Android - Introduction to mag+

The mag+ Android app is designed to support the many resolutions available on the Android platform, including Amazon's Kindle Fire.  As of version 4.2, mag+ Issue content scales along with the app interface. Note that if the aspect ratio of the Issue does not match the aspect ratio of the device, the app will letterbox the content (i.e. put black bars in the unused space).

A 1280 x 800 InDesign layout will cover all Android tablets big and small (down to 1024 x 600). Because of the way Android rendering works, you will see no loss in quality even on large Android devices with these dimensions. A 1184 x 720 InDesign layout supports all smartphones.

If you choose, you can still create mag+ Issues that target a specific display size by using the different mag+ InDesign templates. The mag+ Publish portal will always attempt to serve the appropriately-sized Issue to the requesting device and, if one is not available, will serve the next smallest resolution. For more information, refer to our Issue compatibility table in the article "Reference - Device and Issue Compatibility."

Android Device Compatibility

  • The mag+ Android app supports Android OS 4.4 and higher.
  • Android devices categorized as "small" (according to the manufacturer) are not supported by mag+. For more information, read the Android Developer article "Supporting Multiple Screens."
  • mag+ does not support Kindle Fire 1st generation. When submitting a binary to Amazon, the 1st Generation checkbox must not be checked.
Note: Unfortunately, mag+ is unable to test its features on all of the thousands of Android devices available on the market, so exceptions to the above specs may apply. For more information, read the article "Reference - Device and Issue Compatibility."

Important Information

Most mag+ features operate identically in Android and iOS, but as Android devices vary widely in hardware specs, it's important to test your apps on an actual Android device. Many have lower memory than similar iOS devices and complex HTML layouts may not render as well. For more information, read the article "Android - Differences When Designing for Android/Kindle vs iOS."

How to Create Apps for the Android/Kindle Fire Platform

1. Create your Android Distribution Channel.

2. Create your content for Android in InDesign.

Creating content for Android is the same as creating content for iOS. To learn how to create and publish content, refer to the section "Creating Your Content."

3. Build your Android app in the mag+ Publish portal.

You can find step-by-step instructions by reading the article "Android - Building an App Step-by-Step."

Note: There are different types of Android apps you can create, such as single issues, apps with free content versus paid content, etc. To see all the articles dealing with creating Android apps, refer to the Android articles in the section "Creating Your mag+ Apps."

4. Test your Android app on Test Devices.

It's vital to test your Android apps before distributing them. For more information on testing Android apps, read the article "Android - Testing Your App Before Distribution."

5. Deliver your app to Google Play/Amazon.

0 Comments

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Powered by Zendesk