To manage different screen resolution, in windows 8, we put the different assets in folders named, scale-100, scale-140, scale-180.
For windows phone 8, how do we put different resolutions? In the same folder? or different folders? If so how to name?
Could someone throw some light on this?
This is rather complex on Windows Phone 8.
Regarding the splash screen (if any), you can use special file names:
SplashScreenImage.Screen-WVGA.jpg (for WVGA phones)
SplashScreenImage.Screen-WXGA.jpg (for WXGA phones)
SplashScreenImage.Screen-720p.jpg (for 720p phones)
For all other images, you have to implement an own class that returns the best image for the current resolution. This is explained in the following MSDN article: Multi-resolution apps for Windows Phone 8.
Related
I am working on a project in which it is required to add capabilities to a website by which a user can pin the site to the start screen of Windows 8.1.
This can be done by adding some "meta" tags in the head section of the HTML page.
I just have one question whether large tiles are supported on Windows 8.1 Tablet or not.
It is stated here that large tiles are not supported on Windows Phone. Does this mean that large tiles are supported on Windows 8.1 Tablet or not?
Yes you can have live tiles for your website and they will work on windows phone. Scott Hanselman wrote a nice blogpost on how this can be achieved.
Update:
Yes large tiles are supported on Windows 8.1 i.e. a tablet. You can see it when you pin hanselmans or my blog to the start menu.
I'm writing Windows Phone 8.1 application (I don't care about tablets and desktops in this case) and I'm not sure which screen size psds should I ask from a graphic designer?
I have read design guidlines for Windows Phone 8.1, I get the system of scaling images and their name convention, but I haven't found the advice which screen sizes should I consider in real?
I got a psd from graphic designer in size 720x1280 and there is a background image. Is it enough?
If I get it right, Nokia Lumia 1520 has a screen resolution 1920 x 1080 so I need also that size, right?
How scaled psds do you usually get from a graphic designer for Windows Phone?
Thank you
Windows (Phone) uses a scale factor depending on the pixel density (DPI) of the device. Therefore, there is no default resolution any longer.
Screens with high DPI get a high Scale Factore applied, so all resources are scaled up together with the (all vector based) UI.
Image assets get automatically scaled up, but you can add the scaled items by hand for better results.
So the answer to your question probably is: Yes, it is enough, but you can add additional higher resolution assets for better results.
Also, Phone Store apps allow you to create bundles, containing only the assets for the device you install the app on (if it is installed from the store), so you don't need to care about package/download size.
See:
Quickstart: Using file or image resources
Guidelines for scaling to pixel density
It depends on whether you are building for Silverlight or Windows XAML.
For Silverlight, all phones are considered to be 480 x 800 pixels (for 15:9 devices) or 480 x 854 pixels (for 16:9 devices). The platform will map each of those effective pixels to either 1, 1.5, 1.6, or 2.25 physical pixels depending on the actual resolution of the panel (WVGA, 720p, WXGA, or 1080p). So all UI designs should be built for 480px wide, but you can build higher-resolution assets if needed.
For Windows XAML apps, the story is more complicated. The effective resolution of phones ranges from 384 x 640 up to around 450 x 800 (and possibly higher), based mostly on the physical size of the device. Scale factors range from 1.0 to upwards of 2.4, and each effective pixel is "bigger" in terms of actual physical size compared to Silverlight pixels.
There is more information in my //build talk
I've developed and submitted a WP 8 app. it's a cocos2Dx game.
I can test it on my device (WVGA) but the simulators (ex: WXGA) don't work on my PC.
I only checked "WVGA" in the WMAppManifest.xml as I can't test the other resolutions
so in the store, it is written : "App requires WVGA (480x800)"
question : is the app available and does it work (with a kind of auto scale) on devices with other resolutions ? (ex: WXGA)
It depends on what you selected in WMAppManifest.xml. At the bottom of the application settings you will find supported resolutions. Tick all three and your app will automatically work on all supported resolutions.
WVGA and WXGA share the same aspect ratio of 15:9, but 720p is slightly taller and uses aspect ration of 16:9.
Read more on Multi-resolution apps for Windows Phone 8.
Let's say I want to build a web application for Phonegap.
I can design it as much as I can on my pc screen, but since there are a lot of different screen densities on mobile devices and we use mostly px units on HTML/CSS, the elements' sizes may vary a lot from one device to another...
Since I don't have all those physical devices, is there another way I can test it? Using somekind of browser addon, app or online tool?
Thank you
Use mobile phone emulator
http://www.mobilephoneemulator.com/
select device where you test and then open your site link,
here is another good simulator
http://transmog.net/iphone-simulator/
i use 2nd one to test my site and app....
In documentation stated that it is enough to keep the only WXGA splashscreen file and it will be scaled by windows Phone OS automatically.
To display a splash screen for all resolutions, use a single image
file named SplashScreenImage.jpg that is 768 × 1280. The phone
automatically scales the image to the correct size.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsphone/develop/jj206974(v=vs.105).aspx#BKMK_Splashscreens
But when I'm using the only file no scaling occurs. I still could see black line on the top of the phone during app start.
Sample here:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/19503836/SplashSample.zip
Thanks for any suggestions
You'll notice that it says "scale" and not stretch - which is exactly what's happening. Windows Phone 8 supports 3 resolutions (so far)...
480x800 (15:9)
720x1280 (16:9)
768x1280 (15:9)
You'll notice that the aspect ratio of #1 and #3 are the same, but #2 is different - and that's the problem.
For an image to fit all resolutions it would have to be stretched, which would look very bad so Windows Phone 8 doesn't do that. Instead, it scales the image to fit the screen but a black/white bar appears at the top of screen for #2.
The only way to avoid the black/white bar at the top of the screen is to create 3 separate splash screen and specify them in the WP8 manifest file.
Note: Making your app work and look correct at multiple resolutions is what every app developer should do. All the major platforms (iOS, Android, Windows 8, etc) support multiple screen sizes and/or resolutions so creating multiple icons sizes, splash screen sizes, background images, and other assets is part of the jobs.
I don't think a "splashscreen.jpg" is a good choice in wp8 any longer, even the templates of sdk doesn't have one.
The reason is if the firts page of your app is massive and your have a splashScreen, you may find your screen blink when starting.
So I would add a blank page and set it as the first page. Also you can add your "Splashscreen" Image here.