Rebuilding Android Folios

Question

Hello, I'm looking for suggestions on workflow for Android 7" tablets. We currently have apps in both iTunes an GooglePlay store (and Amazon). Until now, I had been using the 1024x768 to build folios across all devices. However, we just bought a Google Nexus 7 and downloaded our app only to discover that our folios are unreadable due to the ratio being 4:3 and not 3:2. I would like to rebuild our folios for the Android tablet but since they are already published I'm not certain where to begin.
If i take the "Lazy Susan" approach per Bob's scenario #1 (referencing article "Creating DPS Folios for Android Devices") and reuse my iPad documents and make a 1600x1200 size, would I need to:
1) unpublish and then republish the folio?
2) Is it okay to reuse the the same publication ID?
3) If so, what happens to the Amazon version?
4) Does it matter if I decide to only make a "V" orientation document when it was previously both?
5) Will the user then have to download the "new" folio and delete/archive the previously published folio?
I assume if I choose to either go "Whole Hog" and/or "Sensible Shortcuts", both of these processes would have the same above questions (unpublish/republish, etc.) I'm thinking it's okay to add renditions at this point since it is "sort of" a "new" folio...Is that correct?
Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

Answer 1

If you looked at your app on a larger HD Android tablet, you'd be even more disappointed in how your 1024x768 folio looks. It looks like a small stamp in the middle of a black screen. That's the big drawback to the "Lazy Susan" approach, at least for now. (In an upcoming release, Android viewers should be able to scale content up or down. That will simplify matters, and I'll need to revise my guidance.)
1) There is no reason to unpublish/republish the folio. Just create a new 1600x1200 rendition using the same Folio Name, Product ID, and Publication Date settings used in the 1024x768 folio. Of course, the problem to this approach is that 1600x1200 is still 4:3 aspect ratio, which doesn't look great on 16:9-ish devices. Consider creating 1280x800 source files for the Android and repurposing those for each rendition.
2) What do you mean by reusing the same "publication ID"? If you mean using the same Application role/Title ID for iOS and Android, yes you can, but it frequently complicates matters. It's usually easier to create separate accounts (Title IDs) for iOS and Android. If you mean something else by "publication ID," please clarify.
3) The Amazon version should be fine, unless you turned on Strict Renditions (which you don't want to do in your case). Again, I may not understand the question.
4) It's no problem to create a dual-orientation folio for one rendition and a single-orientation folio for another rendition.
5) That's a little tricky. If a user has already opened the app, the viewer registers the 1024x768 rendition and unfortunately doesn't check for a new rendition until the app itself in uninstalled/reinstalled.
Regarding your question about adding renditions at this point, that's perfectly fine. Adding renditions doesn't hurt existing users, and it makes things better for your new users.
The key to success is to make sure that you set up your source files so that they can be imported easily. Most publishers take the "Sensible Shortcuts" route and create different renditions based on two or three sets of source files.