App needs to remember position in hierarchy where the user was working to be useful "persistence is key!"

[ioogithub]

Currently, the app does not remember the position of where you were working under several circumstances:

1. Everytime the app refreshes the contracts all tasks and subtasks and brings you back to the root.
2. Everytime the app is closed and opened again the screen position is returned to the top of the screen.
3. Everytime the screen is turned off for a few seconds, when the screen it turned on again, the position is lost.
4. Everytime the user enters or exits the settings, the list is refreshed and the position is lost.
5. Randomly, the app refreshes the list and the position is lost.

I find I am spending WAY too much time (maybe 2x or 3x) trying to find where I was working and navigating back to that position in order to try to edit a task. The app in this state is almost unusable at this point. I spend more time fighting with the navigating the list of tasks than I do actually working with tasks.

Please build some persistence into the app so it remembers where the user was working instead of collapsing to the root of tasks and scrolling to the top of the screen every few seconds under the conditions I outlined above.

There is no good reason to roll up all the tasks into the root every few seconds, the app constantly fights against the user. If it takes more time to use it than typing the tasks into a simple text editor then it isn't a useful tool. This is basic UI design, work with the user not against them.

[ioogithub]

There is a related problem with the setting:

Settings-Look and Feel-"Open last viewed list"

This does not work,. I open a task, close the app, open the app again and the app opens to the default root of the task list with every task collapsed.

So this may be the same bug as I described above. The app never remembers the position of where the use was working and always defaults back to the collapsed list of tasks. Very annoying.

[abaker]

Thanks for the report! I actually can't repro any of these cases you're mentioning. Could you give me some more details and possibly capture some of these with a screen recording (you can send them to support@tasks.org)

Can you tell me

• phone model and android version
• what sync services you use, if any
• if this happens on filters, tags, lists, or all of the above
• if you use the scrollable widget or widget shortcuts to specific lists

1. Everytime the app refreshes the contracts all tasks and subtasks and brings you back to the root.

I'm not sure if you meant sync here. If I create a task in the app and make simultaneous edits from another client, then wait one minute for sync to occur, the list doesn't change

2. Everytime the app is closed and opened again the screen position is returned to the top of the screen.

This depends on how you are closing and opening the app

• If you go home, and then you use the recent apps screen, or use the default launcher from your drawer, it should resume where you left off
• If you hit back then Android is destroying the activity, so next launch will be creating a new activity and you'll be back at the top of the list
• If you are launching from a scrollable widget or a widget shortcut to a specific list, it is going to bring you back to the top of the list. I might be able to do something about this, I'd have to look into it

3. Everytime the screen is turned off for a few seconds, when the screen it turned on again, the position is lost.

I haven't experienced this before. Can you visit dontkillmyapp.com and make sure your manufacturer is not messing with the app when the screen is off or the app is backgrounded?

4. Everytime the user enters or exits the settings, the list is refreshed and the position is lost.

I also can't repro this. If I scroll down a list, open settings and navigate around, then back out to the list, it is still at the same scroll position

5. Randomly, the app refreshes the list and the position is lost.

Is this the same as 1. above or different?

[abaker]

Let me know if you still need help with this. I haven't received any other reports of this behavior, and I can't repro it myself 🤨