The problem with pixels …

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You see, Apple’s newest tablet, the iPad Mini, creates a vexing situation: Its device-width viewport tag defaults to the same values as Apple’s original iPad (768×1024 pixels), even though the Mini’s screen is physically 40 percent smaller. That means every button, graphic, link, and line of text on a web page on the iPad Mini appears tiny—even when we try to do the right thing and build flexible, multi-device experiences.

http://www.alistapart.com/articles/vexing-viewports/


I'm a service designer in Scottish Enterprise's unsurprisingly-named service design team. I've been a content designer, editor, UX designer and giant haystacks developer on the web for (gulp) over 25 years.

One Reply to “The problem with pixels …”

  1. Totally correct and linked to an informative article but undermined by the fact that the Ipad Mini is my favourite device by a country mile.

    It trades off having to “zoom in” to read some pages and “on-screen controls” being a bit fiddly, in exchange for a portable yet usable format. I don’t enjoy using the slimmer Nexus 7 for browsing as much as the Ipad Mini. It is a great device but most sites do not look that great on its taller screen. Tablets usually get the desktop version of a site and this seems to fit the 1024 * 768 format better.

    p.s. The Nexus 7 is a much better viewport size for watching movies on 🙂

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