Adaptive apps support displays of all sizes: the entire device screen, resizable windows in multi‑window mode, portrait and landscape orientations, folded and unfolded displays of foldable devices.
A short list of configuration settings and APIs enable you to build adaptive apps. But some outdated settings and APIs are incompatible with adaptive apps and must be avoided.
Resizability
Adaptive apps support app resizability and multi‑window mode.
The resizeableActivity attribute of the <activity> and
<application> manifest elements enables or disables multi‑window
mode on Android 11 (API level 30) and lower. On Android 12 (API level 31) and
higher, large screens support multi‑window mode regardless of the
attribute. For more information, see Support multi-window mode.
Enable your app to participant in multi‑window, multitasking scenarios for increased user productivity and satisfaction.
Set resizeableActivity="true" if your app targets API levels lower than 24;
otherwise, forget about it—it's true by default on Android 7.0 (API
level 24) and higher.
Don't set resizeableActivity="false" for any API level. Don't exclude your app
from use cases that involve multi‑window mode.
Orientation
Adaptive apps support portrait and landscape orientation regardless of display size or windowing mode.
The screenOrientation manifest setting restricts activity orientation.
Eliminate the screenOrientation setting from your app manifest.
Locking the orientation of apps doesn't prevent window size changes. Apps are
resized when they enter multi-window mode, when a device is folded or unfolded,
or when a desktop‑type window is resized. Your app has to support changes
in window size regardless of the screenOrientation attribute setting.
Don't restrict activity orientation. Apps that lock orientation are letterboxed on large screen devices and incompatible window sizes.
Letterboxed apps are subject to decreased discoverability on Google Play for tablets, foldables, and ChromeOS devices.
Aspect ratio
As screen and window sizes vary, so do their aspect ratios—from tall and narrow, to square, to short and wide.
The minAspectRatio and maxAspectRatio manifest settings restrict
your app's aspect ratio to hard‑coded values.
Adapt your app to fit the display regardless of relative dimensions.
Eliminate the minAspectRatio and maxAspectRatio settings from your app
manifest. Or ensure your app is resizable, and aspect ratio takes care of itself
(see the Resizability section).
Don't try to control the relative dimensions of your app. If your app runs on a screen or in a window that has an aspect ratio that's incompatible with the aspect ratio of the app, your app is letterboxed.
On Android 14 (API level 34) and higher, users can override the app aspect ratio to expand letterboxed apps to fill the available display area. See Device compatibility mode.
Window size
Optimizing layouts for different display sizes is the central premise of adaptive design. Adaptive apps focus on app window size rather than device screen size. When the app is full screen, the app window is the device screen.
Window size classes provide a systematic way of determining and categorizing the size of the app window. Adapt your app by changing layouts as the window size class of your app changes.
Evaluate your app window size based on window size classes.
To determine the window size class, use the currentWindowAdaptiveInfo()
top‑level function of the Compose Material 3 Adaptive library. For more
information, see Building adaptive apps.
Don't disregard the utility of the window size class definitions and the built‑in APIs. Don't use deprecated APIs to calculate window size.
Deprecated APIs
Older platform APIs don't correctly measure the app window; some measure the device screen, some exclude system decor.
Use WindowManager#getCurrentWindowMetrics() and
WindowMetrics#getBounds() to get the size of the app window. Use
WindowMetrics#getDensity() to get the display density.
Don't use the following deprecated Display APIs to determine window size:
getSize(): Deprecated in Android 11 (API level 30)getMetrics(): Deprecated in Android 11 (API level 30)getRealSize(): Deprecated in Android 12 (API level 31)getRealMetrics(): Deprecated in Android 12 (API level 31)
Compose
Jetpack Compose is designed for adaptive UI development. No XML, no layout
files, no resource qualifiers. Just Kotlin‑based, stateless composables
like Column, Row, and Box that describe your UI, and modifiers
like offset, padding, and size that add behavior to UI
elements.
Build with Compose. Stay up to date with the latest features and releases.
Don't rely on outdated technology. Don't let your app become obsolete.
Compose Material 3 Adaptive library
The Compose Material 3 Adaptive library provides components and APIs that facilitate the development of adaptive apps.
Use the following APIs to make your app adaptive:
NavigationSuiteScaffold: Switches between navigation bar and navigation rail depending on app window size class.ListDetailPaneScaffold: Implements the list-detail canonical layout. Adapts the layout to the app window size.SupportingPaneScaffold: Implements the supporting pane canonical layout.
Don't reinvent the wheel. Don't miss out on the developer productivity gains provided by all the Jetpack Compose libraries.
Layouts
Users expect apps to make the most of available display space with supplemental content or enhanced controls.
Adaptive apps optimize layouts based on changes in the display, in particular, changes in the size of the app window or changes in device posture.
Change UI components as the window size changes to take advantage of available display space. For example, swap the bottom navigation bar used on compact window sizes for a vertical navigation rail on medium and expanded windows. Reposition dialogs to be reachable on all displays.
Organize content into panes to enable multi‑pane layouts like list‑detail and supporting pane for dynamic content displays.
If you're not using content panes, don't just stretch UI elements to fill
available display space. Long lines of text are difficult to read. Stretched
buttons look poorly designed. If you use Modifier.fillMaxWidth, don't
assume that's the right behavior for all display sizes.
Input devices
Users don't just use touch screens to interact with apps.
Adaptive apps support external keyboards, mice, and styluses to provide an enhanced user experience and help users be more productive on form factors of all kinds.
Take advantage of the built‑in functionality of the Android framework for keyboard tab navigation and mouse or trackpad click, select, and scroll. Publish your app's keyboard shortcuts in Keyboard Shortcuts Helper.
Use the Jetpack Material 3 library to enable users to write into any
TextField component using a stylus.
Don't make alternative input methods impossible. Don't introduce accessibility issues.
Summary
- Build your app with Compose and the Material 3 Adaptive library
- Base layouts on window size classes
- Create multi-pane layouts
- Make your app resizable
- Never lock activity orientation
- Don't restrict aspect ratio
- Support input other than touch
- Avoid deprecated APIs
✓ Do what your users expect: optimize your app for the diversity of devices people rely on every day.
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