Add small arrow to ComboBox for better intuitivity

asked 2014-07-18 16:43:28 +0200

tokaru gravatar image

updated 2014-07-20 21:47:44 +0200

Often, Comboboxes are not recognizable as such - they are using highlight color and there is no visual hint that tapping it will reveal a list of options to select from. Usually (i.e. in other systems) there is a small down arrow on the right-hand side to indicate this behavior.

btw: shouldn't it be primary color for ComboxBoxes, like other interactive elements? EDIT: no, actually I just realized the ComboBoxes' label ("Aktualisierungen prüfen" below) is interactive too, and it is suggested to highlight selected values with highlighColor ("Nur WLAN" below), so the colors are correct.

EDIT: adding screenshots from Jolla's update page for better understanding of what a "Combobox" actually is - IMHO it would be clearer that "Nur WLAN" is interactive if the text was white and that it opens a dropdown menu if there was a small arrow symbol appended, similar to selectable lists on other platforms.

Combobox before being tapped

Combobox after being tapped

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Comments

are you talking about ContextMenu? If so than it would look ugly when on the side of each entry in any list is some kind of sign. Anyway, this issue was raised several times, don't know if anything would be implemented regarding this "problem"

virgi26 ( 2014-07-18 17:43:24 +0200 )edit

No, there's another request for that, and an arrow for each context menu would probably be too much. ComboBox is e.g. used in Browser Settings / Search engine. It looks similar to a context menu but behaves like a HTML select box, i.e. being selectable is it's primary function (as opposed to context menus).

tokaru ( 2014-07-18 20:44:40 +0200 )edit

@virgi26 I have updated the request with example screenshots, to avoid misunderstandings

tokaru ( 2014-07-20 19:03:52 +0200 )edit

yes, 've already checked the phone to see what you meant =) what i wanted to say (but was too lazy to write=) ) is that Combobox is actually using different font (different color), so you actually want to click it. So imho combobox is alright (that's not what i can say about context menu)

virgi26 ( 2014-07-20 21:11:34 +0200 )edit

@virgi26 Hm I justed wanted to write that interactive items should be white (this is what is suggested for app developers). When playing a bit more with the controls, I realized that the white text "Aktualisierungen überprüfen" actually is also interactive (you can click it to expand the list), which I did not realize before. Okay, that explains it is white and the text below (highlighting the current selection) is not. Still, it has the same color as the three static labels on top and it was not immediately clear to me which element would be interactive in which way. Having a small triangle appended to "Nur WLAN" would have made it all clear on the first glimpse.

tokaru ( 2014-07-20 21:44:11 +0200 )edit