Google Introducing "zoom to fill" option on a 'near-future' version of Honeycomb

[wicked]

It’s no secret that Android tablets are lacking in the optimized application department with current numbers for optimized Honeycomb applications hovering around 250-300 in number. And it doesn’t help that the rest of the applications, the ones designed for phones, often look and behave terrible. Well, to combat that, Google has announced that it will optimize those phone apps better using something called ‘zoom’ mode, a feature that will likely be coming in Android 3.2.

Right now, phone apps on Honeycomb tablets run in ‘stretch’ mode but owners will, after the update to Android 3.2 (Google says ‘upcoming’ update but it will be Android 3.2), will be able to switch between stretch and zoom modes.

Zoom mode is going to emulate a normal/mdpi screen and then scale up to the point that it fills the screen.

In cases where an app does not properly resize for larger screens, this screen compatibility mode can improve the app’s usability by emulating the app’s phone-style look, but zoomed in to fill the screen on a tablet.

If you’re wondering how that looks, here is a before and after image:


Before

After

I feel this should have been available from the get-go and still does not remedy the fact that there are a minimal amount of tablet optimized applications on the Android Market right now. But an improvement nonetheless right?


Source: ThisIsMyNext via Android Developers Blog

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[Limbwalker]

A little late aren't we . . . dancedroid

 

[xsylus]

Looks like a good first step towards Google's ultimate goal for Android but I imagine it's not perfect. It may just be changing the resolution of the tablet from its native 1280 x 800 to whatever the app looks best in. My T61p runs 1920 x 1200 on a 15" lcd screen which is usually fine but sometimes I need the content on the screen to be a bit bigger so I decrease the resolution. The only issue I experience with this on my laptop is that when it's not running in its native resolution everything on the screen looks a bit fuzzy. Otherwise it looks crystal clear and sharp. I don't know if that would be the case with tablets or if it would be as noticeable since the resolution is only 1280 x 800. I am hoping to be able to get my hands on a tablet soon.