Publishing multiple versions of one app on Google Market

Question

I have an Android app that I would like to display high quality images with. However there are many different screen sizes and ratios. I know there are filters to show apps in Market only for devices with small/medium/large screens.

If I put images of both sizes in 1 app it will double the size of the app, right?

Is it a good practice to make multiple versions for different screen sizes?

I would like to make 1 app in 3 versions for such devices:

• medium screen mdpi
• medium screen hdpi + large screen mdpi
• large (tablets)

If it's possible to do it how can I specify them in manifests? Or is it somewhere in market?

Answer 1

Android has a built-in mechanism for having resources designed for different screen sizes and pixel densities. It's called resource directory qualifiers, and you can read all about it here.

For example, for small screen sizes, you could create a specific layout file and place it in the res/layout-small directory. For a larger screen, you could create a layout file with the same name and place it in the res/layout-large (or res/layout-xlarge) directory.

For pixel density, you could create a small version of your image resources and place them in the res/drawable-ldpi directory (lower pixel densities). And for higher pixel densities, you could create alternate versions and place them in the res/drawable-hdpi directory.

I'd encourage you to read the page on Supporting Multiple Screens, and let Android help you out with its built-in mechanisms. Creating three separate copies of your app is harder for you to maintain, and it confuses potential users (most of whom probably neither know nor care about "pixel densities"). What's to stop them from downloading the wrong version of your app, and getting a lousy experience because of it?