Standard way for showing menu while in a long list or endless spatial space (e.g. Maps/Photos)

asked 2013-12-27 03:12:19 +0300

Artem gravatar image

The problem

Pulley menu is great idea. Except that it doesn't work where the main area is to be scrollable/pannable (Maps, Photos, Browser) or in the long list except in the very top (e.g. in Tweetian or even People app).

Current solution

Currently the solution for the long lists seems to be.. none, you just have to either scroll to the very top or the app should show a page header at all times and then you can pull the header (that is also not very comfortable as it's a far reach for a thumb).

Current solution for large pannable areas is to.. split screen on a first tap and one of the areas can be pulled then. That unfortunately breaks context and you have to hunt for the pullable area. And browser just shows traditional toolbar pretty much.

Proper solution

I don't know, but the current situation is not ideal at all, so let's discuss :) For a starting idea, we can think of what Pocket app for iOS/Android is doing ( http://getpocket.com ) and Sailfish browser goes similar way:

  • When you scroll down (as during normal reading), toolbar is hidden
  • When you scroll up a little, toolbar is shown back with a gentle that is easily cancelable by scrolling down again. Sailfish could do the same for showing PageHeader or some standard-looking browser-like toolbar closer to the bottom.

What do you think?

P.S.

This particular question is for discussion mainly, but once/if a good solution is found, sure it would be great if Jolla recommended/enforced it as much as possible

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Comments

3

Nokia N9 is implementing a great solution: when finger is put on the vertical scrollbar on the right of the screen, scrollbar width is enlarged and scale is also changed to match screen height. a finger move to the top of the screen, move to the top of the list, a finger move to the bottom moves to its end. It's elegant, minimal, very intuitive, very useful.

ron282 ( 2013-12-27 09:44:29 +0300 )edit

Interesting. Where do you have this sort of behavior on N9? My N9 is empty now, I created a couple of screens of Notes and can't see this behavior.

Artem ( 2013-12-27 13:48:59 +0300 )edit

It works this way in Contacts, in Music library, or when you want to select a year for an appointment.

ron282 ( 2013-12-27 15:51:52 +0300 )edit

@Artem The n9 scrollbar behaviour is system wide on any list - mail, twitter, contscts etc. It's smart enough to show context so for instance in contacts it shows a-z but in twitter it shows how far back in the timeline you're going. It's very useful but I don't thibk it solves the pulley menu accessibility issue.

This really is a tricky one to solve without breaking context menus in for example mail or introducing another gesture.

aegis ( 2014-01-08 12:23:21 +0300 )edit

Well, if there is a way to enter this "scrollbar navigation mode", can the pulley menu be pulled by pulling the scrollbar then? That is effectively assuming scrollbar is a part of the underlying page, i.e. exactly what you are pulling to get to menu.

Artem ( 2014-01-08 12:29:54 +0300 )edit