and Tablets

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 pixels) and size (around 3.5 inches, or 9 centimeters). Starting in late 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. In late 2010, tablets and Google TV devices appeared, offering yet more screen sizes, and with the release of Honeycomb and Ice Cream Sandwich, tablet and larger screen sizes exploded.

Of course, users will expect your application to be functional on all of these screens, and perhaps take advantage of larger ...