Honeycomb Built-in Apps and UI Rant

[LunchBB]

Anybody found the xoom calendar UI is so useless especially the month view. I want to see a clear month view. But scrollihg occurs week by week. Sometimes I cant tell which month I am viewing.

 

[redshift1]

Anybody found the xoom calendar UI is so useless especially the month view. I want to see a clear month view. But scrollihg occurs week by week. Sometimes I cant tell which month I am viewing.

I'm with you, whoever approved the Xoom calendar needs to come to the forum and explain himself.

 

[LunchBB]

That person or team needs to be fired. Calendar is such a basic app ever since PDA was borned. For google to come up such lousy app, that's unexecusable.

 

[3devious]

I can see the month I'm viewing. Scrolling isn't smooth (week by week like you said) but it is still pretty fast even scrolling, through dozens of weeks isn't bad for me and I can always see what month it is. It looks just like my Google Calendar website.

 

[LunchBB]

I think there is a difference between a month view to a 5-week view. I also looked at google calender, I scroll the mouse wheel and it's showing month by month.

Another rant here... what's with the Honeycomb Market. It only shows in Landscape mode. From the design, it doesn't seem it's a lot of engineer to create a portrait mode. Then, each app title is cut short, can't see the entire name of the app. Have to tap to see detail. But then, hitting back will go back to the top of the list, not go back to the previous position of the app result. That's annoying.

 

[cmjy9b]

I think there is a difference between a month view to a 5-week view. I also looked at google calender, I scroll the mouse wheel and it's showing month by month.

Another rant here... what's with the Honeycomb Market. It only shows in Landscape mode. From the design, it doesn't seem it's a lot of engineer to create a portrait mode. Then, each app title is cut short, can't see the entire name of the app. Have to tap to see detail. But then, hitting back will go back to the top of the list, not go back to the previous position of the app result. That's annoying.

+1

 

[Mitchrapp]

It was designed as a lanscape device, thus why they made the dimensions as they did. I know you portrait people don't see it that way but the Xoom is a lanscape tablet.

 

[LunchBB]

I don't agree with that. The device is designed to be used both orientations. All the honeycomb built-in apps can be used both ways, together with the home screen, except the Market. Beside, why would Google put such limit on users on how to use such device.

 

[3devious]

Can we also amend this topic to include the fact that it is frustrating as hell that there is no persistent button to get to the app launcher? I hate having to go back to the home screen to launch something else while working.

 

[drhill]

Can we also amend this topic to include the fact that it is frustrating as hell that there is no persistent button to get to the app launcher? I hate having to go back to the home screen to launch something else while working.

How is that any different from any android phone?

 

[3devious]

We're using a tablet, not a phone. When people complain that these tablets are nothing more than big phones, this is the first thing I think of. I would almost prefer a launcher button to a home button. In fact, that is the first thing I did with Launcher Pro as soon as they offered that capability: I remapped my home button to open the app drawer. I am trying not to install it but after coming from a phone with that capability, the temptation is almost overehelming.

 

[dvandam]

I couldn't care less about the landscape/portrait Market issue. What annoys me is that sometimes the market will just NOT install applications that I tell it to. At least twice I've had it download applications and it just "hangs" and doesn't give any acknowledgement that it actually installed something. Actually come to think of it it did that with the first thing I tried to install, which was Flash 10.2. I'd prefer we get that fixed before we work on prettying up the thing.

 

[clb2196]

Hm, I actually like the calendar! I'm not sure what people mean about not being able to scroll through the months. I find it pretty similar to the browser calendar.

 

[3devious]

I couldn't care less about the landscape/portrait Market issue. What annoys me is that sometimes the market will just NOT install applications that I tell it to. At least twice I've had it download applications and it just "hangs" and doesn't give any acknowledgement that it actually installed something. Actually come to think of it it did that with the first thing I tried to install, which was Flash 10.2. I'd prefer we get that fixed before we work on prettying up the thing.

I've never experienced this. I made sure to turn auto update off. The only time it has installed things against my will was in the beginning it was "trying to help me" by installing as many of the apps that I had on my Droid 2 as were compatible. One slightly annoying thing other than the obvious gripe about it losing your browsing place if you went to read about an app then went back to the list was that when I go to "update" an app, and decide to look at the Details, I have to go back to Manage view before it lets me install the update.

 

[LunchBB]

i notice the same problem in market. If I navigate away that product page before the download was completed, the installation will be disappeared.

 

[LunchBB]

Hm, I actually like the calendar! I'm not sure what people mean about not being able to scroll through the months. I find it pretty similar to the browser calendar.

It scrolls through weeks in the month view. The web version it scrolls through month by month in the month view.

 

[LunchBB]

Another thing I don't like is no cursor keys in the keyboard.

 

[drhill]

We're using a tablet, not a phone. When people complain that these tablets are nothing more than big phones, this is the first thing I think of.

How is this different from a windows 7 machine when you are using a full screen program (say a game)?

Even hitting the windows key open makes you go through folders to get to programs (recent items aside, which you get in android by holding down the home key).

 

[LunchBB]

I always add my frequently used app icon on home screen. So tapping the home key allows me acess them quickly. Its the same number of tap if there is an app launch drawer

 

[3devious]

How is this different from a windows 7 machine when you are using a full screen program (say a game)?

Even hitting the windows key open makes you go through folders to get to programs (recent items aside, which you get in android by holding down the home key).

You seem to be only a level 1 lazy person, take it from a vet. Level 35 lazy person, setting up your jump lists in Win 7 can give you almost infinite access to your essential apps while pwning noobs on the battlefield (what does that even mean anyway?) When I used to use a Droid, bring up the app window and launching lots of different apps without going to the home screen first didn't seem to have any noticable impact on pewrformance (for better or for worse) so I hope this doesn't become an issue for my Xoom when I bak down and install Launche Pro.

 

[drhill]

I'm not disagreeing with your idea, I just wanted to point out there is nothing on android or windows like that (iOS doesn't count as it's whole springboard/homescreen is nothing more then a Windows 3.1 explorer window maximized and set to icon view).

You could put shortcuts/widgets on your home screen to achieve your goal. It comes down to a design decision, but your design could put a user in a bit of a pickle if they want to get to the homescreen. As apps can't do what they want with the back key, you may not be able to back out of them to the home screen. So you would hit your "home" key to go to your launcher, and you better hope that has a button to get you back to your home screen.

With the xoom they could have put another button in the bottom bar, but maybe they felt it would be button overload? :shrug:

 

[clb2196]

It scrolls through weeks in the month view. The web version it scrolls through month by month in the month view.

Oh, you mean how you can move down by only a week at a time? I like that! It's not like you can't just scroll down to the whole next month. So I guess mileage varies and all that.

 

[3devious]

So you would hit your "home" key to go to your launcher, and you better hope that has a button to get you back to your home screen.

With the xoom they could have put another button in the bottom bar, but maybe they felt it would be button overload? :shrug:

When I used Launcher Pro, there was a button for going to the home screen, it's been so long since I've messed with that (I wasn't interacting without it that I just assumed there was a redundant home button in the app drawer.) I don't mind you asking questions and posing alternatives. How else would we come up with something that actually is better as oposed to just being different if we didn't examine something from multiple points of view. It may turn out that I am the only one who cares about such a thing. That's OK, too because we've got lots of alternatives with an open (for now) platform.

 

[3devious]

Oh, you mean how you can move down by only a week at a time? I like that! It's not like you can't just scroll down to the whole next month. So I guess mileage varies and all that.

Maybe the best of all worlds would be an option that would let you adjust this.

 

[dvandam]

I love how this thread's title has to keep being expanded to encompass all the different complaints people are hurling towards Honeycomb...