Application layout

Applications
1

I was thinking of SFOS and the UI/UX of apps.
SFOS is designed to be used with one hand. There are a few exceptions: the 2 top swipes, home screen cover layout starts at the top, and the remorse timer is at the top.
Another exception is apps. Most apps have interactable elements. Most of those apps have a layout that is anchored at the top.
If I design an app, would it be better to anchor to the bottom, to make elements more reachable using 1 hand? Or just anchor to the top and try to have a good layout first, but 2nd try to move the interactable elements to the bottom as much as possible?

EDIT: fixed description mistake about top swipes

2 Likes
2

I’d say keep it the same as the other apps and do as guidelines say :slight_smile:

5 Likes
3

If you’re referring to the forward/back indicators, those are just hints.
You don’t have to click them to navigate around, you can just swipe the whole page from anywhere. (Provided the app doesn’t acquire focus in some shown element.)

4 Likes
4

No he described what he means, pulling down from top center to access the controls, and swiping notification left/right

5

I meant swiping from middle top down to open controls, and swiping from the right top down to close an app.
I made a mistake in my description.

6

…or from the left top down! :wink:

7

tbh we also should be able to do ot from bottom left/right, that would help a lot, almost nobody is using the appgrid gesture (at least I’m not)

1 Like
8

The reach problems are HW ones now SW. If you have used SFOS with phones that have a sane size you’d see that these problems are minimal.

Of course given the reality of idiotically sized phones there are areas that SFOS could be adapted to -sadly- and make elements more reachable.

I think there are a few topics on this in the design section of the forum.

2 Likes
9

I guess that by logic of other OSes, close really isn’t meant to be used frequently. (W#asn’t the close gesture basically a developer option at some point?) Not sure i agree, but i understand.

But they extend far down enough to be generally reachable.

In the cases where it does not replace whatever you are deleting, which imho is preferred.
And also really only for when you messed up…

Apps should indeed avoid static stuff at the top that needs interaction.
The PageHeader, when used, already moves the “main” part of an app down somewhat.

10

Never new that. I guess that is good for left handed people. Or if you are busy with your right hand, I guess.

11

Really? Then how do you open apps?

12

Thank you for your reply.

I did not say it was a good or bad thing. My comments were just comments, not opinions. I know UX design is complex, I am by far no expert, and my feelings on what is good or bad may not be the consensus.

Don’t you mean it the other way around? Static stuff at the top, and the non static stuff at the bottom, so you can reach it with one hand?

To give a (bad) example, take SailOTP.

afbeelding
afbeelding540Ă—960 53 KB

The entries are at the top, far away from my hand, while the bottom is empty. The part I can reach with my hand is where nothing is. This is even worse on the tall xperia devices.
Now, why it is a bad example: I don’t really need to interact with these entries. And when I do, I am usually at my computer, where I can put down the phone, and don’t have the need for one handed use. So SailOTP is fine. But I hope it does make the point come across.

For my apps, I would like to have the interactable part within reach of one hand. So, hypothetically, if I would make SailOTP, I would now think if I should display the entries at the bottom of the screen. It fits very well with the idea of SFOS. But I fear it does look funny and clash with the design of other apps. So, what is best practice?

Nitpicking, this is not an important thing to me, but one I would like to press you on nonetheless.
When I have 1 app open, the cover is at the top. If I side swipe, I cannot reach the cover with 1 hand to reopen the app. I would if it was in a bottom corner of the home screen.
Now, have 5 apps open, and hold your phone with your right hand. Do you think most covers are easily reachable? Do you think it would be not better reachable to have the 5 covers at the bottom?
Again, not saying this is good or bad. I would understand arguments like: it looks weird; people don’t expect it; eyes of european people start scanning at the top left corner, … I am just stating that at the bottom, it is easier to reach than at the top.

13

I agree it would be more comfortable if covers are beginning at the bottom. I have another point: I was using the first Jolla phone with older versions of SailfishOS. I loved that even swiping to the lockscreen and also the quick settings felt like moving cards around, they were pages by itself. It woud be much easier to place e.g. quick settings on the buttom of the page. I hope you understand my bad english

1 Like
14

No we’d keep it on home screen obviously

15

I think you have a misunderstanding: Mister Magister is not talking about the app drawer, but about the possibility to close apps in the home screen by pressing long and then tap the appearing x

1 Like
16

You misunderstand too, i mean ability to close apps by pulling up from the bottom lef/right corners same as it is done with upper left/right corners

1 Like
17

i was refering to this: almost nobody is using the appgrid gesture

18

I said exactly the same :slight_smile:

19

I believe you were saying:
Almost nobody closes apps by long pressing on the home screen and then tapping x, so it would be helpful to close apps by swiping from a bottom corner.

I hope I understand this correctly now.

@davidrasch was clarifying this for me. But it seems to have led to more confusion between you two.

I appreciate the input, but I would like to drop this in this thread. I was hoping to get input for application UX design here.

1 Like
20

Statically positioned; i.e. not in a scrolling view.

Indeed a bad example, thus irrelevant.

I only have problems with the “diagonal opposite” cover if they are in they are so many that they have become small.
(I use my phone with my left hand mostly, to keep my primary hand free).

Yes, those are the obvious ones - and if we have as few problems as we do, i think they are fine.