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Jelly Bean brings 3 different UIs for Android devices

Posted: , by Michael H.

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Jelly Bean brings 3 different UIs for Android devices
The Android ecosystem isn't tightly controlled like Apple's, so the idea that 2 different UIs (one for phones, and one for tablets) would be enough to make all devices work to their fullest may not be correct. At least, that's Google's idea with the new Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update, which reportedly has 3 different UIs to take advantage of each screen size. 

The different UIs are specifically for the Android system itself, of course, as apps will scale automatically to any size. Apps will all scale, but will only look good on larger screens assuming developers have bothered to use the Android SDK tools properly. Still, with Jelly Bean, Google has decided that the interaction metaphors used on phones or on 10" tablets may not be the best for use on a 7" tablet, and has added in an extra UI for that use case, which mixes together the best of both worlds. 

We've seen the evidence of this with the Nexus 7, which uses the pull-down notification shade that is seen in Android phones, but has the paneled app layouts that you'd expect from an Android tablet. At first, it was thought that the Nexus 7 was using the phone UI, but actually it is a new UI layout for 7" tablets. So phone, 7" tablet, and 10" tablet layouts are going to be the defaults for Android Jelly Bean and going forward. 

And, just to reiterate, because we know there will be those out there who want to scream the "f" word (which we no longer use around here): the addition of the 7" tablet layout will not cause any issues for developers, because as always any developer that actually cares about the user experience (read: not Twitter) will use the responsive design tools in the Android SDK to make an app that scales well no matter what the screen size of the device. 

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1. Bluesky02 posted on 11 Jul 2012, 15:41 15 2

That's something unexpectedly good

14. SuperAndroidEvo posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:49 9 3

Yes this is GREAT. I love Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean on my Samsung Galaxy Nexus. It's so smooth, super FAST & the Google Now is just plain genius. I can't WAIT until my Asus Transformer Prime gets some Android Jelly Bean action.

I still can't wait for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 which should run Android Jelly Bean when it comes out as per the rumors.

WOW Android is where it's at. Innovation indeed.

42. Bluesky02 posted on 11 Jul 2012, 23:31 4 2

Yeah it's getting better, custom roms are also great and Jelly Bean is a big improvement

2. wassup posted on 11 Jul 2012, 15:43 10 4

Now this, is innovation .

3. fur0n posted on 11 Jul 2012, 15:47 4 20

YAY more fragmentation!

4. Birds posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:02 13 2

It is not really fragmentation..Android has a built in PPI calculator and it correlates it to the screen size, to give the perfect text legibility and screen formating for software, movies and games....It is just a versatile OS unlike IOs**t.....(yay my first apple joke!)

5. PapaSmurf posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:10 9 3

Felt good didn't it? :)

19. Birds posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:06 1 1

Yep. lol

23. protozeloz posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:20 5 1

And that's how you bitch slap a troll

Using that same argument the iPod iPhone iPad iPad mini iPhone 4" iPad with retina are and will all cause fragmentation

8. Synack posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:23 8 1

Don't be jealous that your iPhone is getting stretched out and is going to look like s**t. Cheers to innovation....... not.

17. bayusuputra posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:03 4 1

whut? you cannot read, dumbdumb?

Android apps will scale out, so no matter which UI you are using, it will still be the same.

You could make just one app and that will work with all UIs (phone, hybrid, tablet).. Unlike the fragmentation of iPhone and iPad apps.. get it? no? i'm not surprised, your brain is already fragmented by the different functionality iOS 6 will bring to different iOS devices..

18. SleepingOz posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:03 2 1

Please, do some research before posting sh*ts!

33. jroc74 posted on 11 Jul 2012, 18:28 1 1

I take it you didnt even bother reading the article....

38. mrbtree posted on 11 Jul 2012, 22:30 3 1

you call fragmentation when the full ios 6 experience will only be available to the iphone 4s and ipad 3, the iphone 4, 3gs and ipod 4th gen will be getting cut down versions without the new maps and SIRI (not sure about the ipod)

6. Elvis. posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:22

Intredasting...

7. KingShango posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:22

Hasn't MS has already done this with Windows 8? A UI that works on laptops, tablets and phones (obviously modified).

25. protozeloz posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:30 3

Not at all this occurred with 3.x-4.0 and is kinda different

10. JGuinan007 posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:25

What about 5.5" phones where is the special interface for that?

13. JonBjSig posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:45 2

I think those will just use the phone UI.

26. protozeloz posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:31 2

Tablet 7" interfaces might do

30. MobileCaseReview posted on 11 Jul 2012, 18:00 1

You can always just change the dpi :)

11. omacmagics posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:27 2 1

Yay!! more trolls...

12. TMach posted on 11 Jul 2012, 16:34

Makes perfect sense!

22. KingKurogiii posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:09

i was hoping this was the case! thank goodness! it didn't make sense to me that Google would get rid of the Action Bar, it was real practical for larger Tablets. now i wonder where my Xyboard 8.2 will fit? i guess in the 7" department.

45. IamYourFather6657 posted on 12 Jul 2012, 04:04

Honestly I like the 10inch traditional tablet ui more ,
Wonder if you can change it in the nexus 7 ?

48. KingKurogiii posted on 13 Jul 2012, 17:25

i do too and i doubt it.

24. Ohrules posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:23 2 1

does the f-word now mean fragm*******n instead of F***?

29. Elvis. posted on 11 Jul 2012, 17:59

Lol, yes, I think that's what Michael meant.

47. MichaelHeller posted on 13 Jul 2012, 16:16

Around here it does, because we would never use the word f*** anyway, so the banned f-word for us is f************. (that is a lot of f***ing asterisks...)

37. andyman_187 posted on 11 Jul 2012, 21:39 1

ICS is also capable of doing multiple UIs....here let me make this easy for googling....CM9 PARANOID ANDROID....this custom ROM (based on Cyanogenmod 9) has been ported on several devices already....allows you to switch between phone, tablet or hybrid UI modes. It even has per app UI settings (which let you choose how individual apps will display i.e. tablet or phone mode).

39. KingKurogiii posted on 11 Jul 2012, 22:30

we're all aware of this. the Padfone does this and Motorola does this with Webtop, the different TABLET UIs based on display size is what's different.

46. andyman_187 posted on 12 Jul 2012, 05:32

and that's where the hybrid mode comes in. I've seen videos of the Nexus 7 UI, and CM9 Paranoid Android can easily replicate it and you can even customize it to your liking. basically what I'm saying is, it's not surprising that Google would implement this in Jelly Bean since it's easy enough to do in ICS.

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