Posts: 8
Joined: Jul 2008
Reputation:
0
I just stumbled on this thread, and I believe this feature seriously deserves consideration.
While there are lots of interesting ideas in this feature request forum, I believe that most cater to the specific types of users that would post in this forum.
I live in a house with a bunch of non-techies. To them, almost none of the requests on the front page of this forum would even make sense, let alone be desirable. Simplifying the interface to allow front-row-like remote navigation, however, would make XBMC much easier for them to use and far more accessible.
If XBMC is to become more widely used, my girlfriend needs to be able to quickly navigate through the menus and put something on, without being confused by multiple back buttons and contextual menus. This seems like it should be a priority over the many interesting feature requests that ultimately are only accessible to the technologically adept.
Posts: 873
Joined: Jul 2008
Reputation:
8
Back and Escape have had the same function for quite some time now. Works like a charm.
Posts: 8
Joined: Jul 2008
Reputation:
0
2009-04-10, 20:42
(This post was last modified: 2009-04-10, 20:59 by tammer.)
Yeah, I'm not sure what build you're using DarkHelmet, but backspace and esc have entirely different roles. Sometimes those roles are even switched, such as when the "Now Playing" playlist screen is up, backspace does nothing and esc returns to the previously viewed menu, not the main menu.
Beyond that, having Tab set to switch between the video and the menu is completely counter-intuitive. Pressing esc while video is playing or paused brings up a selection menu that (on the skins I've tried) doesn't have a way to return to the main menu.
When somebody who doesn't know how to use XBMC tries to use my MCE remote to change what's playing, they usually end up with the button menu obscuring the screen, the aspect ratio changed to something random, and a serious feeling of frustration.
I guess I could map "activate main menu" to the windows button on my MCE instead of escape, but then the problem of two back buttons arises, and I'd have to map something else as esc in order to initiate the OSD control menu.
The way this should be handled is through a single OSD control/context menu that appears when the video is paused or the SINGLE back button is pressed. This menu should have all available options/views, instead of relying on a combination of context menus, digital and physical buttons. A "Return to Menu" option would alleviate the need for the Tab key, and in the menu pressing OK/enter should bring up the contextual menu instead of immediately playing the selection. A contextual menu is far more remote friendly than having a different button for playing, viewing info and adding to playlists. Pressing OK/enter while in video mode should do nothing. (Or, like the Apple TV/Front Row, OK/enter and play/pause are identical.)
I understand that a lot of these functions can be achieved through custom keymapping, but I feel that changing the default behavior would make XBMC far more accessible.
Posts: 55
Joined: Mar 2008
Reputation:
0
I totally agree to this.
For a first time user, the behaviour of esc and backspace is very confusing.
Took me a while to get used to it, and now I come along quite well with it, but I know many people who would encounter serious problems figuring out (and remembering) which of the 2 will do what they want.
