I’m running a very unscientific survey today where I’ve been asking people if they use tablets in Portrait or Landscape (I’m not going to say Mode as many people do as it’s not really a mode) and so far the results have been very surprising with 75% of the respondents saying they use their tablet in landscape.
I find this odd for the reason that many people keep telling us that portrait for a tablet is more natural in portrait, more like a book. But it did get me thinking about Windows 8 and Microsoft’s new Metro UI. Now in portrait and landscape it shouldn’t make too much difference when using Metro as, while the rotation features of the OS aren’t yet working in the Developer Preview, we can be sure that the Start Screen tiles will rearrange themselves then you change your tablet to portrait. This will mean that however you hold your tablet you should see roughly the same number of tiles on the Start Screen.
This will be Microsoft’s plan of course, to create a ‘desktop’ operating system that works just as well the other way up (No, I don’t mean in Australia!). When you look at Android tablets they are invariably shown off in landscape, almost never in portrait which seems like the sole preserve of Apple’s iPad, another tablet I regularly see people using in landscape, though perhaps less than other tablets.
Amazon’s Kindle Fire will no doubt encourage people to use the tablet in portrait, as Amazon want users to treat it as an eBook reader, but will they actually do this?
With computers we have been working in landscape since the dawn of time, and the advent of the consumer widescreen display cemented this in modern society. It probably true then that we naturally gravitate towards a landscape display because that’s within our comfort zone. It could be for other reasons however. I use my tablet in landscape as I often find that apps such as mail and games such as solitaire leave things on screen either too small or too squeezed.
So I wanted to ask you here how you use your tablet and why? There is a great deal of psychology involved in this I’m sure and perhaps a full academic study has already been undertaken. It’s completely understandable that owners of Amazon’s Kindle would use the machine in portrait. Not only, with the keyboard model, is it designed to be upright that way, but you’re reading a book and these are predominantly portrait.
It’s interesting to note here why Microsoft have only showed us Windows 8′s Metro UI running in landscape. Perhaps they have been advised that it’s enough of a shock as it is and demonstrating the UI in portrait too would have unsettled too many people. Human beings are generally resistant to change after all and might be frightened off by something that looks too alien to be Windows but that claims to be that very product.
So feed back to us here in the comments whether you use your laptop in portrait or landscape, why that is and, frankly, if the fact that you and the reason for it have ever even occurred to you. It will be fascinating to read what you have to say.
I prefer landscape. Most because I’m used to widescreen monitors. Maybe that’s why people prefer Landscape? Portrait just makes it *feel like* the screen is smaller.
I have an iPad, and I switch depending on content. If I’m reading e-mail for instance, I use landscape so I can see both the list of messages and the selected message’s content. Web browsing depends entirely on the site’s layout. Some sites look better portrait, others landscape.
I usually prefer landscape, I think because it fits more naturally with my field of vision. Our FOV is wider than it is tall. Some content just doesn’t display well that way though.
I’d say my usage is about 25% portrait, 75% landscape.
I don’t own a tablet but if I did i would most likely use it in landscape mode simply cause i’m used to that mode in windows on the desktop.
It’s a very interesting discussion Mike. Personally I find my self using my phone in portrait mode a lot more than landscape. I’d only switch to landscape when watching videos and playing games. Otherwsie I’m always in portrait mode, even for browsing the web and such, I’m not sure why, it’s just something I do without realising it.
I dont think you should underestimate the basic physics of the situation
people hold tablets at the bottom – usually the bottom left (so you have your right hand for the screen)
if its held in portrait then there is more torque , making it feel heavier, because it extends further away from your hand up and away from you
people may just be holding it laandscape because it puts less strain on their writst and they can hold it like that for longer
I got a transformer last weekend,and is the first time I have ever even bothered with portrait. Text is too small and the thing is too unwieldyto hold. Plus it just does not feel as natural, all the other screens in out lives are landscape.
Yeah, a book is portrait, but only until you open it
it kinda becomes landscape while you read it…so in my opinion, landscape is both comfortable and natural. A panoramic photo, the horizon..
Alex has a great point. Also I think movie screens helped steer the evolution of the tv and computer monitors, and movie screens have been in lanscape I would think for the practical reason of allowing more people to see it at once. Much more practical and cheap to put more chairs side by side instead of on top of each other.
For phones and tablets, I think menus have a lot to do with it. Most menus have little words on them “start, next, server, name…” why take up a huge width on a phone in landscape when they take up much lest real estate in portrait
land scape is good appears for me. it’s depend on their own pc r phone.
I’ve realised that the iPad2 is much more comfortable to hold and look at when in landscape…also, content is mostly designed for landscape and usually works better that way because of the way people focus on things visually…but I have to agree that it all depends on the content being used…if I read some websites, I prefer portrait…
You also have to consider that to hold a 10″ tablet in portrait orientation, with the top further away from the eyes than the bottom of the screen, some re-focussing or rotation of the wrists is necessary for optimum focus. In landscape mode this is minimised