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I bought one and it's finally a worthy Android device to my iOS devices. However, there is one tragic flaw with it--the tablet apps are of a terribly varying qu

I bought one and it's finally a worthy Android device to my iOS devices. However, there is one tragic flaw with it--the tablet apps are of a terribly varying quality. Only a tiny tiny handful are tightly programmed with the device's screen size and other considerations in mind. No apps are as tightly polished as the good ones deliberately targeted for iPad. Most tablet apps on Android were automatically resized with no thought and it shows--they're ugly as hell.

ConstantineXVI 14y ago
There's yet to be a real standard-bearer for Android tablets (the Transformer was close, but Asus alone didn't have the name recognition to push it) before the N7; so I'd expect the quality of tablet apps to start shaping up finally. ICS being on a respectable number of devices should help as well (since 3.0 was a "breaking" release). IMHO, with the exception of games[0] and such, Android handles phone-tablet scaling much better than iOS does: the UI properly fills the screen, text isn't pixelated, and you aren't forced into a phone-size keyboard that doesn't even reach the screen edge. [0] games are typically very specific wrt resolution, this isn't a tablet problem as much as an Android problem thanks to the wide variance in screen aspects.
- Samuel_Michon 14y ago
  “Android handles phone-tablet scaling much better than iOS does: the UI properly fills the screen, text isn't pixelated, and you aren't forced into a phone-size keyboard that doesn't even reach the screen edge.” iOS has none of the problems you mentioned, so what exactly makes Android better than iOS in that regard?
  - ConstantineXVI 14y ago
    Only on tablet-built apps. Foursquare (for example) only has a phone app. on a N7: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhy3ucrsmvtui76/Screenshot_2012-07-21-16-45-09.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhy3ucrsmvtui76/Screenshot_2012-07... and on an iPad 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gao416zu3ltikra/Photo%20Jul%2021%2C%204%2045%2015%20PM.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/gao416zu3ltikra/Photo%20Jul%2021%2...
    - Samuel_Michon 14y ago
      Except the difference is: there are tens of thousands of iPad apps. How many Android apps are optimized for tablets? (Silly example btw, who would use Foursquare on a 10" tablet?)
      - cageface 14y ago
        The point is that there's less of a need for a separate tablet version of many Android apps than there is for iPhone/iPad since Android's scaling is much more sophisticated.
        Zr40 14y ago
        iPad versions of apps aren't simply about scaling the UI. Take Twitter on Android tablets[0] for example, it's clear that merely enlarging the UI elements doesn't automatically result in an awesome UI on tablets. Similarly, an UI design that works great on a phone (like with gestures from the side) might feel awkward on tablets. [0]: http://www4.pcmag.com/media/images/285099-twitter-for-android-tablets.jpg http://www4.pcmag.com/media/images/285099-twitter-for-androi...
        cageface 14y ago
        I write ipad apps for a living. I understand how scaling works. The point is that a scaled up android app will usually look a lot better than a scaled up iphone app.
  - mgcross 14y ago
    iPhone apps render at 3:2 rather than reformat to fit the iPad's 4:3 screen.
- entropy_ 14y ago
  Even with games, if you use vector graphics and the aspect ratio is close-ish it can work pretty damn well. I tried out the phone version of Angry Birds on a Transformer at some point and if it weren't for the extra button on the bar allowing me to choose scaling modes I couldn't have known this wasn't targeted for tablets.
ZeroGravitas 14y ago
Uglier than an iPhone app on the iPad? That's impressive.
- reiichiroh 14y ago
  iPhone apps on iPad are obviously that. People may complain about being entitled to a single version that works versus buying two but even the Universal iOS apps have an entirely separate iPad UI/version usually. This is just being lazy just to say that your app "works on tablets."
  - ZeroGravitas 14y ago
    Ah, so the baseline is in fact better than iPhone apps on iOS, but a further separate purchase that provides a further increase in tablet-ness isn't always available (yet), I guess that's more in line with what I would have expected.
gcb 14y ago
That rate really low for earlier adoption. Is it more useful? Or do you lack function as well as form?
Zenst 14y ago
I highly recommend reading thru the user reviews, a good selection also, as rating is not everything. But it's half the fun finding that gem of an application that has the same mindset as yourself and you like. Just be mindful what permisions some applicaiton require, but enjoy.
- astrodust 14y ago
  Both iOS and Android have a bell curve in terms of quality of application, but Android's apps, like Windows, tend to be on average much lower quality. Part of this is the laisez-faire attitude of developers towards design and completeness, and part of this is making applications that work properly on the myriad of Android devices is very hard.

ConstantineXVI 14y ago

There's yet to be a real standard-bearer for Android tablets (the Transformer was close, but Asus alone didn't have the name recognition to push it) before the N7; so I'd expect the quality of tablet apps to start shaping up finally. ICS being on a respectable number of devices should help as well (since 3.0 was a "breaking" release). IMHO, with the exception of games[0] and such, Android handles phone-tablet scaling much better than iOS does: the UI properly fills the screen, text isn't pixelated, and you aren't forced into a phone-size keyboard that doesn't even reach the screen edge. [0] games are typically very specific wrt resolution, this isn't a tablet problem as much as an Android problem thanks to the wide variance in screen aspects.

Samuel_Michon 14y ago
“Android handles phone-tablet scaling much better than iOS does: the UI properly fills the screen, text isn't pixelated, and you aren't forced into a phone-size keyboard that doesn't even reach the screen edge.” iOS has none of the problems you mentioned, so what exactly makes Android better than iOS in that regard?
- ConstantineXVI 14y ago
  Only on tablet-built apps. Foursquare (for example) only has a phone app. on a N7: https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhy3ucrsmvtui76/Screenshot_2012-07-21-16-45-09.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/vhy3ucrsmvtui76/Screenshot_2012-07... and on an iPad 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gao416zu3ltikra/Photo%20Jul%2021%2C%204%2045%2015%20PM.png https://www.dropbox.com/s/gao416zu3ltikra/Photo%20Jul%2021%2...
  - Samuel_Michon 14y ago
    Except the difference is: there are tens of thousands of iPad apps. How many Android apps are optimized for tablets? (Silly example btw, who would use Foursquare on a 10" tablet?)
    - cageface 14y ago
      The point is that there's less of a need for a separate tablet version of many Android apps than there is for iPhone/iPad since Android's scaling is much more sophisticated.
      - Zr40 14y ago
        iPad versions of apps aren't simply about scaling the UI. Take Twitter on Android tablets[0] for example, it's clear that merely enlarging the UI elements doesn't automatically result in an awesome UI on tablets. Similarly, an UI design that works great on a phone (like with gestures from the side) might feel awkward on tablets. [0]: http://www4.pcmag.com/media/images/285099-twitter-for-android-tablets.jpg http://www4.pcmag.com/media/images/285099-twitter-for-androi...
        cageface 14y ago
        I write ipad apps for a living. I understand how scaling works. The point is that a scaled up android app will usually look a lot better than a scaled up iphone app.
- mgcross 14y ago
  iPhone apps render at 3:2 rather than reformat to fit the iPad's 4:3 screen.
entropy_ 14y ago
Even with games, if you use vector graphics and the aspect ratio is close-ish it can work pretty damn well. I tried out the phone version of Angry Birds on a Transformer at some point and if it weren't for the extra button on the bar allowing me to choose scaling modes I couldn't have known this wasn't targeted for tablets.

ZeroGravitas 14y ago

Uglier than an iPhone app on the iPad? That's impressive.

reiichiroh 14y ago
iPhone apps on iPad are obviously that. People may complain about being entitled to a single version that works versus buying two but even the Universal iOS apps have an entirely separate iPad UI/version usually. This is just being lazy just to say that your app "works on tablets."
- ZeroGravitas 14y ago
  Ah, so the baseline is in fact better than iPhone apps on iOS, but a further separate purchase that provides a further increase in tablet-ness isn't always available (yet), I guess that's more in line with what I would have expected.

gcb 14y ago

That rate really low for earlier adoption. Is it more useful? Or do you lack function as well as form?

Zenst 14y ago

I highly recommend reading thru the user reviews, a good selection also, as rating is not everything. But it's half the fun finding that gem of an application that has the same mindset as yourself and you like. Just be mindful what permisions some applicaiton require, but enjoy.

astrodust 14y ago
Both iOS and Android have a bell curve in terms of quality of application, but Android's apps, like Windows, tend to be on average much lower quality. Part of this is the laisez-faire attitude of developers towards design and completeness, and part of this is making applications that work properly on the myriad of Android devices is very hard.