Question

I have a problem with my Android application. When I’m using my hp touchpad, which has a resolution of 1024×768 everything looks ok. However when I tested it on a 800×480 (Desire HD) this happened:

Here is my XML file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="fill_parent"
    android:layout_height="fill_parent"
    android:orientation="vertical" >

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH1"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:orientation="vertical"
        android:weightSum="1" >
        <EditText
            android:id="@+id/result"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:editable="false"
            android:layout_weight=".50"
             />
        <EditText
            android:id="@+id/entry"
            android:layout_width="fill_parent"
            android:layout_height="wrap_content"
            android:editable="false"
            android:layout_weight=".50"
            />
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH3"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="100sp"

        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="1.0" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonClear"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonred"
            android:text="@string/clear"
            android:layout_weight=".40"
            android:textSize="50sp" />

          <ImageButton
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:id="@+id/c101_image"
            android:layout_width="40sp"
            android:layout_height="100sp"
            android:scaleType="centerInside"
            android:background="@drawable/cloud101"
            android:layout_weight=".20" />


         <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonBackspace"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="wrap_content"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonred"
            android:text="@string/backspace"
            android:layout_weight=".40"
            android:textSize="30sp" />

    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH2"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="50sp"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="1.0" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button1"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="@string/b1"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button2"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="2"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button3"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="3"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonDevide"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonblue"
            android:text="/"
            android:textSize="110sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH3"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="50sp"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="1.0" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button4"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="4"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button5"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="5"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button6"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="6"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonMult"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonblue"
            android:text="X"
            android:textSize="110sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH4"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="50sp"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="1.0" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button7"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="7"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button8"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="8"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button9"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="9"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonMinus"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonblue"
            android:text="-"
            android:textSize="110sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

    <LinearLayout
        android:id="@+id/linearLayoutH5"
        android:layout_width="fill_parent"
        android:layout_height="50sp"
        android:layout_weight=".25"
        android:orientation="horizontal"
        android:weightSum="1.0" >

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/button0"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombutton"
            android:text="0"
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonDot"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonblue"
            android:text="."
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonEq"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttongreen"
            android:text="="
            android:textSize="110sp" />

        <Button
            android:id="@+id/buttonPlus"
            style="@style/ButtonText"
            android:layout_width="50sp"
            android:layout_height="fill_parent"
            android:layout_weight=".25"
            android:background="@drawable/custombuttonblue"
            android:text="+"
            android:textSize="110sp" />
    </LinearLayout>

</LinearLayout>

I’ve read about the problems of different screen sizes, but no matter if I use sp or dp, it still looks bad on the 800×480 screen. What should I do to get the font display correctly and the picture be nicely centered and not being closed in too tight ?

Answer 1

First: You shouldn’t user sp for views dimensions. User dp for dimensions of the views, and sp for text size.
Second: if you use weightsum and layout_weight, you don’t need dimensions for views width, you give them 0dp value, and they will be drawn ok.

For example if you use this configuration:

 <ImageButton
       style="@style/ButtonText"
       android:id="@+id/c101_image"
       android:layout_width="0dp"
       android:layout_height="fill_parent"
       android:scaleType="centerInside"
       android:background="@drawable/cloud101"
       android:layout_weight=".20" />

your imageButton should be displayed correctly on all screens.
Use the same technique for all your views and it should solve your problem.

Note: Use a smaller font for your text 🙂

Good luck,
Arkde