Firmware 4.23.15505 - Page 6

ZodWallop · 08-12-2020, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93terp

....based on comments so far, I think I'm alone on an island. I actually really like the changes in this update. C'est la vie!

If you're Robinson Crusoe, call me Friday. I like the changes as well.

Some things need work (the cluttered home screen), but they will get better with future iterations.

The only thing I really think needs an immediate fix is page numbers in the various My Books tabs. That left side slider is dumb.

Quoth · 08-12-2020, 11:42 AM

I installed this on my older Kobo.
The GUI is getting worse. This is an incoherent mess that wastes screen space and makes it even more awkward to to navigate between the Home poor Most Resent List (only 3 books and it used to be the whole screen years ago), my Collections and my Books.

Someone needs training in UX / GUI design.

Or is it prelude to having a row of physical buttons at the bottom labelled on screen?

The Menu to everything should be the top right on EVERY screen.
The Wifi icon should be along side brightness icon when top menu is loaded during reading.
The Search should be top left on every menu.

It's been "all over the place" for some time, but this is getting worse. Mind you Kobo have plenty of company.

Yes, sliders ANYWHERE on any eInk, are stupid. Removing page numbers of catalogue views is stupid.

Gone · 08-12-2020, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 93terp

....based on comments so far, I think I'm alone on an island. I actually really like the changes in this update. C'est la vie!

I like it too.

People don’t often like change.

I do. ☺️

Uncle Robin · 08-12-2020, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

Some things need work (the cluttered home screen),

Serious question from someone else who also rather likes the new layout - why do so many describe it as "cluttered"? What is cluttered about this look? I honestly don't get it. I'm not saying that to be contrary or ornery, I'm genuinely confused and unable to grok what it is about this layout that seems cluttered. To me, it's UNcluttered

twowheels · 08-12-2020, 12:01 PM

And I'm neutral -- I spend far less time on those screens than on the reading screen, and I keep only a few books on my device at any one time, so it doesn't really matter much.

That said, I wish home was just home... get rid of the my books preview if it's right there on the next tab, etc.

JSWolf · 08-12-2020, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cesco

still working with new fw.
Ciao

Sure it works, but it works poorly because of the already existing clock. It needs to be updated to display only where the clock is not already displayed.

compurandom · 08-12-2020, 12:12 PM

@93terp: You're not alone. I like most of the changes in the new firmware.
It's taking a little effort to get use to it, but what's life without a little excitement?

It's not perfect, and it seems for every change I like, they made a change I don't like so much.

So, they added a scroll bar to several pages which is nice and makes jumping a bit easier, but removed the page count except when actually scrolling. Although I think I'd prefer a count of collections/books to a number of pages.

The collections page has two more entries which I like a lot.

I like having the clock on the screen more, but I want it when I'm reading too, so now with miniclock I have two clocks. Sigh. Also, while the clock is on the left on most screens, when reading a book, it's on the right when I bring up the menus. There's so many people here who don't want the clock while reading, if they fixed that, it needs to be an option.

And there's still no way to jump to a specific page in a book without using a TOC which not all books have. It shows what page you're on, I should be able to tap on that and key in a page number like you use to be able to do in the library screen.

None of the irritations are that big a deal for me except for the last one.

ZodWallop · 08-12-2020, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quoth

The Wifi icon should be along side brightness icon when top menu is loaded during reading.

I could see some of your points. The clock, brightness, battery and search icons should all stay in their place at the top. But when reading, Wifi, notifications and sync are less likely to be needed, but the font menu and reading statistics are.

Perhaps brightness, battery and search should be grouped together on the top left where they could be persistent when reading or on the home screens.

Wifi, notifications and sync could be placed to the right of the rest of the icons and when reading they would be replaced by font menu and reading statistics?

I also wonder if bringing up the new bottom icons when bringing up the menu during reading would be a good idea?

JSWolf · 08-12-2020, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Serious question from someone else who also rather likes the new layout - why do so many describe it as "cluttered"? What is cluttered about this look? I honestly don't get it. I'm not saying that to be contrary or ornery, I'm genuinely confused and unable to grok what it is about this layout that seems cluttered. To me, it's UNcluttered

What I'd like to know i how you finished 52 books in 24 hours.

ZodWallop · 08-12-2020, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Robin

Serious question from someone else who also rather likes the new layout - why do so many describe it as "cluttered"? What is cluttered about this look? I honestly don't get it. I'm not saying that to be contrary or ornery, I'm genuinely confused and unable to grok what it is about this layout that seems cluttered. To me, it's UNcluttered

To me, the two text links between the collections and new navigation buttons look wedged in down there. Also, why do we need My Books taking a quarter of the screen and My Books on the navigation button?

I like the big My Books with various covers and the book count. But at this point, I think it should be removed. The button persists across various screens, so is likely the one that should be kept.

compurandom · 08-12-2020, 12:26 PM

Several people have complained the new layout feels cluttered.
I feel that way for some screens, but others I feel are a big improvement. I can deal with cluttered as long as I can find what I'm looking for. I think an empty desk is a sign of an empty mind.

I'd rather have the screens cluttered than have them sparse with the info I need either missing, or have to scroll through more screens to get to it.

I'm not totally happy with the look of the new scroll bar, and it makes some of the screens look cramped, but as far as I can tell, there's nothing lost to make room for it except the page numbering. And I think pulling the scroll bar is a *lot* easier than keying in a page number, at least when I'm not sure what page I need.

It has annoyed me for multiple firmware revisions that they took the wifi icon off the menu screen when reading a book, and I can't tap on the battery icon there either to get a number like I can on the home screen and others.

compurandom · 08-12-2020, 12:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

why do we need My Books taking a quarter of the screen and My Books on the navigation button?
.

That tile does seem redundant with the icon bar now.
It's kind of interesting that it pops up recent additions or random books or something, but it'd be more interesting if I could tap on the individual books it is showing, especially now that the current function is also on the icon bar.

Uncle Robin · 08-12-2020, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

To me, the two text links between the collections and new navigation buttons look wedged in down there. Also, why do we need My Books taking a quarter of the screen and My Books on the navigation button?

I like the big My Books with various covers and the book count. But at this point, I think it should be removed. The button persists across various screens, so is likely the one that should be kept.

Thanks for your detailed response. An interesting point of view. It differs from mine and is ipso facto wrong, but interesting nonetheless.

geek1011 · 08-12-2020, 12:39 PM

Ugh. GoodEReader has decided to do some more plagiarism:

Quote:

One of the most interesting things about this firmware update is a feature that is currently not being used, `org.bluealsa` DBus wrapper in libnickel, implying the next Kobo will have Bluetooth audio. This would be the first time that a Kobo e-reader had the ability to buy and listen to audiobooks. It will likely be a Forma refresh.

And, they're taking it out of context too. I didn't say that it's definite, just that it's a possibility. Kobo has added stuff that's unused before, and you also need to keep in mind that libnickel is used on the other platforms (to different extents) too.

93terp · 08-12-2020, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZodWallop

The only thing I really think needs an immediate fix is page numbers in the various My Books tabs. That left side slider is dumb.

Hello Friday!

Agree that the change to the left slider for scrolling through My Books leaves a lot to be desired.

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08-12-2020, 11:42 AM	#77
Quoth the rook, bossing Never. Posts: 11,986 Karma: 88000007 Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Ireland Device: All 4 Kinds: epub eink, Kindle, android eink, NxtPaper11	I installed this on my older Kobo. The GUI is getting worse. This is an incoherent mess that wastes screen space and makes it even more awkward to to navigate between the Home poor Most Resent List (only 3 books and it used to be the whole screen years ago), my Collections and my Books. Someone needs training in UX / GUI design. Or is it prelude to having a row of physical buttons at the bottom labelled on screen? The Menu to everything should be the top right on EVERY screen. The Wifi icon should be along side brightness icon when top menu is loaded during reading. The Search should be top left on every menu. It's been "all over the place" for some time, but this is getting worse. Mind you Kobo have plenty of company. Yes, sliders ANYWHERE on any eInk, are stupid. Removing page numbers of catalogue views is stupid.

08-12-2020, 12:01 PM	#80
twowheels Wizard Posts: 1,808 Karma: 13416548 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kobo Clara HD, iPad Pro 10", iPhone 15 Pro	And I'm neutral -- I spend far less time on those screens than on the reading screen, and I keep only a few books on my device at any one time, so it doesn't really matter much. That said, I wish home was just home... get rid of the my books preview if it's right there on the next tab, etc.

08-12-2020, 12:12 PM	#82
compurandom Guru Posts: 925 Karma: 417282 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: kobo aura h2o, kobo forma	@93terp: You're not alone. I like most of the changes in the new firmware. It's taking a little effort to get use to it, but what's life without a little excitement? It's not perfect, and it seems for every change I like, they made a change I don't like so much. So, they added a scroll bar to several pages which is nice and makes jumping a bit easier, but removed the page count except when actually scrolling. Although I think I'd prefer a count of collections/books to a number of pages. The collections page has two more entries which I like a lot. I like having the clock on the screen more, but I want it when I'm reading too, so now with miniclock I have two clocks. Sigh. Also, while the clock is on the left on most screens, when reading a book, it's on the right when I bring up the menus. There's so many people here who don't want the clock while reading, if they fixed that, it needs to be an option. And there's still no way to jump to a specific page in a book without using a TOC which not all books have. It shows what page you're on, I should be able to tap on that and key in a page number like you use to be able to do in the library screen. None of the irritations are that big a deal for me except for the last one.

08-12-2020, 12:26 PM	#86
compurandom Guru Posts: 925 Karma: 417282 Join Date: Jun 2015 Device: kobo aura h2o, kobo forma	Several people have complained the new layout feels cluttered. I feel that way for some screens, but others I feel are a big improvement. I can deal with cluttered as long as I can find what I'm looking for. I think an empty desk is a sign of an empty mind. I'd rather have the screens cluttered than have them sparse with the info I need either missing, or have to scroll through more screens to get to it. I'm not totally happy with the look of the new scroll bar, and it makes some of the screens look cramped, but as far as I can tell, there's nothing lost to make room for it except the page numbering. And I think pulling the scroll bar is a lot easier than keying in a page number, at least when I'm not sure what page I need. It has annoyed me for multiple firmware revisions that they took the wifi icon off the menu screen when reading a book, and I can't tap on the battery icon there either to get a number like I can on the home screen and others.

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