Third row of tiles makes start screen too small on 4.5" and below

[theefman]

Obviously this is going to be a personal preference (shockingly it seems some cant understand this) and for me personally the text is just too small to read on even the wide tile on my 1020 so I'm sticking with the 2 columns. A bigger, higher res screen would probably work better for me.

 

[peterc84]

Totally the same for me on the 925

 

[fdalbor]

Whatever the facts are its simply outstanding that they provide the option to use two or three on whatever size phone you have. I am sure that now anyone can find some combination that they like on their phone. And if you get tired of it, change it to something else. The possibilities are endless (well almost), enjoy it people, don't complain about it (though it is your right to if you choose). I haven't gotten 8.1 yet and will wait until it is released to the public. But it is nice to know I have all these NEW options on my little mid-range 820 when I do get it. And it don't cost a cent; pretty good deal if you ask me.

 

[aniket0303]

Its of no use on L620. Happy with two

 

[Kram Sacul]

Too small and miniaturized on my 4.3" 820 to use normally since I like using all 3 tile sizes. It's interesting to look at and opens up some new start screen possibilities but it's obvious it was designed for larger screens in mind.

 

[Squatting Hen]

Tried it on my 920. Wanted to love it, but it takes the beauty away from the wide tiles. Now if MS gives us a larger wide tile, that would be perfect.

 

[adam220891]

I like it on my 521 but cannot use the smallest tile...would be too small. Feel like the biggest tile is not big enough now though.

 

[DalekSnare]

At first I thought it was a bit small, but it's worth it. And now I can use more medium and wide tiles, so many of the tiles have actually gotten larger.

 

[CDanArt]

I have huge fingers but I have no problems with tapping them on my L520 (4"). In fact, I love having more tiles on my screen, could never go back to only 2 columns.

Update: And seriously, it's not like you don't get to stick with what you already have (lesser, bigger tiles), having more tiles is an option and complaining against an added option doesn't make sense to me. I hope msft doesn't see topics like these and re-think their decisions.

 

[Auric Jarrel]

I thought I'd have problems with it at first (Lumia 925), but it's honestly grown on me. What's helps is that I only have 4 mini tiles clustered together on the entire screen. The rest are all medium or wide tiles. The extra real estate definitely opens things up for my background too.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Update: And seriously, it's not like you don't get to stick with what you already have (lesser, bigger tiles), having more tiles is an option and complaining against an added option doesn't make sense to me. I hope msft doesn't see topics like these and re-think their decisions.

I don't think anyone here is complaining that MS gave us the option. People are just giving their opinions on how it looks on their devices.

They should be applauded for giving us the option unlike other things in 8.1 that were just changed for no good reason.

 

[Guytronic]

Too bad there aren't two home screen start buttons when the start screen is minimized.
One for normal and one for customized.

 

[dby2011]

No problem with 3 rows on my 822. If you think about it the tiles are still larger than a typical app icon in either ios or android.

 

[onysi]

anyone else not complaining at the tiny boxes? I mean half of them are worthless live tiles anyway.

 

[nexialbinding]

There is a clear difference in the sharpness between the left and right phones. Hopefully something can be worked out.

The left is taken from a Youtube frame and the right is shot in poor light with a rather bad camera (Nexus 5). Probably shouldn't look too much into the sharpness in that particular comparison.

 

[SAM 77]

I always wanted this option for my 820 and I am glad MS allowed it for smaller screen sizes.

For me 4.3' is the limit.

Works well for me and I am happy casue it slaughters two columns thats for sure!!

 

[kukuxumusu]

I am not complaining if it's kind of small. I like it so much! It's just only an option you can turn it off if you don't like!

 

[Tumultus]

For me, it was the other way around:

I liked the 3 column layout initially but a few hours later, I switched back. Don't get me wrong! I don't hate it but the "information at a glance" just got lost since text became too small. For instance, if you have a Samsung Ativ S, try reading the upper and lower temperature for the day on the tile - impossible! Or try reading the calendar tile at a glance without having to squeeze your eyes. Reading text on the smaller tiles takes you longer than on the 2 column layout.

The size of the tiles doesn't bother me though. It's really just the text size. I wish there would be an option to make text slightly larger on tiles.

So, yes, I still like the look of the 3 column layout but I would sacrify usability by enabling it for me.

 

[anon(8150199)]

Looks terrific on my L920, although I was flabbergasted the first time I saw my start screen with the 3rd column LOL

 

[anon(8150199)]

For me, it was the other way around:

I liked the 3 column layout initially but a few hours later, I switched back. Don't get me wrong! I don't hate it but the "information at a glance" just got lost since text became too small. For instance, if you have a Samsung Ativ S, try reading the upper and lower temperature for the day on the tile - impossible! Or try reading the calendar tile at a glance without having to squeeze your eyes. Reading text on the smaller tiles takes you longer than on the 2 column layout.

The size of the tiles doesn't bother me though. It's really just the text size. I wish there would be an option to make text slightly larger on tiles.

So, yes, I still like the look of the 3 column layout but I would sacrify usability by enabling it for me.

my L920 is even smaller but I don't have such trouble.