MOTODEV Blog

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By now you’ve probably heard of the DROID XYBOARD 8.2 tablet recently announced. DROID XYBOARD 8.2 is available in a 4G LTE version in the US and a WiFi-only version in the UK and Europe, where it’s called XOOM™ 2 Media Edition.


This new tablet is thin and lightweight, with an 8.2-inch screen and natural portrait orientation. At launch, DROID XYBOARD 8.2 runs Android™ 3.2 (Honeycomb), but is upgradeable to Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich). (The upgrade will happen at a future time, not yet announced.)

In general, developing for this tablet is just like developing for any Android 3.2 (or soon, Android 4.0) tablet. These are some links you may find useful, especially for the 4G LTE version:

• Tablet Support for Telephony and 4G LTE Networks
• Detecting and Using LTE Networks
• Motorola XOOM™ Tablet Programming Tips
• Identifying App Installations (Android Developers Blog)
• Android Pro Tips (Google I/O)

But a couple points are worth mentioning -- the screen size and natural portrait orientation.

Although the screen size is 8.2 inches, compared with 10.1 inches on the original XOOM,  the display resolution is the same, 1280 x 800. This means that most Android apps that adapt well to tablets display beautifully on both the original XOOM and DROID XYBOARD 8.2. As you work with the smaller screen, you may find the Scrollable Layouts UI pattern useful for this tablet screen size.

Natural portrait orientation

The DROID XYBOARD 8.2 (or XOOM 2 Media Edition) has a natural portrait orientation, with the manufacturer logo and connectors both on the short side of the device. Of course, the tablet can be used in landscape. And of course, applications will change orientation, in the pattern you specify, up to four-way rotation.

The natural portrait orientation makes DROID XYBOARD 8.2 especially interesting for applications that display content users read (such as email, websites, news, magazines, books, and so on). The 16:9 wide screen in landscape that is appealing for media applications becomes a long screen in portrait.

So in portrait, the vertical dimension has 1280 pixels, which gives your application more space to display content without making users scroll.

                       

DROID XYBOARD 8.2 also has a media dock, which places the device in portrait for use with a Bluetooth keyboard. So we’d encourage you to make sure your app displays well in both portrait and landscape.

But we also recognize that some apps are most useful in portrait only or landscape only. The choice is yours, but you’ll want to be aware of the new Android SDK values for specifying screen orientation.

Screen orientation values

On API level 9 (Android 2.3.1) or higher, you have some new options for specifying orientation behavior.

• For portrait only apps
  With API level 9 and up. For android:screenOrientation, you can specify either no value or android:screenOrientation="sensorPortait" to display in both portrait up and portrait down.

(Yes, it’s sensorPortait, not sensorPortrait -- missing the second r. You can see the allowed options by selecting the value in Eclipse or MOTODEV Studio and pressing Ctrl-space.)

This option makes your app usable when the user turns the device upside down.

                       

With mixed API levels.  With a minSdkVersion of 8 or lower and a targetSdkVersion of 9 or higher, the result of sensorPortait probably varies by device (although we didn’t test across many devices). You might get portrait up only, or portrait up when the device rotates and landscape when a hard keyboard opens.

With API levels below 9. Use android:screenOrientation="portrait",  just as you would on a smartphone. This option usually gives you portrait up only (for more: Handle Screen Rotation and Handle Screen Rotation, Part 2).

• For landscape only apps

       The values for landscape work just like sensorPortait and portrait --

• With API level 9 and up. Use android:screenOrientation="sensorLandscape" for landscape up and landscape down.

           

• With API levels below 9. Use android:screenOrientation="landscape" for landscape up only.

• For both portrait and landscape apps
  
• With API 9 and up. Use android:screenOrientation="fullSensor" for four-way rotation, even if the device does not otherwise support it.

• With API levels below 9. Use android:screenOrientation="sensor" for the full rotation the device supports.

Of course, an orientation change from portrait up to portrait down, or landscape up to landscape down, causes activities to be destroyed and recreated. Use Android best practices for maintaining app performance, as you would with any Android version or device (see Faster Screen Orientation Change on the Android Developers Blog).

As always, if you have questions about working with this new tablet (or any Motorola Mobility device, for that matter), post on the MOTODEV discussion boards.

Happy app developing!

Suzanne Alexandra
Android Technology Evangelist