I’m working on an Android app and trying to make it look good on different devices. I’m having trouble with layout qualifiers for a specific tablet.
The tablet I’m testing has a 1024x600 resolution and is about 10 inches. Based on Android documentation, this should be an xlarge screen, so I created a layout-xlarge folder. But the tablet emulator ignores this folder completely.
I also tried layout-xlarge-hdpi since the device uses my layout-hdpi folder, but that didn’t work either. When I use layout-hdpi-long, it affects other devices that I don’t want to change.
I need to create separate layouts for:
Large tablets (10+ inches)
Small MDPI phones
Long HDPI phones like Galaxy S
The main issue is that my tablet keeps using the same layout as the long HDPI phones instead of the tablet-specific layout. How can I create a qualifier that only targets the tablet and doesn’t affect the phone layouts?
Had this exact problem with a client project last year. Android’s screen classification doesn’t always match what you’d expect physically. Your 1024x600 tablet is probably getting classified as “large” instead of “xlarge” because of how Android calculates aspect ratio and density. What worked for me was using layout-w960dp specifically. This targets devices with at least 960dp width in their current orientation - catches most 10+ inch tablets without messing with phones. The key difference from sw600dp is that w960dp depends on orientation, so it’s more precise for what you’re doing. Also double-check your tablet emulator isn’t running in compatibility mode. Some older AVD configs force the system to report legacy screen sizes, which completely bypasses your newer qualifiers. You can verify this by checking the actual reported screen config in your app’s onCreate method using getResources().getConfiguration().
sounds like a dp issue. try layout-sw600dp instead of xlarge - it works better on modern devices. xlarge is deprecated so newer tablets don’t respond to it properly. sw600dp should catch your 10-inch tablet without affecting phones.
Been there with Android layout qualifiers. They’re a nightmare with all the screen combinations.
Your tablet issue? Android’s probably classifying your 1024x600 device as “large” instead of “xlarge” based on DPI calculations.
Try making a layout-large folder next to your layout-xlarge. Also test layout-sw600dp - that qualifier’s more reliable for tablets since it targets smallest width regardless of orientation.
But honestly, managing these layout variations manually gets messy fast. I’ve hit the same wall on multiple projects.
I ended up automating the whole thing. Built workflows that detect device specs and serve the right layouts automatically. No more qualifier guesswork or managing tons of layout folders.
The automation handles device detection, layout selection, even A/B testing across device types. Way cleaner than Android’s qualifier system.
You can build similar workflows for this exact problem. I use this platform for automation stuff: https://latenode.com
Check your emulator config first. I had the same issue - the emulator wasn’t reporting screen dimensions correctly. Go into your AVD settings and make sure screen size and density are right. Here’s what caught me: Android changed how it handles screen size buckets around API 13. If you’re targeting newer APIs, the system uses density-independent pixels instead of the old physical size method. Your 1024x600 tablet might be getting classified wrong. Try creating a layout-w820dp folder for landscape tablets. This targets devices with at least 820dp width - should hit your tablet in landscape without messing with phones. I’ve found this works better than sw qualifiers for certain tablet configs. Also make sure your layout files actually exist in those folders and aren’t empty directories. The system falls back silently if layouts are missing.