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iPad mini What apps have aspect ratio problems on the new iPad mini 6?

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
J

jdb8167

macrumors 601
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Nov 17, 2008
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I’ve only had the iPad mini 6 for a few hours but I’ve already noticed that the HBO Max app doesn’t fill the screen on playback. I assume these issues will get fixed soon but it might be nice to list them here. I made this a wiki post so it can be updated as needed.

  • HBO Max — No full-screen video
  • Netflix - landscape now matches aspect ratio
  • YouTube - landscape scales to aspect ratio
 
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Eurosport and NFL Gamepass International (I'm from UK).

Same problem. Seems to affect most 3rd party video players. And I recall from my experience with the 11 inch, that they were not quick to provide fixes. Annoying that Apple have to mess with the aspect ratio again.
 
Yes, I remember this, in 2018:

forums.macrumors.com

Buyer Beware: 11-inch iPad Pro has a new aspect ratio, and most apps have HUGE black bars

Just want to put it out there, the new 11-inch iPad Pro doesn't only have a new resolution, but it also has a new aspect ratio, ditching iPad's infamous 4:3. This means, almost every single iPad app will now need to be updated to the new aspect ratio, and we all know this will result in so many...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com

I seem to recall there was some sort of deadline for developers to update their apps (or else no longer get their updates accepted)
 
Three video apps that DO work fine with the new aspect ratio are VLC, Virgin TV Go and BBC iPlayer.

Why can't the others get it right?
 
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Surprisingly most of my main apps are fine.

But other apps not optimized are the Amazon app, IMDb app, MySolarEdge (solar panel monitoring), Nest, and the Lutron controller app.
 
So far I noticed that Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 has quite wide black bars (and when asked on Twitter, Frontier said that for now they do not have plans to update it).

Most of other games like this (meaning ports of PC/Console games) have very narrow black bars (I often do not notice them unless I look for them).
 
What’s exactly the effect? Is the app downscaled from 2048x1536 to 1984x1488 with black bars on the short sides?
 
klasma said:
What’s exactly the effect? Is the app downscaled from 2048x1536 to 1984x1488 with black bars on the short sides?
Click to expand...
Yep. But apps like all the Microsoft Office apps, Gmail, Google Maps, all of Apple’s apps, GoodNotes, PDF Expert and other apps properly coded for resolution independence display perfectly. At this point, it’s the fault of the author for not using Apple’s resolution independence APIs.
 
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xraydoc said:
Yep. But apps like all the Microsoft Office apps, Gmail, Google Maps, all of Apple’s apps, GoodNotes, PDF Expert and other apps properly coded for resolution independence display perfectly.
Click to expand...

Goodnotes needs an update to support single finger panning on the mini 6. It no longer appears as an option, although the pencil does work.
 
Comixology: no fullscreen

Seems like it's using Pro 11 or Air 4 AR.
 

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xraydoc said:
Surprisingly most of my main apps are fine.

But other apps not optimized are the Amazon app, IMDb app, MySolarEdge (solar panel monitoring), Nest, and the Lutron controller app.
Click to expand...
So far I’ve tested AppleTV which obviously is fine, HBO Max which doesn’t fill the screen as noted, and now the FuboTV app which works correctly. That shows that it is possible to write an aspect ratio agnostic video player.
 
Most streaming media should not be edge to edge because the curved corners would drop sacred information, from an artistic standpoint. There should be a toggle switch for the plebeians, though.
 
Yr Blues said:
Most streaming media should not be edge to edge because the curved corners would drop sacred information, from an artistic standpoint. There should be a toggle switch for the plebeians, though.
Click to expand...

For videos, unless the aspect ratio is 4:3 (e.g. old TV shows), the letterboxing is more than large enough to offset the rounded corners.
 
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jdb8167 said:
So far I’ve tested AppleTV which obviously is fine, HBO Max which doesn’t fill the screen as noted, and now the FuboTV app which works correctly. That shows that it is possible to write an aspect ratio agnostic video player.
Click to expand...

Infuse 7 works fine in fullscreen as well. Even the standalone Infuse 6 Pro handles fullscreen on the mini 6 just fine.

Gotta say though, I’ve been spoiled by the deeper blacks on the 2021 iPP 12.9
 
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Even the App icons on the home screens are not able to full advantage of the extra widescreen. Spaces on both sides.
 
rui no onna said:
Gotta say though, I’ve been spoiled by the deeper blacks on the 2021 iPP 12.9
Click to expand...
So true. Hard to handle the black levels when switching between those devices.

Wonder how long it will take to get full support for the mini aspect ratio.
 
I believe that iOS 15 broke HBO Max app on all my devices: iPhone 12 Max Pro, iPad Air 4, and iPad Mini 6. Many, but not all, 2.35 aspect ratio movies are appearing in 1.85 (tall and skinny) ratio with poor resolution. And on my Apple TV running tvOS 15, a similar thing happens with HBO Max in that some 2.35 movies start at 1.85 and then after a few minutes goes to its correct 2.35 ratio. On the iPhone, iPad Air and iPad Mini, the aspect ratio never corrects.

Try the movie "Pale Rider", which is currently playing on HBO Max.

Some other observations.

If I watch Pale Rider on my Sony TV using the HBO Max app I downloaded to the TV (not using Apple TV), the movie plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If I Chromcast the movie (playing in the incorrect 2.35 ratio) from my iPhone or iPad to my Sony TV, it then plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If I download the movie to my iDevice (any of them) and then watch the downloaded movie, it plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If while watching this movie, I turn off the iDevice, then turn it back on and the movie is still showing, the movie then is in it's correct aspect ratio.
 
BobSc said:
Try the movie "Pale Rider", which is currently playing on HBO Max.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the aspect ratio seems off on my 11" iPad Pro. It has that look where everything is a bit too tall and skinny.

Edit: Ok that is weird. On my iPad mini 6, the aspect ratio was also off but when I switched to the mini display in Home Screen and then switched back, the aspect ratio corrected itself. The same happened with the 11" iPad Pro. So some sort of software glitch. I'm glad it is easy to fix.
 
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BobSc said:
I believe that iOS 15 broke HBO Max app on all my devices: iPhone 12 Max Pro, iPad Air 4, and iPad Mini 6. Many, but not all, 2.35 aspect ratio movies are appearing in 1.85 (tall and skinny) ratio with poor resolution. And on my Apple TV running tvOS 15, a similar thing happens with HBO Max in that some 2.35 movies start at 1.85 and then after a few minutes goes to its correct 2.35 ratio. On the iPhone, iPad Air and iPad Mini, the aspect ratio never corrects.

Try the movie "Pale Rider", which is currently playing on HBO Max.

Some other observations.

If I watch Pale Rider on my Sony TV using the HBO Max app I downloaded to the TV (not using Apple TV), the movie plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If I Chromcast the movie (playing in the incorrect 2.35 ratio) from my iPhone or iPad to my Sony TV, it then plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If I download the movie to my iDevice (any of them) and then watch the downloaded movie, it plays in the correct 2.35 ratio.

If while watching this movie, I turn off the iDevice, then turn it back on and the movie is still showing, the movie then is in it's correct aspect ratio.
Click to expand...

Tried Pale Rider in the app on my 2021 12.9 and it is definitely hosed.
 
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