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0 pointsergo9816y ago0 comments

Do you think what you added was useful?

The iOS DPI controls are some of the most shockingly rudimentary and backwards of virtually any contemporary system, which is exactly why they simply doubled each axis' pixel count (then inventing some asinine "retina display" nonsense to try to make lemonade out of the teeny screen size in the face of better equipped competitors). To see someone calling it a model to strive to is simply shocking, especially on a generally more knowledgeable site like HN.

Windows has been dealing with resolution variance to much greater success since the early 90s. Seriously, by your claim, Windows XP would have been a revolution had it come with the new ability to target both QVGA and the exclusive new VGA functionality.

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3 comments · 2 top-level

modeless16y ago· 1 in thread

The iOS DPI controls are the simplest and most straightforward of any contemporary system, which is why they will likely actually work, in contrast to the OS X and Windows DPI controls which have never worked and likely will never work. I call that more advanced.

You are confusing resolution and DPI. Windows has been dealing with DPI variance by completely ignoring it since the early 90s, with the result that the physical size of interface elements varies with your screen's DPI, and high DPI displays are impractical. iOS doesn't have the option of ignoring DPI because in a touch interface the physical size of interface elements actually matters.

ergo98OP16y ago

>The iOS DPI controls are the simplest and most straightforward of any contemporary system

But they're simple because it was a startling realization that the original design was shortsighted. The iOS platform has had a mere 3 screen attributes thus far, and each has been an essentially hard-coded hack specific for it.

It is not a laudable goal. They certainly didn't spearhead density-independent layout (and are more accurately one of the last to the party).

>and high DPI displays are impractical

In the workstation world people generally essentially placed their display based upon its DPI. A large, lower DPI display was wall mounted or placed at a greater distance (but serving more people), while a higher DPI display came closer to the user.

The iOS platform is not the best example of density-independent layout. It is one of the worst among the modern era.

rimantas16y ago

Would you mind to name a few "better equipped competitors" with a) resolution higher than iPhone 4 b) IPS matrix?

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