[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note II] Zathu:
[GUIDE] How to use the Note 2 at 260dpi w/ MultiDPI & Tablet Apps (Xposed, Universal)

Warning: Some people have reported boot loops after installing Xposed Framework. I've used it successfully with miscom's stock International DLL1 ROM port and scrosler's deodexed I317UCALK7 without an issue. I'm wondering if the issue could be with odexed ROMs and will take any reports on failures odexed vs deodexed.

The Note 2 ships with 320dpi configured in the build.prop file, making visual elements huge and easier to use farther away from your face or to accommodate bad vision. To maintain a screen real estate per inch ratio similar to that of a regular Android phone, you'll need to do a few easy tweaks which are easily reversible. This guide also includes tweaks to make Chrome, Gmail, gReader Pro use their tablet UI.

None of this is new, but I haven't found it documented anywhere that well. I've experimented with a dozen different DPIs, tried the multi-DPI mods, and found this to overall by the easiest and most stable route.

Requirements:

Root

ROM Toolkit Lite https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.liberty.toolbox

Xposed Framework APK http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=34609290&postcount=2

Xposed Tweakbox APK http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1629653

Package Name Viewer https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gijoon.pkgnameviewer

OPTIONAL Modded Samsung Keyboard http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2001577 (if you want use Samsung KB)

OPTIONAL Xposed App Settings http://www.villainrom.co.uk/forum/microdownloads/xposed-app-settings.5/viewfile (if you want to set app DPI with a GUI rather than editing XML)

Step by step:

Recommend a nandroid backup before starting

Install the requirements listed above

Open Xposed Installer and tap "Install/Update" and reboot

Open Xposed Installer, to go Modules and ensure that "Xposed Tweakbox" is checked

Open Xposed Tweakbox once, then close it. Don't enable anything here, it wasn't designed for the Note 2 and may break your phone.

Open ROM Toolkit Lite, open the Root Browser, and browse to /data/data/de.robv.android.xposed.mods.tweakbox/shared_prefs/

Open the de.robv.android.xposed.mods.tweakbox_preferences.xml and modify it to include your DPI/UI mods. You can start with everything in my example file below after "START DPI MODS". Either copy & paste the text or replace the file with my example through Dropbox or USB.

Open ROM Toolkit Lite again, swipe over to Performance, go into build.prop editor, scroll all the way down, tap one of the "ro.sf.lcd_density" items, change 320 to 260.

If you want the stock Samsung keyboard to work, you'll have to get the modded version linked above for your ROM version. My personal goal is to keep the stock APKs untouched on my phone, so I just use the AOSP 4.2 keyboard, which scales fine to any DPI. Setting the Samsung keyboard DPI in the XML file doesn't work like it does with apps.

Reboot, you should be good.

The de.robv.android.xposed.mods.tweakbox_preferences.xml file needs to be configured to sets all of the apps that would break to a fixed 320dpi and enables Tablet mode for some Google apps. I use Nova launcher instead of TW and have it's DPI set to 300. To tweak your other apps, add them to this file using the package names found using Package Name Viewer.

You can see in the example how tablet mode is force by adding a line. There's a few other apps you could add here, such as Settings, but I found Settings to be a little too tight. This line sets tablet mode for Chrome:

<int name="dpioverride/com.android.chrome/swdp" value="600" />

To go further, the DPI of Chrome can be changed (in this case to match the Nexus 7, with this:

<int name="dpioverride/com.android.chrome/density" value="213" />

Our issue of Samsung compatibility is solved by adding lines such as this:

<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.camera/density" value="320" />

My de.robv.android.xposed.mods.tweakbox_preferences.xml file:

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8' standalone='yes' ?>
<map>
<int name="low_battery_low" value="15" />
<int name="num_signal_bars" value="4" />
<boolean name="unplug_turns_screen_on" value="true" />
<int name="long_home_press_behaviour" value="2" />
<int name="statusbar_clock_color" value="-4276546" />
<boolean name="battery_full_notification" value="true" />
<boolean name="statusbar_color_enabled" value="false" />
<boolean name="statusbar_clock_color_enabled" value="false" />
<boolean name="show_ongoing_ime_switcher" value="true" />
<int name="low_battery_close" value="20" />
<boolean name="phone_increasing_ringer" value="true" />
<int name="low_battery_critical" value="5" />
<int name="statusbar_color" value="-16777216" />
<!-- START DPI MODS -->
<!-- Play Store Keeper required to prevent DPI Errors in Play Store -->
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.vending/density" value="320" />
<!-- Tablet Mode Mods -->
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.chrome/swdp" value="600" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.noinnion.android.greader.readerpro/swdp" value="600" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.google.android.gm/swdp" value="600" />
<!-- Samsung Compatibility DPI Retainers -->
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.voicerecorder/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.camera/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.videoplayer/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.popupcalculator/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.launcher/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.contacts/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.phone/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.smspush/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.clockpackage/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.app.FlashBarService/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.sec.android.mimage.photoretouching/density" value="320" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.calendar/density" value="320" />
<!-- Custom DPI Settings -->
<int name="dpioverride/com.teslacoilsw.launcher/density" value="300" />
<int name="dpioverride/com.android.chrome/density" value="213" />
<!-- END DPI MODS -->
</map>

Screenshots: