Supporting All Orientations in iPad App

One of the most popular disapproval or rejection reasons for iPad app is your app doesn’t support all orientations.

iPad requires 4 additional Default images:

• Default-LandscapeRight.png
• Default-PortraitUpsideDown.png
• Default-LandscapeLeft.png
• Default-Portrait.png

iPad’s screen size is 1024 x 768 pixels. 20 pixel is the status bar.

• Default-Portrait.png * 768w x 1004h
• Default-PortraitUpsideDown.png 768w x 1004h
• Default-Landscape.png ** 1024w x 748h
• Default-LandscapeLeft.png 1024w x 748h
• Default-LandscapeRight.png 1024w x 748h
• Default.png Not recommended

* If you have not specified a Default-PortraitUpsideDown.png file, this file will take precedence.

** If you have not specified a Default-LandscapeLet.png or Default-LandscapeRight.png image file, this file will take precedence.

Again it recommends you to put these Default images at the Project root. If you don’t give precise image dimensions, your iPad app will get confused and will not display those default images.

However it would not do the trick even you place all the default images at the project root. As it is, iPad would display one Default image regardless of iPad orientation. Adding conditional codes in Objective-C won’t show any effect.

// This won’t do much
- (BOOL)shouldAutorotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)interfaceOrientation {
// Return YES for supported orientations
return YES;
}

Apple documentation didn’t list it on their documentation even it is a must requirement for approving iPad app.

Apparently you would have to add a new field “UISupportedInterfaceOrientations” to info.plist.

UISupportedInterfaceOrientations must be defined as Array in Type. Add the following items into the array

• UIInterfaceOrientationPortrait
• UIInterfaceOrientationPortraitUpsideDown
• UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeLeft
• UIInterfaceOrientationLandscapeRight

Apple SDK templates should have included these expected settings on iPhone OS 3.2 but it didn’t. Apple expects developers to repeat these steps in building every new iPad app.

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