What's the purpose of Launcher and how is it different from the actions in Quick Controls?

[mycroft89]

I loved the big 2.0 update, I really did. However, I'm not the biggest fan of adding more stuff to the UI when imho it's not necessary. After all it's called ZenUI. ;)

I might be missing something here, but what was the purpose of adding a new tab - Launcher - to the top menu? It seems to me just as a redundant place to add and run plugins and actions, which can already be done more easily and quickly from Quick Controls.

I know I can hide that Launcher tab - I did as soon as I saw it - but I'm still wondering about it. Perhaps I am missing something which I could make better use of.

Btw, if it's just about creating a new and "better" place for a rather huge list of actions and plugins - I know Quick Controls can get convoluted sooner than later - I'd suggest adding a second row of buttons or better yet, a ">" button at the end of the row, so you can have multiple "spaces" in the same section.

[AnthonyGress]

This is exactly why. I don't want 2 rows or folders in controls I think it looks messy and busy, the purpose is for quickly toggling things like WiFi and rotation. Launcher is more of a place for access to other plugins/settings. You can disable launcher if you want but both have a purpose and it can help keep your interface clean and organized.

[mycroft89]

I feel you.

I've struggled too with the amount of buttons in Quick Controls and I find your lack of enthusiasm towards having two rows valid.

My personal issue though is that I feel like the add of that new tab is more intended to power users or developers who might have lots of plugins and actions. I am currently on a middle ground though, where the default buttons are not enough for me nor I have dozens of stuff.

Just to make my point clear, this is what I currently have:

• WiFi toggle
• Night mode toggle
• Screenshot
• Zen mode
• Create calibre connection
• Download Instapaper articles
• Exit

The section is already packed and adding a couple more which I would like (like rotation and restarting) would make the button size insufferably small, but again, I don't think it would justify cluttering the UI with a new tab or forcing me to go somewhere else.

Having said this, would you consider as an alternative the addition of a ">" button at the end of the current row in Quick Control, and perhaps limiting it to just a couple of "spaces"?

[AnthonyGress]

Not sure I understand your aversion to using the Launcher, it solves your exact issue (but I guess not in the way you want).

I am not inclined to add anything else to controls to allow more pages or icons there, I can fit 9 controls on my device across and anything else can go in Launcher. It's a pretty clean solution IMO.

I have controls in my setup strictly for controls (Wifi, rotation, night mode etc) and things like calibre, downloading RSS etc go in launcher. I don't use exit since I never leave koreader, I don't use sleep cuz I just close the book cover. So minimizing some actions that can be done elsewhere can leave you more space for controls.

Try launcher though - it's good 😊

[mycroft89]

Not sure I understand your aversion to using the Launcher, it solves your exact issue (but I guess not in the way you want).

I am not inclined to add anything else to controls to allow more pages or icons there, I can fit 9 controls on my device across and anything else can go in Launcher. It's a pretty clean solution IMO.

I have controls in my setup strictly for controls (Wifi, rotation, night mode etc) and things like calibre, downloading RSS etc go in launcher. I don't use exit since I never leave koreader, I don't use sleep cuz I just close the book cover. So minimizing some actions that can be done elsewhere can leave you more space for controls.

Try launcher though - it's good 😊

Well, since you ask... My "aversion" comes from (1) the fact that I was raised in the default UI provided by the Kindle PW (which, despite all the other horrors from Amazon, is quite good and sensible for readers), and (2) that honestly I dislike the original KOReader decision of putting tabs for settings and stuff on the top menu. I find it to be a subpar solution, which might be great in other platforms or for other purposes, but not IMO for a UI and a device that are intended to make the reader focus on... reading.

In all honesty, I was hoping to see some day in the future ZenUI throwing away such nasty UX choice, and hopefully getting somewhat closer to the Kindle interface, i.e., transforming the "back to library" tab into a text button to the left at the same height than the clock, the ZenUI settings tab into a button among Quick Controls, and removing the entire row of tabs altogether - all of which would make the interface way simpler, cleaner, and would make the whole top menu take less screen state (and if all of this were too traumatic, well, it could still be implemented as a "really simple UI mode" or something like that, more Kindle-like, vs a "pro mode" or "legacy mode", more KOReader-like with tabs, Launcher and all that).

At the end of the day though it's your project. If you like it more that way and believe it's fine, more power to you! :)

Regarding the number of buttons in Quick Controls, yes, I could certainly add more, but on a 6" screen - which I'd say is the standard nowadays - 9 would make all of them just insufferably small. I'd even argue that at 7 now I see the Quick Controls section way more crowded than I'd like lol.

I guess I'll have to force myself to like the Launcher lol.