On 12.01.2016 14:59, nick luigi eusebio wrote: > I'd say we need an API that will give the apps the information in which > mode the UI is. > Currently, the modes I have in mind are the following: > - phone/tablet > - desktop > - TV > - watch
I agree. I didn't jump in this thread before because I wanted to read more about people's opinions, and I see that every side has very good points. Reacting to features' availability is the right thing to do, but if we leave all decisions to app developers it's going to be a mess: imagine if every installed application is switching its behaviour on different conditions. At the very least, we should hand out guidelines on what we consider to be the features and conditions that should trigger a switch in layout or general behaviour. But at best, we should implement something as Nick proposes, that is the possibility for applications to read out what is the current form factor that the device thinks it's running in. Detecting if you are a desktop or a TV is not trivial at all, also whether you are a convertible laptop used in laptop mode or in tablet mode is not trivial. And if the hardware adaptation is buggy and the keyboard is not disconnected, or the tablet switch reading is not operational you probably want to offer the user to override the form factor mode from the UI, and it would be best if this is done in some centralized place (some shell indicator) rather than have every app implement this option. Like, many laptops have both touchscreens and touchpads (or a connected mouse); depending on which input device is the preferred one, the UI should switch to a "desktop" mode (small UI elements) to a "tablet" mode (more comfortable for touch operations): how do we detect the preferred input mode? There is no magic feature detection here (both input devices are connected and operational), we probably need a user preference setting here. And I don't think it should be implemented in every individual app, it should be centralized. Ciao, Alberto -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone Post to : ubuntu-phone@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-phone More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp
