[dickalan]

Most every other audio player software handles it this way, because it's logical. Kodi's just handles it very awkwardly.

Sounds like you're comparing Kodi to a desktop app such as itunes, Windows Media Player or foobar2000,and perhaps sat no more than 2ft from the screen controlling Kodi via a mouse,. However Kodi is NOT is a desktop app in the traditional sense, the primary focus is to be a media center that can be used in your living room on your HDTV and controlled with a remote from the couch/sofa, hence Kodi has what's often referred to as a 10ft UI interface.

What you suggest would probably make Kodi very difficult to use via a remote, and make the on screen elements so small due to the crowding of information on one screen that it would be very difficult to read from the couch/sofa without having a huge 60" or more HDTV. If your usage is on a traditional desktop then one of the webinterface's such as Chorus would probably be a better option for controlling Kodi, since you seem to want something more in line with this:

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. I use kodi as a 10ft interface on a 50" screen with an Nvidia shield (highly recommended!). Here's my setup.

http://imgur.com/7eEbBMO


I have to respectfully disagree. Again, as of right now you can't browse your library AND quickly use the controls. They're on three separate views but never together (now playing, the slide out, or just viewing your library). And for the real estate issue, I'm sorry but I just don't see what you're talking about. There's plenty of room, what I'm talking about really isn't that crazy. There's two simple options/solutions, here's a quick mock up.

http://imgur.com/Az0ILcI

or

http://imgur.com/58iYakk

Plenty of room.

I would argue that making a more flat UI is even more important because it's a 10ft experience.