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Google urges developers to update apps to work with 18:9 aspect ratio devices

A trend we are seeing with this year’s flagship smartphones is the adoption of 18:9 aspect ratio displays or 2:1 for the least common denominator types. So far we’ve seen the LG G6 with an 18:9 aspect ratio and now the Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+ with an 18.5:9 screen size. Now Google is urging developers to update their apps to better work with these new screen sizes…

Currently, applications that are built to work on the cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio found on most older flagship smartphones will end up showing black bars above and below the user interface (as seen in the picture below). Not only is this distracting for users, it also doesn’t allow applications to take full advantage of the screen real estate.

To update their apps, developers are recommended to adjust the maximum supported aspect ratio as well as update the “application” element to at least support 2:1 or higher aspect ratios. More information about supporting multiple screen sizes can be found on Google’s developer blog.

The sooner that developers can update their apps the better. Although right now we only have the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8 with the new “super widescreen” displays, we will most likely see even more devices with an 18:9 aspect ratio hit the market soon.

If you are a developer or if you would just like to know more about what goes into updating applications to work better with 18:9 aspect ratio displays, you can read Google’s developer blog.

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Avatar for Justin Duino Justin Duino

I’m a writer for 9to5Google with a background in IT and Android development. Follow me on Twitter to read my ramblings about tech and email me at justin@jaduino.com. Tips are always welcome.