Launcher: Improve edit mode

asked 2014-07-22 21:42:07 +0300

ssahla
10167 ●110 ●153 ●164

updated 2014-07-23 16:27:35 +0300

I suggest some improvements for Launcher’s edit mode (where you rearrange / delete apps).

(Note: This suggestion combines several small improvements, but I decided to not add separate questions for each (except #5 which I have posted earlier) because they are closely related. Also, parts of this or related things have been mentioned in earlier questions; I have added links to those.)

1. Keep view position when entering edit mode. As it is now, if you’re on your last Launcher page and it has one or more empty rows, when entering edit mode the view will move so that you’ll see part of the previous page also. This is not good because you probably do the long-tap on the icon you want to interact with, but after entering edit mode it’s not in the same place anymore, so you need to find it again. (Icon labels disappearing makes this worse. Keeping the labels has been requested earlier.)

2. Quick start drag. When you want to move an app, you first need to enter edit mode with a long tap, release your finger, and then start a drag on the app icon. I think it would be better so that if you enter edit mode with your finger on top of an app icon, that app will instantly be “picked up” for you to drag. (This, of course, requires #1.)

3. More user-friendly dragging. When you drag an app icon, it’s not easy to see which icon you’re moving, because it’s right under your finger. A better solution: When an icon is picked up, it jumps to a position a bit up from your finger, so you can see part of the icon when dragging it. (Related problem: The icon being moved may “drag behind” if you start the movement too quickly. Earlier question on this.)

4. Keep Launcher in edit mode when opening or closing a folder. Now, when in edit mode, you can open a folder, but you’ll also exit edit mode (one tap does both); to close a folder while in edit mode, you must first exit edit mode and then close the folder (two taps), which is inconsistent. I think it’s better that the edit mode doesn’t end until the user clearly signals “ok, I’m done editing”, and navigating in or out of a folder isn’t that. (If the folder close gesture was something other than a tap, there would be no conflict between “exit edit mode” and “close folder” gestures. This has been requested earlier.)

5. Spring-open and close folders when moving an app, so you don’t need to exit edit mode when moving apps in and out of folders. I have earlier posted a question on this, so I'm not repeating here.