Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

bcc212

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2012
44
0
iPhone 6 - latest iOS.

Why the zoomed in top/status bar with some apps?
 

ZEEN0j

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2014
1,566
720
The apps that are zoomed are not updated to the iPhone 6 resolution. So instead of black bars the app is zoomed to fit the screen.
 

bcc212

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 30, 2012
44
0
Wonder why they updated from the 4S-5 so quick and now so many apps not fully integrated for the 6. Odd.
 

ZEEN0j

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2014
1,566
720
Wonder why they updated from the 4S-5 so quick and now so many apps not fully integrated for the 6. Odd.

My thoughts are that when the 5 came the non updated apps had black bars on the top and bottom. Now the app is just a little blurry. I don't think your average joe notices the difference this time. So developers don't feel the need to rush out and update their app.
 

Fatboy71

macrumors 68000
Dec 21, 2010
1,535
481
UK
Wonder why they updated from the 4S-5 so quick and now so many apps not fully integrated for the 6. Odd.

From memory, the apps that were not updated for the 5 had black bars at the top and bottom. I've got to admit I prefer the zoomed in apps more than the black bars at the top and bottom, which we had when the iPhone 5 came out.

I can remember that the time scale from apps getting updated to take advantage of the larger screen of the iPhone 5, was pretty much the same time frame as we are seeing now for the 6 and 6 Plus.
 

MacOG728893

macrumors 68000
Sep 10, 2010
1,715
114
Orange County CA
I just don't understand how Android resolution scailing works better than what were currently seeing in iOS. It's probably just because I'm ignorant and don't fully comprehend the back end of the code for either platform.

Bottom line, the big companies really need to update their apps. I'm looking at you Pandora!

Also, I noticed a glitch with apps that have not been optimized for the new iPhones. The apps, which take advantage of Touch ID, can sometimes freeze up and completely lock the phone.
 

ZEEN0j

macrumors 68000
Sep 29, 2014
1,566
720
I just don't understand how Android resolution scailing works better than what were currently seeing in iOS. It's probably just because I'm ignorant and don't fully comprehend the back end of the code for either platform.

Bottom line, the big companies really need to update their apps. I'm looking at you Pandora!

Also, I noticed a glitch with apps that have not been optimized for the new iPhones. The apps, which take advantage of Touch ID, can sometimes freeze up and completely lock the phone.

I think Androids UI is vector based so it can scale to any screen. I think since iOS 7 that iOS is vector based as well. So in the future we might not have this problem. Don't quote me on this I'm just guessing.
 

RoboWarriorSr

macrumors 6502a
Feb 23, 2013
889
52
I think Androids UI is vector based so it can scale to any screen. I think since iOS 7 that iOS is vector based as well. So in the future we might not have this problem. Don't quote me on this I'm just guessing.
iOS is vector based, it's in there in that developer portal.
 

TL24

macrumors 65816
Oct 20, 2011
1,449
1,335
I just hate the zoomed status bar on the lock screen, how the F does apple not fix that?
 

Bahroo

macrumors 68000
Jul 21, 2012
1,860
2
iOS is vector based, it's in there in that developer portal.

has something to do with how iOS was made, if they put the resolution at 1080p for 6 plus, text and everything would be blurry due to the fact that it isnt scaled up to 3x(iphone 6 is 2x i believe and 5s/5 are 1x) . so they have to render everything on the plus at 2204x1258 resolution for the upmost closest possible 1:1 pixel mapping(gets downscaled to 6 plus screen resolution)
 

iBreatheApple

macrumors 68040
Sep 3, 2011
3,028
1,224
Florida
They didn't really update to 5 all that quick either.

It has definitely been a better transition now than back then. Those black bars were awful. And it took some devs forever to update. It's a lot less subtle now (when apps aren't updated). Many times the only reason I notice is because of the status bar.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,392
19,461
The hilarious thing is that the lock screen itself is zoomed meaning its not running a native resolution.

Isn't it also larger on iPhone 5s and below, where there is no lower resolution to be used?
 

Fzang

macrumors 65816
Jun 15, 2013
1,315
1,081
The hilarious thing is that the lock screen itself is zoomed meaning its not running a native resolution.

No, it's natively rendered like that. It's sharper than the status bar in upscaled apps.
 

gordon1234

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2010
581
193
The hilarious thing is that the lock screen itself is zoomed meaning its not running a native resolution.


First off, big fan of the zoomed lock screen here. It makes it a lot easier to quickly activate it and check battery, signal strength, whatever, which I presume was the point. It's not like all that space is being used for anything else like it is when the phone is unlocked.

To address the above comment though, "zooming" isn't the same as upscaling. For the lock screen, Apple is simply increasing the size at which the font and icons are rendered at. This has nothing to do with "native resolution." it's completely different from the upscaling applied to apps that have not been optimized for larger phones. With these apps, the content is being rendered at a smaller size, then upscaled. Much like taking an image and zooming in too much, this makes everything a little blurry, and also larger. The lock screen isn't doing this - it's just telling certain elements to render at a different size. There is no upscaling of the whole image, and no blur.
 

marvz

macrumors 65816
Aug 27, 2012
1,001
443
Berlin
With the resolution of non-optimized apps. I guess once these apps update, no matter what size screen Apple churns up next, it will scale nicely?

Right.

The problem is that older apps were often hardcoded to the 3,5'' display and then later to the 4'' display. That means these developers have to completely rewrite their apps with vector graphics which can be very time consuming.
 

GreyOS

macrumors 68040
Apr 12, 2012
3,357
1,690
Right.

The problem is that older apps were often hardcoded to the 3,5'' display and then later to the 4'' display. That means these developers have to completely rewrite their apps with vector graphics which can be very time consuming.

Am I right in thinking that even if apps were designed with the very latest vector graphics and the auto layout stuff that was around in the 7.x/8.0 beta SDKs before the iPhone 6/+ arrived, the apps still needed to flip a switch to be enabled for the higher resolutions, even if that was literally the only work that needed doing?

Because even if these apps could theoretically resize to different resolutions, I'm guessing Apple preferred to just run it scaled and force developers to do a tiny bit of work to check it's all ok and then flip the switch, rather than risk potentially breaking apps and making developers fix a live problem.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is still a philosophy for any future screen resolution changes. i.e. apps may be very easily modified (down to the level of just changing a boolean) to run at different resolutions, but will never automatically run at them without developers making that choice. They can future proof but the future won't be forced on them.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.