ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Dalius <dalius@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Petko,

Your idea is compatibile with "QML only" without problems. The only problem
that it will be very hard to design apps like these: 4, 7 and 10 inches
each require slightly different solution.

Regards,
Dalius



On Mon, Feb 25, 2013 at 1:56 PM, Petko <pditchev@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

>  The problem is not scalability , anyone can resize their app , and most
> people would think of displaying less content not to look cluttered . The
> problem is that in many (if not most) cases an app that has platform
> independent functionality would need an entirely different design to work
> (nicely) . I'll give a proof-of-concept example : iOSs settings on the
> tablet [1] and on the phone [2] .
>
> * The main point I want to throw out there and stress on it's importance
> : *Ubuntu wants to go on all form factors . We want to be able to dock
> and get the next device in the hierarchy . But nobody thought of a
> specification for making the same apps work on all form factors
> (accordingly) .
>
> What I think will happen : users will download a bunch of different
> applications for the same purposes (on different platforms). In the cases
> where they should use the same data (for ex. a calendar) it would be a mess
> , and in other cases Ubuntu won't show the apps inappropriate for this form
> factor (but they still would take their space ). The user doesn't have the
> ease of passage between form factors , because he'll have to use, most of
> the time, entirely different apps.
>
> What I want to happen as a developer and a user: the perfect app for
> ubuntu (if the case is like the settings example above) would have a GUI
> spec for each form factor . I'll click the same icon on the desktop, tablet
> , phone and get the appropriate interface . Such a system should have it's
> specification (the method for Ubuntu to know which interface to load) , and
> the idea should be in the Design Guidelines .
>
> The latter seems to me fairly simple for implementation , but I believe
> it's not entirely compatible with the "QML only" philosophy that's being
> pushed . Even so - it would be better to ship the apps in batches of n
> rewrites (for every of the n form factors) , instead of having stretched
> out or scaled down versions for the apps . I haven't coded in QML yet , so
> I don't know to what extent can functions/objects can be reused , or how
> the language overall fits with my idea , but I hope someone will pick it up.
>
> Petko
>
> [1] http://images.worldofapple.com/ios43beta2_settings.png
> [2]
> http://support.eye.fi/files/2012/09/320xNxgen_settings_ios6.png.pagespeed.ic.LNpJpMzmPx.png
>
>
> On 02/25/2013 12:45 PM, Calum K Pringle wrote:
>
> Hey guys,
>
> We are working on getting some guidance for this up on the app design
> guides <http://design.ubuntu.com/apps> site soon as it's clearly a big
> piece in the process for designing our apps! Essentially, consider your app
> a touch app, which can scale (the 'how' depends on the context), to
> different screen sizes.
>
> As an introduction, your app needs to handle all aspect ratios for
> handling different devices and orientations (and remember a phone app
> automatically fits in the side stage, with a flexible height either 'fixed'
> with space below, or stretched to the full height available).
>
> So there are two main things to think about for an app to scale across
> screen sizes and shapes;
>
> *Design a responsive layout*
>
>    - Position UI components relatively
>    - Reflow content based on space available, for example increase /
>    decrease the number of rows and columns of content
>
> *Design for responsive content*
> Consider showing more or less content, for example
>
>    1. An app in the side stage with a list of content will show more
>    content than when it is on the phone
>    2. An app on the tablet might show more information than on the phone
>    3. An app where the content is larger than what fits in view, might
>    consider showing more or less content depending on shape and orientation
>    (e.g. a map)
>
> Or, show the same content, for example
>
>    1. An app on the phone simply scales up on the tablet
>    2. A fixed height app on the phone, will maintain a fixed height in
>    the side stage
>
>
>  For handling screen sizes and densities, also for asset creation, please
> refer to resolution independence<http://developer.ubuntu.com/api/ubuntu-12.10/qml/mobile/resolution-independence.html>
> .
> We are working on this right now, so let us know any other ideas /
> problems you're coming across!
>
>  Cheers,
> Calum
>
>
>  On 24 Feb 2013, at 12:09, Matt Richardson wrote:
>
>
>  On 24/02/13 11:51, Dalius wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
>  I would advice to preview Ubuntu Phone presentations video. The idea is
> that apps not necessary should be full screen on tablet. While I would
> agree that some apps (e.g. calendar, mail) should reuse full estate, while
> others can be the same on phone and tablet.
>
>
> I absolutely agree. For example (in a matter close to your heart), on
> anything larger than a phone, the calculator should never be used
> fullscreen. However, for apps such as email, the full screen real estate
> should be used by default, certainly on up to 10" screens and potentially
> even larger.
>
> The question is that for such apps, shouldn't we try to reuse the same
> backend (as Petko suggested) and load different UI's? This would enable
> switching between phones/tablets/desktop via a "pick up where you left off"
> system or by docking (as demonstrated in the preview video).
>
> The other question is that if we have a design for such apps, should we
> submit it as separate phone and tablet designs, or as a single design
> indicating how to switch between.
>
> Thanks,
> Matt
>
>   Regards,
> Dalius
>
>
>  On Sun, Feb 24, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Petko <pditchev@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> I'm also very curious on that matter . Are there some specs on how to
>> change app behaviour or is the current style just to rewrite the apps for a
>> phone/tablet/desktop factor . The latter seems suboptimal . It would be
>> great to have 3 GUIs for the same app backend (you download the same app,
>> but it loads differently under different form factors) , but as far as I
>> know everyone's pushing QML for writing the full apps , so there's no
>> abstraction between GUI<->engine .
>>
>> Petko
>>
>
>
> --
> Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> Post to     : ubuntu-phone@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone
> More help   : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
>
>