Re: the Multiple Resolutions Problem, it's probably less of an issue if you're writing a utility app. But for games, which frequently make use of resolution-dependent assets, it is far from trivial or fictitious. A larger developer might be able to eat the cost of maintaining multiple sets of assets, but smaller developers frequently can't. Nor can they typically afford to own a comprehensive set of devices to test on, which is necessary if you're trying to figure out things like how many sprites or particles you can display at a given resolution and framerate.
The solution is rather simple - start with a high-res asset, put it in the drawable-hdpi folder, then downscale by 66% to get the mid-res assets.
Incidentally, this is what iPhone developers will have to start doing this summer. The new iPhone's screen is 2x the resolution. Assuming Apple wants to keep the iPhone forward-compatible and run OS3-based apps, that means image resources will be upscaled by the phone and look fuzzy, or developers will have to update their apps with higher-res assets.
As for framerates, you'll never get away from dealing with different hardware, no matter if you do Android, Web, Desktop or iPhone development. I have a first-gen iPhone and you have no clue how frustrating (ie slow) it is running many apps on it.
The solution is rather simple - start with a high-res asset, put it in the drawable-hdpi folder, then downscale by 66% to get the mid-res assets.
This technique doesn't work for pixel art, which can only be scaled up by whole number values. In certain cases where a display's resolution isn't a whole number multiple of the base resolution, you can get away with slightly shrinking or extending the viewable area. But 480x320 to 800x480 is a particularly inconvenient shift, as assets cannot be scaled up without incurring a large loss in viewable area, and they cannot be kept the same without requiring a large increase in viewable area.
Incidentally, this is what iPhone developers will have to start doing this summer. The new iPhone's screen is 2x the resolution. Assuming Apple wants to keep the iPhone forward-compatible and run OS3-based apps, that means image resources will be upscaled by the phone and look fuzzy, or developers will have to update their apps with higher-res assets.
Not true at all. It would only look fuzzy if the screen size were significantly larger. But in fact the screen size is roughly the same, only with a much higher PPI. Because the new resolution is a whole number multiple of the old, all apps can be trivially scaled with 2X nearest-neighbor scaling and look exactly the same as they would on a 480x320 screen.
As for framerates, you'll never get away from dealing with different hardware, no matter if you do Android, Web, Desktop or iPhone development. I have a first-gen iPhone and you have no clue how frustrating (ie slow) it is running many apps on it.
I actually do have a first-gen iPhone. In my experience, it hasn't been that slow for the majority of apps I want to use. But that's sort of irrelevant. As far as a developer is concerned, they only need to own two devices (three after the new iPhone is released) to capture the significant variations in hardware: a first-gen or 3G iPhone, and a 3GS. (Alternatively, and more cheaply, a first-gen and third-gen iPod touch, if you have no need for camera, GPS, etc.)
And it's true that you can never get away from dealing with different hardware, but the whole point is how much different hardware you have to deal with. Apple has been very careful about keeping that to a minimum while satisfying demand for better hardware.
they look fuzzy compared to native resolution apps.
apple has also, by denying the problem, failed to provide good APIs for multiresolution. android as faced and addressed the problem from the get-go and has a better solution.
Sorry, but how on earth do you know pre-iPhone HD apps look fuzzy on the iPhone HD?
iPhone apps on the iPad look fuzzy because (A) it does not use nearest-neighbor scaling, and (B) the screen is way larger, with a much lower PPI. It would be surprising if the iPhone HD doesn't use nearest-neighbor scaling.
And Apple hasn't denied a problem because it hasn't created one.
