idea: Improved cover UX

asked 2017-03-20 18:07:30 +0300

djamigo gravatar image

updated 2017-03-21 13:28:20 +0300

Hi;

I'm a relatively new user to sailfish and am very impressed. As a linux user i appreciate having live multitasking - especially the ability to view the multitasking screen via the covers.

my main issue with the cover screen is identifying which app is which. some,such as the galley app are very clearly defined by thumbnails of photos. Others,especially if they contain text are hard to instantly identity. The issue grows as you use more and more apps.

Could i suggest that the live cover tile inherits its launch icon from the app grid. The icon does not need to be fully sized, but should be in full colour (as in the app grid). This way a consistent identification of app from icon to minimised version can be maintained.

Given that it is important not to obscure the live cover, perhaps the app icon could be slightly offset from the left, just slightly overlapping the left edge of the cover. (I think there is enough padding between covers to allow this). OR the icon could be overlaid on the top edge. This would leave the bottom of the cover free for cover actions.

UPDATE:

I have shown a couple of examples below. Obviously the cover content will need padded to avoid it being clipped by the cover icon but it seems like it might work well with text-only covers. It would mean that people can follow a consistent visual message from app-dock to cover while still maintaining cover actions AND content previews. These are a major strength of sailfish I believe!

David image description

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Comments

I guess you may start to like the covers (and especially the cover actions) after a while, although I have to admit that I use the cover actions rarely. Still, being able to see a miniature view of the current screen content of an app is very, very useful.
Anyway, the covers and cover actions are an inherent part of SFOS since its beginning.

olf ( 2017-03-20 19:35:39 +0300 )edit

I think your idea has got some merit, although I also don't use that many app's at a time that I lose track of what's open. The problem I see is that implementing that on the J1's small screen isn't practical IMO, it might be workable on a larger screen, and I personally can't wait for SFOS to come out on larger (5'') phones so those of us who's eyes aren't 20 year old and who's fingers are fatter than a pencil can at last have a screen with usable dimensions for our ageing appendages ! ;)

davekelly ( 2017-03-20 21:05:23 +0300 )edit

Maybe the Patch "Force large covers" from Warehouse helps to perceive the covers as more useful (which IMO the small covers are not on a Jolla 1's 4,5" display).

olf ( 2017-03-21 00:28:40 +0300 )edit

You didn't put an icon on easy recognizable covers, is it on purpose? It proves that it's up to the applications developers to make their cover recognizable so this is not needed, contact them ;)

Sthocs ( 2017-03-21 13:57:35 +0300 )edit

Have a look at Coderus' patch on openrepos:

https://openrepos.net/content/coderus/patch-notifications-count-switcher

Looks like a good place to start to achieve what you want.

coley ( 2017-03-21 13:57:59 +0300 )edit