Tablet apps that are not just a stretched phone app
Android tablets have a long-standing reputation for running blown-up phone apps, and it is partly deserved. But a real set of apps handles large screens properly: list and detail side by side, keyboard shortcuts, drag and drop between split-screen windows, and pressure-sensitive stylus input. This is that set.
How to tell in ten seconds
- Rotate to landscape If the layout only stretches, the app has no tablet layout at all.
- Open two panes A proper large-screen app shows the list and the item together rather than navigating between them.
- Attach a keyboard Check whether arrow keys move a selection and whether the usual shortcuts do anything.
- Try split screen Drag and drop between two apps is the clearest sign someone thought about tablets.
Reading and reference
Two-page spread in landscape, which is the single feature that makes reading on a tablet better than on a phone.
Column layout adapts properly, and the library view uses the width instead of showing four covers per row.
Good large-screen layout and genuinely useful offline collections for a tablet you take on a trip.
Handles large technical PDFs, which is exactly the job a tablet is better at than a phone.
A two page spread in landscape and a library that syncs with the phone.
Proper tablet layouts for EPUB, and a store that also lends library books in some regions.
Notes, documents and getting things done
Real two-pane navigation, stylus input with palm rejection, and it syncs the same notebooks as the desktop version.
The most complete office suite on Android, and one of the few that is usable with a keyboard attached.
Side-by-side editing and preview, keyboard shortcuts throughout, and your files stay as plain text folders.
Predictable, collaborative, and it handles an external keyboard properly.
On a tablet the ribbon appears in full and tracked changes are genuinely usable, which they are not on a phone.
Side by side documents and a pen friendly annotation toolbar. Excellent with a stylus.
| If you want | Pick |
|---|---|
| Handwritten notes with a stylus | OneNote |
| Documents that must open correctly on a PC | WPS Office |
| Plain-text notes you own outright | Obsidian |
| Shared editing with other people | Google Docs |
Media worth the bigger screen
Plays everything, remembers position, and its landscape browsing layout suits a tablet library.
Downloads at higher quality are worth it here, unlike on a phone where the screen cannot show the difference.
A clean player built around gesture control, which works well on a large screen with no remote.
Your own media server with an interface that scales properly to a large screen.
Uses the full screen properly in landscape, with comments and related videos beside the player.
- Reading long documents and comics
- Drawing and handwritten notes
- Split-screen research and writing
- Video, obviously
- Social feeds designed for one column
- Camera apps
- Most mobile games, which scale up but do not gain
- Anything with a fixed portrait layout
Rotate to landscape and see what changes. That one test sorts real tablet apps from scaled-up phone apps faster than any review.
Frequently asked questions
Why do so many apps look stretched?
Because the developer never provided a large-screen layout. Android will scale a phone layout up rather than refuse to run.
Do keyboard shortcuts work in Android apps?
In apps that implement them, yes. Holding the meta key in a supporting app lists what is available.
Is a stylus useful without a drawing app?
Yes, for handwriting notes and marking up PDFs. Both are things a tablet does better than any phone.
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