Aspect ratio to target in 2015?

[chkuendig]

Hi all,

does anybody have details on the market share of different aspect ratios in 2015? (16:9 vs 3:2 vs 4:3)

Im currently working on a game (Trivia, so lot’s of UI elements) and wonder whether we should optimize our layout for 16:9 or 3:2.

Traditionally I would target 3:2 - but it seems that most mobile phones are now using 16:9, and having unused bleed space on the majority of devices seems to be a waste.

4:3 is still popular with tablets, but as our game is optimized for phones I don’t worry about wasting unused space on these much bigger screens.

What are you usually targetting?

[roaminggamer]

@chkuendig,

I don’t think there is a single answer which will help you here.  The question of markets and potential profitability is more complex than answering the question “What’s the most popular aspect ratio.”.

I also suspect, it is more about the devices that are popular, and what users of those devices typically buy/play, than it is about aspect ratios.  i.e. What games and game types are more popular for iPhone5 users.  Is this different from iPhone 6+ users?  What about Kindle Fire users?  I’m sure there are variances.

Finally, to answer you, I currently focus on iPhone 5 as the primary platform (this will soon change to iPhone 6).  Regardless iPhone 5/6/6+ all have the same aspect ratio, so you’re fine.  I then test and adjust for Kindle Fire 7"…9".  Usually by the time I get this working all other devices are decently covered too.

[roaminggamer]

Update/note: When I said not a ‘single answer’ I meant there may be multiple right answers.

[chkuendig]

I didn’t mean it about a  question about markets and profitability, I just want to make sure that the game is optimized for the majority of devices with adjustments for a minority instead of the opposite.

I’m aware that there are different answers for different projects.  I’m also aware that different devices have different kind of users, but if we don’t know the overall market, the question “what aspect ratio should i target if we develop a super casual trivia game for iOS and android” is even harder to answer

For a start, I was just interested to know if other devs also switched from 2:3 (iPhone 4) as the primary target to 9:16 (iPhone 5) in recent years. Your answer and a cursory google search [1],[2] seems to confirm this.

[1] http://www.jwag.biz/newsletters/2014/10/15/most-popular-smartphone-resolutions-for-september-2014.html

[2] http://mydevice.io/devices/

[roaminggamer]

@chkeundig - Ah excellent.  I was a little unsure if my answer as at all helpful or not. 

@all - Anyone else want to tell us what their primary target(s) is/are? i.e. Are we all pretty much targetting iPhone 5 as an adjusting from there?

[davebollinger]

fwiw, i mainly target android, so my approach may differ from someone doing mainly ios, but…

i declare a “designed” content size of 4:3 (480x640) but then calculate the longer axis to match device aspect ratio when specifying actual content size in config.lua. (so i might end up with 480x800 or 480x854 for mdpi screens, for example)

there are very few 4:3 android devices (and none that i’m aware of that are even “more square”) so this means i’ll always “fit width, bleed tall”, (terms assume portrait orientation) aligned center/top so i don’t have to worry about letterboxed coordinates (no negative screenOriginY, for example)

when i “mock up” my screens, i target 3:2 (which is common in android, and a nice middle-ground between 4:3 and 16:9), and move things around dynamically to fit the actual content bounds i got from the device.  might end up a little “tight” on those rare 4:3 devices (which are SO rare that i don’t care much) and a bit “loose” on 16:9 devices (which looks fine).

i design my backgrounds at 2:1 so they fit texture memory nicely, and easily full-bleed to 16:9 (with even a bit extra left over - as there are also a handful of devices that are just slightly taller than 16:9, aspect ~= 1.8)

[roaminggamer]

@chkuendig,

I don’t think there is a single answer which will help you here.  The question of markets and potential profitability is more complex than answering the question “What’s the most popular aspect ratio.”.

I also suspect, it is more about the devices that are popular, and what users of those devices typically buy/play, than it is about aspect ratios.  i.e. What games and game types are more popular for iPhone5 users.  Is this different from iPhone 6+ users?  What about Kindle Fire users?  I’m sure there are variances.

Finally, to answer you, I currently focus on iPhone 5 as the primary platform (this will soon change to iPhone 6).  Regardless iPhone 5/6/6+ all have the same aspect ratio, so you’re fine.  I then test and adjust for Kindle Fire 7"…9".  Usually by the time I get this working all other devices are decently covered too.

[roaminggamer]

Update/note: When I said not a ‘single answer’ I meant there may be multiple right answers.

[chkuendig]

I didn’t mean it about a  question about markets and profitability, I just want to make sure that the game is optimized for the majority of devices with adjustments for a minority instead of the opposite.

I’m aware that there are different answers for different projects.  I’m also aware that different devices have different kind of users, but if we don’t know the overall market, the question “what aspect ratio should i target if we develop a super casual trivia game for iOS and android” is even harder to answer

For a start, I was just interested to know if other devs also switched from 2:3 (iPhone 4) as the primary target to 9:16 (iPhone 5) in recent years. Your answer and a cursory google search [1],[2] seems to confirm this.

[1] http://www.jwag.biz/newsletters/2014/10/15/most-popular-smartphone-resolutions-for-september-2014.html

[2] http://mydevice.io/devices/

[roaminggamer]

@chkeundig - Ah excellent.  I was a little unsure if my answer as at all helpful or not. 

@all - Anyone else want to tell us what their primary target(s) is/are? i.e. Are we all pretty much targetting iPhone 5 as an adjusting from there?

[davebollinger]

fwiw, i mainly target android, so my approach may differ from someone doing mainly ios, but…

i declare a “designed” content size of 4:3 (480x640) but then calculate the longer axis to match device aspect ratio when specifying actual content size in config.lua. (so i might end up with 480x800 or 480x854 for mdpi screens, for example)

there are very few 4:3 android devices (and none that i’m aware of that are even “more square”) so this means i’ll always “fit width, bleed tall”, (terms assume portrait orientation) aligned center/top so i don’t have to worry about letterboxed coordinates (no negative screenOriginY, for example)

when i “mock up” my screens, i target 3:2 (which is common in android, and a nice middle-ground between 4:3 and 16:9), and move things around dynamically to fit the actual content bounds i got from the device.  might end up a little “tight” on those rare 4:3 devices (which are SO rare that i don’t care much) and a bit “loose” on 16:9 devices (which looks fine).

i design my backgrounds at 2:1 so they fit texture memory nicely, and easily full-bleed to 16:9 (with even a bit extra left over - as there are also a handful of devices that are just slightly taller than 16:9, aspect ~= 1.8)