How to change display size in Android Nougat?

Android Nougat display size allows you to adjust all display elements including text,  app icon size, button size, notifications, images and others.

This Android Nougat guide show you why and when you need to use display size in Android Nougat and how to change  display size in Android Nougat.

What is display size in Android Nougat?

As you already know, you can set font size to make the text smaller or bigger.

In some Android phones, you can also set font style.

But font size settings are NOT honored in several locations, for example,

• Notifications. In some phones the notification text is too small. But you cannot make it bigger when you increase font size.
• Lock screen keypad. In some phones, the keypad only use middle part of the lock screen. It is hard to tap fast when you want to unlock the phone quickly.
• Some menu or navigation items.

In addition, you cannot change the app icon size in most Android phones prior to Android Nougat.

Of course, some Android vendors may offer different screen grid sizes for home screen. But the size of app icon only changes very slightly.

Now, you can use display size in Android Nougat to change the size of all display elements including, text, icons, buttons and images.

Sometimes, display size in Android Nougat is referred as display scaling.  Samsung called it screen zoom.

Anyway, Android Nougat display size scales (or zoom in/out) all display elements, not just text.

Why and when you need to change display size in Android Nougat?

You may want to change display size in Android Nougat if you want to make app icons larger or smaller in home screen or apps screen.

For example, as shown below, the size of app icon differs significantly when you change the Android Nougat display size from default to large.

In addition, the number of app icons in a home screen panel will also be adjusted automatically.

 

You need to change display size in Android Nougat if you want to make notification text larger.

In most phones, the default notification text size is too small and it is not comfortable to read.

You can make them bigger as shown below by adjusting display size in Android Nougat.

Another example of changing Android Nougat display size is for lock screen keypad.

You can make the lock screen keypad larger so that you can type your PIN quickly as shown below.

Please note, display size in Android Nougat will affect all display elements (even including webpages).  It simply scales up or scales down the display.

How to change display size in Android Nougat?

You can follow these steps to change Android Nougat display size.

Step 1:  Go to Settings– Display

As shown below, you can access phone Settings, tap Display.

Step 2: Tap Display size

In Display page, tap Display size as shown below.

Please note, the screenshots in this guide was taken from stock Android.

Some Android vendors may name it differently, or put the display scale settings in different locations.

Step 3: Adjust display size and preview 

As shown above, there is a preview screen  (marked in the green rectangle) to let you preview current settings.

You can swipe left and right of the preview screen for different pages.

There are 3 preview pages indicated in the blue box: messages, app icons  (home screen), and settings.

After preview these 3 different pages, you should have a clear idea which display size is for you.

In stock Android, there are 5 display sizes (scale levels). But in most other Android phones, there are usually only three display sizes.

Step 4: Exit and enjoy new display size in Android Nougat

In some Android Nougat devices, you need to tap Apply.

In stock Android, you can just leave the display size page and the last setting will be applied automatically.

Can you change display size in Android Nougat to adjust text size in notifications, app icon sizes and other visual elements?

If you have any questions or encounter any problems on using display size in Android Nougat, please let us know in the comment box below.

The community will try to help you.

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For questions on Android Nougat (Android 7.0 and 7.1), please check Android Nougat guides page.

For questions on Android Marshmallow (Android 6.0), please check Android Marshmallow guide page.

For question on Android Lollipop (Android 5.0 and 5.1), please check Android Lollipop guide page.

For other Android questions or problems, please check Android 101 page.