Too complicated for users

[ghost]

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Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Browser: All functions the same on every device
Nextcloud app: Files app features, notifications except for Talk notifications if you have the app, Photos app features except for viewing photos on the map (if you have the Maps app enabled) and face detection and object recognition is also not available in the app, activities are shown in the app but contacts and calendars are only available in the browser or via caldav and carddav which is almost impossible for "typical" users to set up, the profile cannot be customized (can only be done in the browser) or in part in the Talk app.
Nextcloud Talk App: Features of the Talk App

Example: A user only uses the file management function, mainly on the mobile phone, so the user has the Nextcloud app. The user wants to change their profile picture for the cloud. The user searches for the function in the Nextcloud app but does not find it. Now the user contacts the administrator, who must answer: The profile picture can only be changed in the browser, or another app called Nextcloud Talk must be downloaded, this app does it.

For people who do not deal with nextcloud, it is extremely incomprehensible why there are all possible functions in the browser but only parts of functions or entire apps that are available in the browser are missing on the mobile phone in the apps.

Describe the solution you'd like
One app for all functions (it is essential)
All the functions I have in the browser must also be made available as an app on the cell phone. If Nextcloud really wants to compete with the big market leaders or be an alternative for "simple" users, it needs to be simpler and more user-friendly.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Additional context

[AlvaroBrey]

All the functions I have in the browser must also be made available as an app on the cell phone. If Nextcloud really wants to compete with the big market leaders or be an alternative for "simple" users, it needs to be simpler and more user-friendly.

While I understand where you're coming from and I also feel the Files app is a bit unbalanced in features, the objectives of "simpler" and "has all of the features of the web UI" directly oppose each other. The more features the mobile app has, the more complicated its UX will be, this is unavoidable.

Additionally, it is not as simple to just add features to the mobile app from a technical perspective. The Nextcloud apps are developed for the web UI, and we can't just embed that UI in the Android app and expect it to work: we need to implement it and related features in the Android app by hand. This usually involves working with app devs in order to have those apps expose things in a way that mobile clients can use them.

If you look at competitors in the same domain (Google, Microsoft, etc) you'll notice that they also do not have a single app for all features. For example Google has Drive, Photos, Gmail, Calendar, etc etc etc as separate apps. This is mostly because mobile user experience is fundamentally different from web, and users expect more focused apps instead of full-suite apps.

My opinion, in fact, is that the Files app could do with less features so it could focus better on its core responsibilities, and we could publish secondary apps for some things (like Photos), but that takes an amount of time that we simply don't have.

[ghost]

I understand the problem with the technical implementation... I find the idea of an app for all functions of the cloud actually super and extremely easy for users. In this scenario: On the computer I have everything in the browser and for the use of all functions on the cell phone I would need only one app. Having a separate app for each function in the cloud is not wrong either. However, it's not quite as easy for users. The problem at the moment is that I have to explain to every user that all Android users have an app for Deck and the IOS users have to struggle in the browser.

[ahcheing]

The problem at the moment is that I have to explain to every user that all Android users have an app for Deck and the IOS users have to struggle in the browser.

TBH I think this is the key issue that both @R7JANV1 and @AlvaroBrey miss, rather then the question of what features should be bundled into single app vs multiple apps, or how complicated the app is, all that is secondary (IMO) to the heart of the problem: which is that the app as it currently exists does not do a good job on on boarding new users, and in particular, it sucks at explaining what it does and does not do.

In my experience people will accept that an app version of a cloud service wont have all the same features so long as the on boarding experience works the way it should. If part of the on-boarding process includes a list of the things the app cant do, at least at the moment, and that they need to use a secondary app (like deck) or just wait for the feature to be added or made (or pay for it themselves), then users are more likely to forgive and adjust their workflows.

Currently if new users have any experience at all with the Nextcloud Web UI or the desktop client, then they are going to go into the mobile app with a set of expectations, and the app does not do a good job of explaining how its different, but rather leaves users to swim in the dark and try to navigate the UI and figure out how the app works for themeselves.

[ghost]

I see it the same way. As a system administrator or developer or person interested in IT, that's not a problem, you understand what's behind it and know how to help yourself somehow. But people in a company, a club, the family, would like to have everyday life made easier, would like to benefit from the software and its handling, and not a series of workarounds and confusing structures.

[iGadget]

My opinion, in fact, is that the Files app could do with less features so it could focus better on its core responsibilities, and we could publish secondary apps for some things (like Photos), but that takes an amount of time that we simply don't have.

Agreed. Slimming down to core and make that work perfectly would be a big improvement over the current situation IMHO.
As for photos (and perhaps some other apps as well), would it be (remotely) feasible to collaborate with i.e. Tibor Kaputa? He's made quite an impressive set of Android apps already, i.e. Simple Gallery.

[ghost]

I think the idea of a collaboration with Tibor Kaputa is a very good idea. Or if a collaboration does not materialize, one could also think about forks of the apps. However, the same apps would also have to be offered on iOS.