iOS 7 Smooths Out iPhone Applications On Non-Retina iPads

With every new beta Apple release, we start to find new features and bugs fixes.. And as iOS 7 bets 3 is here I would like to talk about the iPad’s 2x compatibility mode. Hasn’t it always bothered you how iPhone apps run pixel-doubled on your iPad mini and other non-Retina iPad devices, resulting in jagged corners and edges and just all-around pixelated appearance?

Since the launch of the iPad, Apple has supported the use of iPhone-only apps on its tablet platform, allowing users to toggle between a “1x” mode where the app appears in an iPhone-sized window in the center of the iPad screen and a “2x” mode where pixels are doubled to allow the app to fill more of the iPad’s screen. But up until iOS 6, this 2x pixel doubling has been performed on the non-Retina iPhone versions of the apps for non-Retina iPads, expanding a 480×320 app to fill a 960×640 space on the iPad display and resulting in jagged text and blurry images.

You can tick that issue off as iOS 7 Beta 3 added a new feature that makes every iPhone app look very clear running on an iPad 2 or iPad mini, in a manner reminiscent of a tweak for jailbroken devices by Ryan Petrich, called RetinaPad…

Here’s a side-by-side example of the App Store storefront app on an iPad mini in 2x mode on iOS 6 (left) and default 2x on iOS 7 (right).

See this huge difference ? Notice how the fonts, the user interface elements and the bitmaps all appear crisper on the right image. Interestingly enough, whereas Retina iPads continue to offer the 2x toggle, the button is gone now on non-Retina iPads as those devices automatically lock iPhone apps in 2x mode.