Another option, when discussions converge, would be to make new single-topic posts with the distilled feature requests. You can link from there to relevant replies in this thread or ask forum admins to move those replies under the correct new topic. (But that can make a thread confusing, since those were not replies to the new topic.)
Then you should make a reply in this thread asking people to continue discussion in the new topics (provide links). Finally, mark your last post here as the solution, which will signal that weâre done here. (Threads can be locked, but I think only admins can do that.)
I donât know how much you have tinkered with SailfishOS, so please forgive me if the following is obvious to you.
What I mean is that
You can arrange the icons in the app drawer to you heartâs content
You can swipe up to expose only a few rows of icons
So if you put your favourites in the top row(s) and keep your swipes short enough to reveal only those rows, then you essentially have what you describe - itâs just from a horisontal edge rather than a vertical, and you donât need a second swipe to show all apps. You just keep swiping.
Thereâs even a shortcut: Tapping free space on the home screen (not an app cover) will raise the first row of apps for a second, just enough to tap an icon.
Caveats
Stopping after the first few rows takes some practice: The âswipe barâ changes colour to show when to hold.
There is a bug that lets you reveal one row, but then tapping the icons does nothing, except closing the app drawer.
There is another bug where this swipe-and-lock only works on the first page of apps
This can be improved, and I expect it eventually will.
You are right, we already have the possibility to check that through the cover. However, I find this âpatchâ from dseight useful for two reasons: first, while using the phone, I can check it while opening another app; second, I can check the date and time with a swipe from bottom to top. With 5,787 downloads, I guess Iâm not the only one who finds it useful.
Regarding the third panel, itâs hard to explain. The best option might be to watch a video on YouTube. But having used it for a couple of years, I found the original third-panel âmodeâ more pleasant than the two-panel âmodeâ of its SailfishOS successor. Changing the current two-panel interface to a three-panel one, or letting users choose, is something that the community can decide.
Let me find a video to show you what I mean.
As for your remark about the topic, Iâll keep it in mind.
While I wish someone on the Jolla team could improve the UI, I also understand Jollaâs perspective, which aims to keep things simple and straightforward. They are focused on more important development areas than these cosmetic issues. You know that every new addition brings the potential for new bugs, and the Jolla team seems too small to have the luxury of addressing both areas, which is acceptable to me.
Last night I started thinking, that the patent is probably expired already, because ASF is such an old format, and @Alfly_Alyx confirmed this with his quote from Wikipedia:
There probably isnât any other obstacles than, is it reasonable to spend development time on supporting such an old format? Has ASF been used on anything new for years/decades, or is all the material just old stuff?
That makes sense, now I think I understand your wish a bit better.
Noting that you will have to swipe, one way or the other, are you aware of âpeekingâ at the home screen? I.e. you can swipe to show the home screen without releasing your finger, then swipe back to resume working with your app. That is a pretty convenient way to quickly check the app covers and the clock in the top bar.
Similar peeking shows you week numbers in the Calendar app, btw.
Iâm afraid a video might not help, as this is more about how it feels than how it looks, if I understand correctly. (And Iâm reluctant to use yt, sorry about that.)
But I still think it would make sense to explain why this is better for you, because that is what a potential implementer has to understand to get it right. It can be wrong even if it looks like in the video. So my main gripes here are:
Why is swipe / swipe twice better than swipe-and-stop / swipe (to get to favourites / all apps)?
Why is vertical favourites better than horisontal?
(to me, reaching along the short edge is easier than along the tall edge, so starting a favourite from the bottom is more accessible than from the right.)
How do you conceive this to fit in with existing nav?
(given that you would in effect claim a system-wide swipe for a new purpose)
tl;dr regarding the section below: I donât want to discourage you from suggesting improvements. I do, however, want to explain why ideas are met with questions (even resistance), and why itâs important that you address those questions.
To my mind weâre now discussing the design of the UI framework, especially when it comes to the 3-panel, right-edge swipe. UI frameworks are difficult. Not only do they require attention to detail, they also require a clear idea of the overall structure. People get annoyed when established patterns get disrupted, especially if they feel the changes donât fit into the overall model. Take as an example the new UI for accepting/dismissing calls in the Phone app (several releases ago).
And, as @attah already commented, having multiple UIs behind configuration options brings a lot of issues in maintenance, testing, documentation, usability, support, etc. So Jolla will have to be very picky with what to accept into the common framework.
Now imagine what happens if you claim an already used gesture for something that is similar to what another gesture already does. First, you moved functionality from where it used to be. Muscle memory is strong, and people will swear at you while relearning their habits.
Second, where does the old âswipe-from-rightâ functionality go? If you assign âswipe-from-bottomâ to take you from an app to the home screen, will you keep âswipe-from-leftâ to go to Notifications? Well, that breaks the mental model where these things are located horizontally, on the same level so to speak. Will you instead have Notifications, Home, App vertically? Well that breaks the Top menu and inconveniently puts this carousel on the two edges that are the farthest from each other.
Having said that, of course there is room for improvement and there should be room for discussion. Some things in Sailfish donât feel quite right, even downright wrong. There are other platforms, with other ideas, that can be taken as inspiration.
It still is important to fit the pieces into a consistent whole, with connections that makes sense overall. And it will always be a judgement call. Is a change isolated enough not to cause problem or inconsistencies on a higher level? Are the benefits dwarfing problems from breaking established patterns?
When you argue your case, you need to engage in that discussion. As you refine your suggestion, you will eventually reach a level where it actually makes sense for someone to implement it, given necessary resources. Or you might learn of existing functionality which gives you almost the same effect. Or you will find that you canât think of a way to implement your suggestion without major breakage in other parts of the UI model.
Yes, other things seem to have higher priority and I mostly agree with those decisions. So if the goal is getting better UI soon and with little effort, then there might not be much point in asking.
But we have also seen some UI improvement, perhaps mostly in Calendar. (And remember how Jolla received flak for releases with just UI polish, but no new features or improved functionality.)
So if the goal is to develop good ideas, then Iâd say it could be worth it. Someone in the community might pick up a good idea and make a patch. Jolla might pick something up for inclusion when they do have resources to spend on UI.
You can swipe to show the home screen without releasing your finger, then swipe back to resume working with your app."
I didnât know that, I learned something new.
âBut I still think it would make sense to explain why this is better for you.â
Swiping vertically is used to navigate between the different app panels, apps panel 1, 2, and 3 in my case. I find it more comfortable to open and close the app panel with a horizontal swipe when using gesture navigation.
So, a horizontal swipe allows switching between the notification panel, the opened apps panel, and the apps panel.
Therefore, the horizontal swipe is only used to navigate within the app panels or to access the pulley menus (top and bottom).
Horizontally, there are three panels: Notifications, Opened Apps, and Apps Menu, repeating in this order: Notifications â Opened Apps â Apps Menu â Notifications â Opened Apps â âŠ
Instead of the alternative order: Notifications â Opened Apps â Notifications â Opened Apps â âŠ
Horizontally, there are three panels: Notifications, Opened Apps, and Apps Menu, repeating in this order: Notifications â Opened Apps â Apps Menu â Notifications â Opened Apps â âŠ
No, there are five panels in your suggestion, two up from current design (*). From left to right:
Notifications » Home screen » All apps » Favourite apps » Current app » âŠ
Peeking only works between adjacent panels, so works best with three panels (since we only have two edges to peek from). Five panels mean you now peek from Current app into Favourites using the right edge.
(*) Unless you activate Partner space, which sort of adds a panel with up to three preselected apps to the right.
How is that? In my opinion there is very little hidden. On the contrary, most of it is wide open. Thatâs exactly why I choose SFOS, before any other US OS.
I mean hidden in the sense that the Workout app doesnât show you, and there are no direct affordances. Like with the week numbers or Home screen peeking. So when you first start using the OS you have to be very observant to find them.
It probably took me over a year before I realized that in many cases I could grab the screen anywhere to open pulley menus, no need to swipe from the edges. That was a recelation - and such a quality of life improvemnt.
The improvements brought by these community patches could be integrated natively into SailfishOS to enhance the user experience right from the systemâs installation
âNo, there are five panels in your suggestionâ
I think I still didnât explain it correctly, sorry.
There are 3 panels, only 3 panels. Notifications, opened apps and âall appsâ panel.
Here in the case of Meego Harmattan, Notifications, âall appsâ panel, opened apps.
I think you misunderstood and confused it with another idea I told about, âthirdâ type of app drawer I was talking about, modeled after the Ubuntu Touch app drawer.
But we can forget this idea, as it is quite different in this context.
âWTF are you talking about? Making SFOS more Droid? Thank you, but no thanks!â
I never suggested using Android, plagiarizing it, or making SailfishOS like Android. Donât worry.
I only use Android as my professionnal phone because I am forced to.
However, I used an FP2 with Ubuntu Touch for a couple of years, followed by a Nokia N9 with Harmattan, the predecessor of SailfishOS. Naturally, I then switched to a Sony XA2 with SailfishOS a year ago, after spending a few years with my Nokia N9 (which I still own, but stored). I also own a Librem 5, which I plan to use to explore Mobian someday.
When Jojomen talked about 5 panels, it was a misunderstanding. I described two different drawers, but my explanation in my first post made it seem like there was only one with 5 panels. In reality, there were two different drawers based on a 3-panel philosophy.
Some of the good stuff is a bit hidden, unfortunately.