How come a user reported tiny text on a Motorola DROID android-based phone?

Question

A user of my Android App reported that he was seeing tiny text. How is this possible? More importantly, how can I use the emulator to be sure that my changes will fix it?

Background:

This user has a Motorola DROID phone, which has a different screen resolution and maybe other slight differences.

I assume that the problem was I didn't test using the right screen size. However, I followed the instructions here and tested a larger screen and the text was fine. http://developer.motorola.com/docstools/library/Support_for_Multiple_Screen_Resolutions/

I know my app has fixed pixel heights like this: android:layout_height="64px" and I use text side parameters like: android:textSize="14sp" or android:textSize="12pt"

Answer 1

There is a bug in the DROID where screen density is being reported incorrectly, causing the DROID to mis-calculate pt, mm, and in dimensions. This is a DROID-specific problem, so the emulator will not demonstrate it.

While, long-term, using pt or mm is a very good idea, tactically, work out a reasonable size in px (test that in the emulator) and you should be OK.

I suspect this will be fixed in the patch release that is rumored for later this year.