How Device Size Affects iOS Apps (iPhone Apps & iPad Apps)

I hope most iOS developers are familiar with the term “iPhone-only” apps. But practically these iPhone-only apps can also be run on Apple’s other flagship device, the iPad. The app thinks it is running on an iPhone but appears with an iPhone-like screen size and aspect ratio. For most iPads, as well as most iOS versions, this is the equivalent of a centralized center point in the middle of the screen.

Different screen sizes and screen resolutions can impact the output of the app developed. Certain sections might get stretched or lose symmetry or their positioning might shift from where it was meant to be. There are ways developers get around these issues, but there is no way to avoid it completely as companies like Apple are famous for releasing devices of different sizes across different ranges they produce.

Why Does Size Matter?

Screen size definitely matters, a large device and a small device will obviously not render one application in the same exact way, but there will be differences.

It matters because iPhone’s 2:3 aspect ratio is hard to design for. This can be quite a burden in a world that largely consists of 9:16 or 9:19.5 aspect ratio iPhones.

It matters because the large black bars around the iPhone-shaped app can be observed which are ugly. A user who paying extra money for an 11" or 3rd generation 12.9" iPad Pro with its edge-to-edge screen will surely want to use apps that make full use of all that extra screen.

It matters because, at the larger zoom sizes, the 4.7" iPhone app screen content gets visibly blurred on iPhones as well as on all iPad devices.

Changes In iOS Devices

• The corners of the screen are rounded slightly.
• The 1x/2x zoom button became more prominent.
• All iPad devices use non-integral scaling factors which introduce blurring.
• The Zoom button changed to an icon with outward- and inward-facing arrows to hint at expanding and contracting the screen.
• The status bar in iPhones is no longer cropped from the app’s screen, but rather appears empty. 
• The real status bar remains at the top of the iPad screen.

How device size affects iOS Apps

Understanding the size and resolution of mobile applications is essential for optimizing them for devices of different sizes. This includes smartphones like iPhones, tablets like iPads, smartwatches with small displays like Apple watches, or any other device where your software would be available. 

Moreover, apps that don't respect requirements (like Apple’s size and screen resolution rules), are not allowed in Apple’s app store. Building an app with multiple screen sizes in mind is a tough road to travel.

At larger sizes, an iPhone app can effectively appear at 4x size but might use 2x assets. Additionally, an integer scaling factor is used to avoid any blurring of the app components. The observant reader will notice the differences and it will impact your app’s userbase.

Even when the iPhone-size app screen was cropped to remove its status bar, the app still thinks it is there. This can be observed by the top bar being reported as tall for the cropped status bar and for the visible navigation bar. 

Screen Size vs Screen Resolution

Screen size and screen resolution are completely two different things, but equally important and affect how the apps are made and how those apps look or appear on the screen.

While a screen’s resolution can be adjusted, the screen size is fixed and cannot be changed. The screen res directly affects the visual quality of the application. It is impractical, almost impossible for iOS app developers to design for every available mobile device on the market as there are plenty of them.

Instead of doing that, designers just end up dividing the style of the app into standardized smartphone (iPhones) or tablet (iPads) sizes. All of this is of great importance for matching visuals to the device that the app is deployed on.

Conclusion

We have reached the end of this blog. Hope it gave you an idea about how iPhone apps and iPad apps get affected by the iPhone device structure and iPad screen sizes. With new updates to iOS and to the device designs, different screen resolutions and screen sizes come up and the app developers have to adjust to such changes and updates to produce well-tailored ios applications for Apple devices.

You can hire iOS Developers for building intuitive, optimized ios native applications for iPhones & iPads. Our iOS app development company develops iOS apps that guarantee exceptional user experience and leverage our iOS app development services.