These black bars in apps are driving me crazy!

[Twitter@Firas_MD]

Just sharing my thoughts here.

Can't really understand why app developers can't spend few more time to add another screen resolution to their app... I know that Nokia is the major WP OEM but ... Can't be that hard to add a second resolution to the app, its really annoying to see these black bars on top or bottom of my screen, besides it makes me feel the app is a ummm don't know how to describe it but feels old.
Android apps can work on any resolution, so why not WP ? Doesn't seems to be that hard, and I think Ms should be responsible for this by making the developers publish the app with both "Nokia and a non- Nokia" sizes.

I got an HTC 8x phone which I love, and one of the things I love about is the screen, its just gorgeous, too bad to me that I can't use it fully sometimes.

I know this might be a minor problem for some of you. But after some time it started to be annoying.

 

[Daniel Ratcliffe]

Need to contact the devs about it. They haven't been optimised for the 16:9 aspect ratio of the 8X.

 

[Twitter@Firas_MD]

Need to contact the devs about it. They haven't been optimised for the 16:9 aspect ratio of the 8X.

the question is ... Is it really that hard to make it work on both ..

 

[iampwd]

I have Ativ S and I feel the same way. It's a really stupid problem with all MS restrictions this should have been avoided.

Sent from my GT-I8750 using Tapatalk

 

[sinime]

It's a WP7/8 issue... If an app supports 720p, it can't support WP7.... Although a dev can have two versions of the same app, 1 for WP7 and one for WP8 (same in that you buy it on WP7, then upgrade to WP8, the marketplace knows you have purchased the app already and gives you access to the appropriate version.) I'm working on making my Beer Knurd app have a separate version for WP7 and 8 so I can support full WVGA, WXGA and 720p... my issue is time and trying to get a few kinks out before splitting the code, that way it is less work to get them both updated in the direction I'm planning to move the app... I have yet to get a complaint about the black bars, granted I have a user base of about 80 - not sure if any of them have a 720p display?

Having said that, I hope to have the app updated and split in the next week or two.

 

[neo158]

I have Ativ S and I feel the same way. It's a really stupid problem with all MS restrictions this should have been avoided.

Sent from my GT-I8750 using Tapatalk

Same here, I even asked the devs of one app, Ocado, and was told that they have no plans to support 720p displays on Windows Phone. To me it makes devs look like they can't be bothered when they aren't interested in supporting the resolutions of WP.

 

[Huime]

You do realize that some low end droids with weird squarish screen gets the same blank fill right? Supply and Demand, chapter 3 usually.

 

[neo158]

You do realize that some low end droids with weird squarish screen gets the same blank fill right? Supply and Demand, chapter 3 usually.

I do know that, if developers weren't lazy and actually wrote apps for different screen sizes then it wouldn't happen. Windows Phone has two different screen sizes and developers are still too lazy to implement both of them!!!!

 

[Huime]

I do know that, if developers weren't lazy and actually wrote apps for different screen sizes then it wouldn't happen. Windows Phone has two different screen sizes and developers are still too lazy to implement both of them!!!!

with basically 5% average global market share and that almost 80% above are 15:9. Not that hard to understand.

 

[hopmedic]

the question is ... Is it really that hard to make it work on both ..

Though I agree with those that have said that supply and demand is at issue here, I'll answer your question with, "It depends." For the apps I write, in C# and XAML, and with very little in the way of graphics, no, it isn't hard. It's pretty much a no-brainer, and the same markup that I used in my WP7 apps works on all three resolutions by only checking a checkbox. But if the app has graphics that depend on screen aspect ratio, there is more work to it, and the amount of that work is going to be highly dependent upon how complex and what the amount of graphics use is.

I know you were hoping for a simple "no, it isn't hard," but it's not as simple a question as you'd think at first glance.

 

[neo158]

with basically 5% average global market share and that almost 80% above are 15:9. Not that hard to understand.

Then how come smaller developers are bothered enough to get their apps working properly on 720p displays despite the small market share yet big corporations can't be bothered.

 

[Huime]

Then how come smaller developers are bothered enough to get their apps working properly on 720p displays despite the small market share yet big corporations can't be bothered.

1 First of all 15:9 is WXGA not 720p.
2 Small deve and large dev runs on different base cost.

 

[sinime]

IDK, smaller devs have less resources, but they sometimes are more connected with customers. Maybe that's their motivation over the big name companies?

I have to admit, I'm the smallest a dev can get... 1 guy who has a day job that doesn't include programming. I have to balance coding with family and work, so I typically focus on what I use, which happens to be WP8. My laziness goes to the other extreme though... Here lately, I've released a couple of apps for WP8 (that support 720p and WXGA) and don't support WP7 as a result. One app, I've toyed with making for over a year, the other 2 were requested by my wife... Gotta keep her happy or the free time for coding gets cut short

My first app however, still supports WP7.

 

[realwarder]

I do know that, if developers weren't lazy and actually wrote apps for different screen sizes then it wouldn't happen. Windows Phone has two different screen sizes and developers are still too lazy to implement both of them!!!!

Clearly you are not a developer. It is possible that some developers are lazy, but mostly they're not. Why spends days changing and testing an app for a small gain (to remove 2 tiny bars)? If people buy an app a lot the devs will likely make such changes but many apps barely make any return. Get off your lazy arse and talk to developers nicely and they might make changes.

 

[hopmedic]

IDK, smaller devs have less resources, but they sometimes are more connected with customers. Maybe that's their motivation over the big name companies?

I have to admit, I'm the smallest a dev can get... 1 guy who has a day job that doesn't include programming. I have to balance coding with family and work, so I typically focus on what I use, which happens to be WP8. My laziness goes to the other extreme though... Here lately, I've released a couple of apps for WP8 (that support 720p and WXGA) and don't support WP7 as a result. One app, I've toyed with making for over a year, the other 2 were requested by my wife... Gotta keep her happy or the free time for coding gets cut short

My first app however, still supports WP7.

This is pretty much the same boat I'm in. Not a developer by day, but like to dabble by night, when I have time, and hope that one day my day job becomes development, so using the night tinkering as learning experience. But with other things in life besides free time to play developer, updates don't happen as often as I'd like. All of my apps still support WP7, but other than bug fixes, all the new features are going to WP8. Added voice commands to one app, and right now I'm completely rewriting another for WP8. It was a pathetic app that I wrote when I first started, and didn't have time to rewrite to improve it as I learned, because the one I added voice commands to is the one I used most, so I wanted it updated with more features. But the pathetic one actually gets more downloads and makes more ad revenue.

I do know that, if developers weren't lazy and actually wrote apps for different screen sizes then it wouldn't happen. Windows Phone has two different screen sizes and developers are still too lazy to implement both of them!!!!

Clearly you are not a developer. It is possible that some developers are lazy, but mostly they're not. Why spends days changing and testing an app for a small gain (to remove 2 tiny bars)? If people buy an app a lot the devs will likely make such changes but many apps barely make any return. Get off your lazy arse and talk to developers nicely and they might make changes.

THANK YOU!
Oh - above where I said that the pathetic app makes more ad revenue, let's say that the most I've made in any single month, on four apps, is $58. The average has been more like $20, and recent months I've even had months under $10. So no, neo158, I'm not getting rich. Nor am I lazy. And while my apps do support all three resolutions, I've explained above why it is not just a checkbox to check for some.

 

[sinime]

Get off your lazy arse and talk to developers nicely and they might make changes.

Yeah, IDK what it is about each OS.... webOS: people would send me emails via the apps contact developer option and review the app... iOS: people give you a bad review, don't contact the developer to figure out what's wrong, and don't leave enough info to try and fix the problem (9 times out of 10 it's user error, didn't put card number exactly as it appears on the card)... WP7/8: users don't seem to contact the dev or give reviews :'(

 

[hopmedic]

It's all part of the lazification of America...

 

[AngryNil]

Basically, developers would have to create a separate-ish codebase for the WP8 version if they want to support 16:9. In most cases, it probably isn't ridiculously difficult. Most devs I've contacted have said it's either "on the roadmap", or simply not a priority. I think it's unwise of devs to continue to put this off, Windows Phone will have a significant 16:9 user base in future (I think 1080p is going to be 1080p, not like 720p and Nokia's WXGA) and you can't delay it forever.

It's really sucky in games in particular. I personally just avoid majority of apps without 16:9 support, I'll buy and support the devs who care about it.

 

[Huime]

16:9 might have a come back when WP8 devices move to fHD.

 

[AngryNil]

16:9 might have a come back

Not quite a come back when it got nowhere to start off with, but I hope so. 16:9 is great, especially with Windows Phone's oversized elements. It's a shame Nokia went with WXGA.