Silica tab component
The sailfish silica needs a tab component. Currently silica supports only list and menu based navigation but many apps require a flat navigation hierarchy. The lack of official silica tab component has caused many developers to resort on their own implementations of tab components, which often don't work well with other silica components.
Pros
- User always knows where they are
- User immediately knows where they can navigate
- Possible to notify the user about new updates on each tab
- Faster navigation between views (1 tap/swipe as opposed to 2)
- Complements the gesture based UI
- Flattens the navigation hierarchy into a more accessible format
Cons
- Takes some space on the page
When to use it?
- When you have 3-5 pages with a lot of information to display
Tabs could use the same familiar little light ball as with the page navigation for showing the current tab.
The light ball would move over the next tab icon when changing tabs and give a hint for the user about the transition.
Tapping an item could navigate to a new page as usual. The transition would give the user a cue that they're moving away from the tabs view.
Tabs should only be used when there are no other pages on the page stack. Tabs should not be used when swipe between tabs would conflict with other gestures such as navigate backwards/forwards.
EDIT: Here is some evidence about the effect on engagement when tab bar is used: link text. Pulley menu, or a navigation page are similar to hamburger menus in that they are not visible to the user. Also, many app developers seeking to port applications to the platform might face this issue of a lacking essential component.
I'm not sure I understand. When would you need such a component? I've seen a tab-like UI once and it felt out of place. It was nothing that couldn't have been placed in one longer flickable page... or in 2 pages if the author wanted to avoid scrolling. Tabs work so completely against the philosophy of the Sailfish UI, they shouldn't be encouraged.
ossi1967 ( 2015-07-05 17:22:09 +0300 )editnothing stopping a developer pushing several pages onto the stack and persisting them as a tab-like structure. Navigation by scrolling left and right.
r0kk3rz ( 2015-07-05 17:51:03 +0300 )edit@r0kk3rz that is indeed possible it has a drawback. The user doesn't know where on the stack and has to learn where each page is. With a proper tab bar, you can see where you are and wont get lost. HN app is an example on how bad ux that is.
Toxip ( 2015-07-05 19:10:16 +0300 )edit@ossi1967 I don't see how tab bar is the SFOS philosophy. Quite the contrary, they would fit well in the gesture centric UI. You could swipe left and right to switch between the tabs.
Toxip ( 2015-07-05 19:20:23 +0300 )edit@Toxip and this left- and right-swipe will be mixed up with back/forward gestures. However, I think SimpleWeather with multiple cities is a good example.
AliN ( 2015-07-05 22:28:49 +0300 )edit@AliNa it won't if it's done properly and conveyed to the user. A good example how it's done well is tweetian.
Toxip ( 2015-07-05 22:51:16 +0300 )editalthough the style should be in line with the sailfish style.
Toxip ( 2015-07-05 22:56:10 +0300 )edit@Toxip How would you distinguish between a 'move to next tab' gesture and a 'show next page' gesture? It's both a swipe sideways, isn't it?
ossi1967 ( 2015-07-06 10:29:31 +0300 )edit@ossi1967 the tab bar animation would distinguish them and the light ball indicates when the left swipe moves backwards or forwards. However it shouldn't be used anywhere else but the main page because it would prevent the back and forward navigation gestures. If used correctly it's not confusing at all.
Toxip ( 2015-07-06 12:23:25 +0300 )edit@Toxip at least the way you describe it makes it sound confusing to me. You original post indicates that it should be possible to swipe from a tab to a sub-page. This made me ask how one would.distinguish the two swipes: When does a swipe go to the next page? When dies it go to the next tab?
Niw you say the tabs would 'prevent the back and forward navigation gestures'.
At least to me all if this sounds very confusing.
ossi1967 ( 2015-07-06 12:38:09 +0300 )edit