Tablet support in general and table specific APIs

[Augusto Sellhorn]

Is there anything in Android (currently or in the near future) for "tablet" support?

I would imagine that on the graphics side there are ways to enumerate the different screen resolutions, even though I would think this is needed for phones too.

Is there anything in the API that is specific for tablets? For example, is there an API to tell me what type of device (or hardware profile) my application is currently running on?

[Hauke Ingmar Schmidt]

Did you read some tech blogs today, say, in the last hour? Google just presented Honeycomb / Android 3.0 which is the first tablet ready version of Android. I guess you could download the SDK and read the changes; the 3.0 SDK is available now. (I didn't look at it yet, sorry.) Or you can get quite a good grasp at Techcrunch, Engaget or such.

[Augusto Sellhorn]

Hauke Ingmar Schmidt wrote:Did you read some tech blogs today, say, in the last hour? Google just presented Honeycomb / Android 3.0 which is the first tablet ready version of Android. I guess you could download the SDK and read the changes; the 3.0 SDK is available now. (I didn't look at it yet, sorry.) Or you can get quite a good grasp at Techcrunch, Engaget or such.

Funny, I posted this without knowing the announcement about it. Catching up ...

But so far, I'm wondering pre-3.0 what is there? For example, does Android (pre-3.0) have a set of pre-defined resolutions/aspect ratios? For example something like getDisplayMode(s) in Java SE;
http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/api/java/awt/GraphicsDevice.html#getDisplayMode()

I would imagine many apps wouldn't really care if they are in a phone or tablet, as long as they have enough info on the current graphics configuration of the device.

[Ulf Dittmer]

http://developer.android.com/sdk/android-3.0-highlights.html

[Augusto Sellhorn]

Thanks, that link has a great summary.

Pre-3.0 I was looking more at something like this, which pretty much details what I clumsily tried to describe.

http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/screens_support.html

Again, I think in many cases maybe you don't really care that you're running on a tablet, as long as you know the screen information.

Based on that link, I assume tablets are in the hdpi/xhdpi range.

[Ulf Dittmer]

Based on that link, I assume tablets are in the hdpi/xhdpi range.

Most likely not xhdpi. Maybe some will be hdpi, but I think mdpi would be more likely. They'd have a large or xlarge screen, though.

[Hauke Ingmar Schmidt]

Augusto Sellhorn wrote:Again, I think in many cases maybe you don't really care that you're running on a tablet, as long as you know the screen information.

I am not that optimistic. For some applications this might be true, but the ergonomics of an tablet are different than those of a phone. You hold it different, you can use the (virtual) keyboard different, gestures may work different - sliding along a 3" screen is ok, along 7" or 10" is another cup of tea. The screenspace is vastly different. Think of a one-column layout (like the stock GoogleMail app) on a huge screen. Works, technically - but there is a good reason why the new Gmail app for tablets looks and works completely different.

[Hauke Ingmar Schmidt]

Some interesting details about this topic were postet in the Andoid Developers Blog here yesterday.