2018-05-07, 06:07
Other Notable Changes to skin for version 1.5.10
Active/Inactive focus indicators
I have always tried to make it obvious to the user what the heck is going on. One way that I have tried to do this is to provide a feature used thruout
Apple's iOS, that being the focus indicator. At either the top of the screen or to the left edge the user will see a series of dots, these indicate that there
is more than one area of user focusable content available. For example, in the video library depending on what settings the user has set, there can be
four focusable areas. From left to right they could be "Screen setting menu", main video list, "Letterbar" and scrollbar. So if the main video list is focused
the second dot will be light in colour and the remaining dots will be dark in colour. This is not a new feature as it has been included in the skin for a
number of release now, but the use of this has been greatly expanded with this release. Should now be available on most fullscreen windows. I do not
use these indicators on dialogs as the navigation would probably require I show them for both top and left sides of the dialog. In this case I generally try
to use arrows to show that there is additional content.
Illegal action sound
Again to aid users in understanding what the user interface is doing I have include the Apple iOS idea of illegal UI movement via the use of a
"Don't do that" sound. If the user tries to move in a direction where there is no UI content, a sound will play to say they can't move in that
direction. Once again this is a old feature of the skin, just greatly expanded with this release.
Screen settings menu now on home screen
With the expanded use of focus indicators and illegal action sound it made sense to include a screen settings menu on the home screen.
As with other screens this settings menu is accessed either by trying to leave the screen to the left (or top depending on screen content)
or via the "cog" icon at the bottom of the screen if the mouse/touch setting has been set. The direction of movement is hinted at by the
focus indicators shown elsewhere on screen. This menu is not extensive, but will allow the user to customise the home menu from the home
screen and display the mini player OSD when media is playing.
Wyrm (AppTV)
Active/Inactive focus indicators
I have always tried to make it obvious to the user what the heck is going on. One way that I have tried to do this is to provide a feature used thruout
Apple's iOS, that being the focus indicator. At either the top of the screen or to the left edge the user will see a series of dots, these indicate that there
is more than one area of user focusable content available. For example, in the video library depending on what settings the user has set, there can be
four focusable areas. From left to right they could be "Screen setting menu", main video list, "Letterbar" and scrollbar. So if the main video list is focused
the second dot will be light in colour and the remaining dots will be dark in colour. This is not a new feature as it has been included in the skin for a
number of release now, but the use of this has been greatly expanded with this release. Should now be available on most fullscreen windows. I do not
use these indicators on dialogs as the navigation would probably require I show them for both top and left sides of the dialog. In this case I generally try
to use arrows to show that there is additional content.
Illegal action sound
Again to aid users in understanding what the user interface is doing I have include the Apple iOS idea of illegal UI movement via the use of a
"Don't do that" sound. If the user tries to move in a direction where there is no UI content, a sound will play to say they can't move in that
direction. Once again this is a old feature of the skin, just greatly expanded with this release.
Screen settings menu now on home screen
With the expanded use of focus indicators and illegal action sound it made sense to include a screen settings menu on the home screen.
As with other screens this settings menu is accessed either by trying to leave the screen to the left (or top depending on screen content)
or via the "cog" icon at the bottom of the screen if the mouse/touch setting has been set. The direction of movement is hinted at by the
focus indicators shown elsewhere on screen. This menu is not extensive, but will allow the user to customise the home menu from the home
screen and display the mini player OSD when media is playing.
Wyrm (AppTV)
