[midgetspy]

While Aeon looks really great I have found that there are a few areas where it's really lacking as for as usability. One big problem is uniformity between views.

- showcase is the only view that says the # of items in my library, the rest don't show it
- list doesn't have the media flags even though they could easily be added either as thumb overlays or as icons in the frame at the bottom
- showcase doesn't have a progress indicator/scrollbar at the bottom
- none of the views show the letter of the alphabet you're on while you scroll (which is compounded on showcase with no scrollbar/progress indicator). This is a standard feature in basically every recent skin.

Other annoyances:
- the "notification" dialog is enormous and quite intrusive in full-screen video mode. I have various home automation functions set up to notify my XBMC via the HTTP server but with notifications that are so intrusive it would really be annoying while watching a movie
- the Genre/Title/Actor/etc pages should default to list, they're way too confusing in any other view
- the list view only shows 9 items - 15+ would make it much more useful

Also for a skin that is focused on media I'm surprised there is no view like the "Fanart" view in PM3HD. That view is amazing - it's perfect for large libraries because it displays a huge text list (~20 items), and it displays your entire fanart AND the movie poster. In fact it probably covers less of the fanart than the showcase view in Stark. I've always found Aeon to be really cumbersome for large libraries and Stark is unfortunately no different. Every Stark view displays very few items at once (except Wall, which is exceptionally slow to scan through because there's no text on it so you have to read every poster) and unless I know what movie I want to watch beforehand browsing my library is a chore.

Of course there are tons of things that are amazing about Stark - I love the changeable main menu/feeds, the integrated weather, the fluid animations, etc... but in the end Stark is for me a skin that looks amazing and is groundbreaking in many ways but just isn't usable enough for daily use.

I don't know if I'm the only one who finds this but I hope that if others share my views that some of my suggestions will be incorporated into future versions of Aeon. Thanks for all the hard work djh.

[EMK0]

sounds like you should use PM3.HD or mediastream. i like aeon just the way it is except the tv shows wich is just a placeholder for now.

[smcnally75]

No one skin will ever be perfect for any one person. But, IMO, if you have that many issues with it then it may not be the right skin for you. I would suggest looking up how to jump to a letter by editing your keymap.xml file. That's how I jump around my library...no need for the letter to pop up to show me where I'm at. I personally love the notification dialog and how clear it is

[Hitcher]

showcase doesn't have a progress indicator/scrollbar at the bottom

Press down for the scrollbar

except Wall, which is exceptionally slow to scan through because there's no text on it so you have to read every poster

Look at the bottom of the wall

[djh_]

- showcase is the only view that says the # of items in my library, the rest don't show it

Perfectly valid point. Something to add for the next release.

- list doesn't have the media flags even though they could easily be added either as thumb overlays or as icons in the frame at the bottom

Rolling the flags out to the other views is on the to-do list. It was just too fiddly to get working for the 30th.

- showcase doesn't have a progress indicator/scrollbar at the bottom

Push down. Not ideal but them's the breaks.

- none of the views show the letter of the alphabet you're on while you scroll (which is compounded on showcase with no scrollbar/progress indicator). This is a standard feature in basically every recent skin.

I'll investigate. The thought did occur to me.

- the "notification" dialog is enormous and quite intrusive in full-screen video mode. I have various home automation functions set up to notify my XBMC via the HTTP server but with notifications that are so intrusive it would really be annoying while watching a movie

Interesting. Providing XBMC will support it, an optional small version could be useful.

- the Genre/Title/Actor/etc pages should default to list, they're way too confusing in any other view

Agreed, though I'm not sure this is something I can control.

- the list view only shows 9 items - 15+ would make it much more useful

An optional alternative with more items is on the cards.

Also for a skin that is focused on media I'm surprised there is no view like the "Fanart" view in PM3HD. That view is amazing - it's perfect for large libraries because it displays a huge text list (~20 items), and it displays your entire fanart AND the movie poster. In fact it probably covers less of the fanart than the showcase view in Stark. I've always found Aeon to be really cumbersome for large libraries and Stark is unfortunately no different. Every Stark view displays very few items at once (except Wall, which is exceptionally slow to scan through because there's no text on it so you have to read every poster) and unless I know what movie I want to watch beforehand browsing my library is a chore.

I'm sure you're aware that you've stepped on to the grounds of aesthetic choice here. The usability/looks balance is something that's been thought about a lot, and it's worth remembering that Stark will evolve from here to incorporate certain requirements. That said, it can only bend so far in the direction you're suggesting, and if you find it that unusable I'd second smcnally's suggestion of looking elsewhere.

Cheers for this post, though. It's one of the most useful I've come across and pretty much every suggestion was a constructive one. A bit premature, perhaps, as many of the features are already planned - but you weren't to know that.

[midgetspy]

To the guys who are saying I should just use another skin - I know, and I do. It just kills me when a skin as beautiful and well done as Aeon comes out but the whole time I use it I'm thinking "I wish xxx worked as well as PM3", hehe.

That said it sounds like future versions of Aeon will definitely improve my experience with it, thanks for the response djh.

[LaTropa64]

To the guys who are saying I should just use another skin - I know, and I do. It just kills me when a skin as beautiful and well done as Aeon comes out but the whole time I use it I'm thinking "I wish xxx worked as well as PM3", hehe.

I know exactly what you mean but I actually find this about every skin I use. I'll be using PM3 and wish it had something MediaStream did and then I'll be using MediaStream and wish it had a certain area like Aeon did and another part like xTV.

That said it sounds like future versions of Aeon will definitely improve my experience with it, thanks for the response djh.

Agreed. I'm sure I'll be making Stark my default skin sooner than later.