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I have not had any issues with the UI on the iPad mini as well.
The dimensions of the screen as well as the pixel resolution were determined so that the mini could have the full sized iPad experience on a smaller screen. The iPad 2 resolution is perfectly fine and looks even better when the same amount of pixels are condensed as they are on the iPad mini. Compare them side by side and you will see that the iPad mini display looks better than the iPad 2, even though the resolution is the same.

Now when it comes to retina, I don't see what everyone is all up in arms about. Apple sold millions of iPads without a retina display and since releasing the iPad 3 and 4 with retina everyone seems to think the mini needs it too. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the mini's display unless you are pixel hunting which is what I think most of the non retina haters are doing. Having the retina display would have made the mini thicker, heavier, needing a faster chip, run warmer - all things I'm sure Apple did not want. When the original iPad was introduced in 2010, everyone went gaga over it thinking it was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now it's like Oh My God it doesn't have a retina display it's a piece of Garbage. I'm sure Apple will incorporate a retina display into the mini, when the display can be lighter, thinner, needs less power consumption and run cooler.

when the iPad 3 came out everyone complained because it ran warm, well thank you retina display for that. If it was in the mini, they'd all be complaining because it's too hot for such a small device. No matter what Apple does there is always the camp who complains about it.

Get over complaining about the mini's display already, if you don't like it, don't buy it. The display is absolutely fine and don't say that I am not familiar with retina. I've had an iPhone 4, now 5 and I have an iPad 3 as well - so I am used to the retina display. Yes it is nice, but I'm not going to go blind because I have to look at something non retina. My MacBook Pro is not retina either and it doesn't bother me, but I guess it should since they did release a retina MacBook Pro. If you read all these posts regarding the mini's non retina display you would think that the life cannot go on because you have to look at something that is non retina.

When a retina version of the mini is released I will probably upgrade to it, but in the mean time I will sit back and enjoy my iPad mini as was intended.
 
Now when it comes to retina, I don't see what everyone is all up in arms about. Apple sold millions of iPads without a retina display and since releasing the iPad 3 and 4 with retina everyone seems to think the mini needs it too.
Nobody in this topic is talking about the lack of retina on the mini. It's about the size of what it displays. A retina screen wouldn't solve the issue in most cases.
Now, retina surely is the future for the mini.
 
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Scott you missed the point completely. This isn't a discussion around the screen but the form factor and the fact that the mini, while maybe exactly the same dimensions as the iPad 2, is a completely different device. Designers make apps considering specific things like size of the canvas.

Anyway, sounds like everything's under control in that regard, interested to see where this goes though
 
Scott you missed the point completely. This isn't a discussion around the screen but the form factor and the fact that the mini, while maybe exactly the same dimensions as the iPad 2, is a completely different device. Designers make apps considering specific things like size of the canvas.

Anyway, sounds like everything's under control in that regard, interested to see where this goes though

I did not miss the point at all, I'm just tired of reading all negativity about the mini, First and the biggest complaint so far was the retina display, now it's the size. If you don't like the size, get the bigger one. If the canvas is too small for you, get the larger canvas.

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Nobody in this topic is talking about the lack of retina on the mini. It's about the size of what it displays. A retina screen wouldn't solve the issue in most cases.
Now, retina sures in the future for the mini.

If you don't like the size, buy a full sized iPad. Everything that appears on the full sized iPad appears just the same on the iPad mini, except smaller. That is what mini means - smaller. Take an iPad, and a mini. Load the same app, or web page and the displays are the same, one is larger, the other smaller. If you don't like the size of the smaller screen get the larger one. Not rocket science here.
 
... if you didn't miss my point then maybe you miss the point of the device, or devices in general?

I'm not being negative at all, i'm asking if, from a design and development perspective will app developers be adapting to the smaller screen, and if they have the ability to.

again, these are 2 different devices and changing the canvas size does change the user experience. and "deal with it, go pound sand" isn't a very elegant or constructive response.

i'm as big of an apple fanboy as they come but part of what i like about them is their consideration to details like these.
 
Had the mini since launch. I can't see a need for specific mini apps. They all seem to work fine and be just as responsive.
 
If you don't like the size, buy a full sized iPad. Everything that appears on the full sized iPad appears just the same on the iPad mini, except smaller. That is what mini means - smaller. Take an iPad, and a mini. Load the same app, or web page and the displays are the same, one is larger, the other smaller. If you don't like the size of the smaller screen get the larger one. Not rocket science here.
Sometimes, smaller seems to be too small. That's what some try to talk about here.
If you don't like it, don't read or don't post.
 
BOOM: first app i heard of optimized for the mini.
There's nothing unique to the iPad mini version of this app's UI that I can see. Looks exactly like the regular iPad layout.
Also, at what point do you think developers will stop caring about the iPad 2 and focus specifically on the mini for their non-retina format?
Never. The way it's set up, they can't. They might pull a Flipboard/NYTimes and increase the font size of the smallest elements by a notch or two, but that's going to translate directly to the iPad 2 as well. There's just not going to be a separate UI for the iPad/iPad 2 and the iPad mini.

They won't shift their focus until there's a different resolution to work with or until iOS undergoes some major architectural changes, in either case a change unrelated to the existence of the mini.
 
Maybe I'm not saying this right. At what point will developers completely ignore that there's an iPad 2 at all and start designing for "Retina" (iPads 3 and 4) and "Mini"?
 
There's nothing unique to the iPad mini version of this app's UI that I can see. Looks exactly like the regular iPad layout.

Never. The way it's set up, they can't. They might pull a Flipboard/NYTimes and increase the font size of the smallest elements by a notch or two, but that's going to translate directly to the iPad 2 as well. There's just not going to be a separate UI for the iPad/iPad 2 and the iPad mini.

They won't shift their focus until there's a different resolution to work with or until iOS undergoes some major architectural changes, in either case a change unrelated to the existence of the mini.

^^^^This

Please, someone ring a bell when there's an actual significant difference in one of the "iPad mini optimized" apps. ... :p
 
except (at least) already the iOS split keyboard.
That's not anything that affects app layouts though.
Maybe I'm not saying this right. At what point will developers completely ignore that there's an iPad 2 at all and start designing for "Retina" (iPads 3 and 4) and "Mini"?
There's no functional difference between the iPad 2 and iPad mini from a developer's perspective. Designing for one is designing for the other. That's just not going to change.

Like I said, there may be some additional thought put into what the smallest text sizes are, but that's an improvement of equal value on the iPad 2.
 
That's not anything that affects app layouts though.
Well, yes, i almost completely agree.

But you can imagine situations where the space between the 2 parts is too small on the mini in comparison to give any interest in the split keyboard as it takes much more space proportionnally to the screen's width, and the whole screen's surface too, and then, the content.
I have no concrete example at hand, but you can't rely anymore on the user's possibility to split its keyboard and have in your app a text entry area centered in the middle of the screen with the rightly sized margins in case the user split its keyboard: your text area will be the same proportion on both iPad sizes, but the split keyboard aren't the same size in pixels.
Well :D that's an edge case

Not sure why they still allow to split the keyboard in portrait on the mini.
 
I have no concrete example at hand, but you can't rely anymore on the user's possibility to split its keyboard and have in your app a text entry area centered in the middle of the screen with the rightly sized margins in case the user split its keyboard
Exactly no app has ever or will ever work like that. No content behind the keyboard is expected to be visible regardless of setting. Because users can undock and/or split the keyboard at will, a developer would horribly violate UI guidelines to design an app around keyboard positioning.
Not sure why they still allow to split the keyboard in portrait on the mini.
The sole purpose of the split keyboard is to make the keys accessible for two-thumb typing. The iPad mini is too wide for that to be comfortable for some people, even in portrait mode.
 
Exactly no app has ever or will ever work like that.
The whole point of the split is to be able to see content between the 2 parts AND 2 thumbs typing
If the full keyboard hide the bottom part, once split, i can see it
?
 
The whole point of the split is to be able to see content between the 2 parts
No. That is just an incidental benefit. From the developer's perspective, you must always assume that the full keyboard is in use, blocking the full width of the screen. You must also accept that the keyboard can be undocked from the bottom and can slide over any and all parts of your app. That's just the way it goes.
 
No. That is just an incidental benefit. From the developer's perspective, you must always assume that the full keyboard is in use, blocking the full width of the screen. You must also accept that the keyboard can be undocked from the bottom and can slide over any and all parts of your app. That's just the way it goes.
Look at the iOS Notes app in landscape. You have a vertical column on the left listing your notes.
If i make an app, and for some reason, it makes sense to also have a second vertical list of stuffs or icons or whatever on the right, and in the middle a text entry area,
if I'm a smart developer, i will take into account the size of a split keyboard to size my columns, just in case the user happen to use its keyboard like that. Nice attention to details. If not split, it still hide some parts in the editable area of course.
I don't see how it's not following guidelines.
Now, with the mini, that can't work anymore on both sizes.
 
Should the retina mini have 1920x1440 resolution (960x720 UI) instead?

I think this would be better as it makes the UI fit better for a 7.9" screen and has a PPI right at 300, which would qualify for retina at the mini's viewing distances.
 
Should the retina mini have 1920x1440 resolution (960x720 UI) instead?
No. You're dropping the effective workspace by doing that as well as introducing a new layout size into the mix.

A retina mini will never have less than 1024x768 points. It will either have a 2048x1536 resolution with the same 1024x768 points (like the iPhone and big iPad), or they will introduce a new resolution with a new layout and a new point size for developers to target.
If i make an app, and for some reason, it makes sense to also have a second vertical list of stuffs or icons or whatever on the right, and in the middle a text entry area,
I can think of no reason at all why you would want to have a tall, narrow text entry column in the middle of the screen in the first place. But even if that were a logical layout, to then base the whole design around the remote possibility that they might use both a full-size iPad and an iPad mini, and be using a split keyboard in landscape mode, and be upset because the gap in the keyboard wasn't quite big enough to fit that column on the iPad mini, while not being upset at all that neither iPad could do that in portrait mode. That's just insane.
 
The software can be smart enough to recognize the platform and make slight UI changes to adapt to the screen size.

Certainly. But you can say the same thing about Android apps as well. If you put enough development effort into an apps, it can looks good in multiple resolution and screen size. The brutal truth is that most app don't make much money and the app owners don't have any incentive to update the apps. A few of the apps make most of the money and they will change their apps to fit any screen if necessary. The more combination of screen size and resolution, the hard the design effort will be.
 
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