UI Issues in converted android Apps to BlackBerry platform

Question

I am on a process of converting an Android app to run in Blackberry platform and to publish it in BlackBerry World (BB Market place).

So I continued to follow the following TUTORIAL and yes it runs well in BlackBerry 10 Device Simulator but with some issues.

In the android App, it has seperate UIs defined for the main screen catogories as follows and works great in all the screen sizes when it is running on android.

layout-small
layout
layout-large

But the converted App to BB, in some cases a part of the UI from the bottom goes beyond the screen limit (In BB 10 device simulator) and does not fit well with the blackberry screen. Basically UI height is too much for BB 10 emulator screen

Also when I check in the converted app while it's running on BB 10 Device simulator it has refered to the UIs defined under layout-small from android APP.

So my questions are

1). What can I do to make the UIs fit well (In converted android App to BB) with all the screen sized BlackBerry devices?

2). How can I ensure that the app will work fine in all the Blackberry screen sizes? (Cause I am using BB 10 device simulator and found no way to get BB Z10 or Q10 device skins)

3). Is it possible to convert the Android app to work fine with pre blackberry 10 OS versioned devices? (As I am not getting the exact point explaining under the "Overview" section of the following LINK)

If someone have experienced the above issues and found solutions would be great to hear and also aprreciate any guidance to get this sortedout. Thanks in advance...!!!

Answer 1

1.) That's a tricky point. If the layout-small is used, I guess you are using the 720x720 simulator, which is Q10 resolution (the Z10 will use layout-large, according to http://supportforums.blackberry.com/t5/Android-Runtime-Development/Android-drawable-folder-layout-folder-for-BB-Z10-and-Q10/m-p/2169275#M3862). Your layout is probably not adapted for a square screen. I'll guess there's no magical answer: you'll have to adapt it. Maybe try it with a Z10 resolution (see point 2) first, to check that it solves your issue.

2.) With the latest simulator, you can choose between a 1280x768 (Z10) or 720x720 (Q10) screen. If the layout is displaying fine on both screen sizes on the emulator, it will display fine on real devices. To change between Z10 and Q10 resolution, you have a number to choose when the emulator is starting (at the very begining).

3.) Android apps runs on two kind of devices: the PlayBook, running BB Tablet OS, and BB10 devices (Q10/Q5/Z10). I guess your question was related to BBOS 7 and before. No, there's no way to run Android apps on them.