Pandora oriented Apps

[danielo515]

We need more aplications like PNDmanager.

 

First time I grabbed mi pandora I thought, 

"Fuck yeah! this is like a real computer!"

 

After some hour I started to think;

"Fuck it! this is like a real computer!"

 

In case you don't realise, the first quote is in the good way, and the second in the bad one.

Then I downloaded PNDmanager and I saw the light.

 

Pandora have lot of desktop-oriented apps, which is very good, but we need more pandora specific apps.

PNDmanager is just perfect, it takes advantage of the phisical controls and is very user friendly.

 

Most of applications have too smal buttons, or too small fonts, or... just too small everything.

Keyboard shortcuts are good, but lots of aplications have their own shortcuts for the same action (closing can ve control+W, or Esc, or control+alt+q...)

 

Is there any intention to make a mail client in this way, or a browser, or any other useful stuff in this way?

 

In which language is PNDmanager programmed?

 

Do you remember when apple released the Iphone? And do you remember how ugly windows phone was?

Nothing has been the same since that.

We need that change of paradigm too!

 

[Binky]

What's wrong with intricate UIs? Spend enough time mousing around with the nubs, and you will become a master of cursor positioning.

I think PNDmanager would benefit most from:

• A system page, with Toggle wifi/BT/USB/USBotg, with lock screen, logout, shutdown, and with system monitoring functionality.
• Being able to rate (and comment on) pnds, and to sort them by rating.
• Access to non-user-installed software (stuff in the built-in NAND)
• Being able to start automatically on login (like minimenu)

Also, Feamon's openbox+warlockbar+tint2 can be made very pandora-friendly with a little config

 

[moxie]

Well...That is a topic of dissent

Some of us here like that it is just like a real computer, quite a lot. Then again some of us would like it to be a lot less just like a real computer. All depending on what we use it for. And of course - Enforcing standards on exactly how much or how little it is supposed to be like other devices is a lot easier when you are a multinational company who can flat out stop you from developing software unless you comply

Then again, the beauty (and curse) of an open system like the pandora is that you can make it be the way you want it to be. You can try to use Minimenu instead of Xfce, to get a less computery, more portable-console-y feeling. You can run Slackware if you want to go more computery. You can use Android if you really like the phone-OS feeling. You can autoboot an Amiga emulator and pretend that the computing world is forever stuck in 1989, if you like

It is all there. It is only the small matter of finding out how and what and when.

 

[danielo515]

Moxie,I love the computer feeling, really, I like it a lot.

I just want some applications to be more easy to use for a day to day device.

For example, in the file manager, I don't want to click on the left side of the screen to navigate trough file system, and then click on the right side to navigate the folders. I prefer to switch using a predefined-well-documented button.

Same to reply-delete-open an email, one button to reply, shortcuts to navigate in the app, bigger font for email, full-screen email read!

Do yo know what i mean? I don't want android feeling, too touchie for my taste, I want pandora feeling, keyboard,keyboard,keyboard!!!

Binki, regarding openbox+warlockbar+tint2, how you configure warlockbar? And openbox to not show the bottom bar?

What is tint2? EDIT : Ok, I'm checking http://boards.openpandora.org/index.php/topic/10690-switch-gui-openbox/?p=205197

 

[ekianjo]

I am 100% with daniel here, apps using the keyboard instead of the mouse would be a big advantage for the pandora vs all the touch screen BS out there. PNDManager excels at that and it would be great to have the GUI of some applications rewritten to be more like PNDManager -> easy to use without touching the nubs. 

 

[Kumaki]

I've never cared for the nubs, I'd rather the D-Pad control the mouse.

 

[T.T.]

What's wrong with intricate UIs? Spend enough time mousing around with the nubs, and you will become a master of cursor positioning.

I think PNDmanager would benefit most from:

• A system page, with Toggle wifi/BT/USB/USBotg, with lock screen, logout, shutdown, and with system monitoring functionality.
• Being able to rate (and comment on) pnds, and to sort them by rating.
• Access to non-user-installed software (stuff in the built-in NAND)
• Being able to start automatically on login (like minimenu)

Also, Feamon's openbox+warlockbar+tint2 can be made very pandora-friendly with a little config

Where is this openbox on the pandora you speak of?

 

[Linux-SWAT]

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=switchguiopenbox

 

[T.T.]

Awesome, thanks.

 

[cube48]

Would Sylpheed e-mail client suffice?

http://repo.openpandora.org/?page=detail&app=sylpheed-app

 

[danielo515]

Sure is a very good email client, but it actually looks like many other desktop applications

 

[JeanLouSchmidt]

That's a good reflexion started here.

 

Most users in this community are a mix of geek/hacker/tech gadget addict/Open Source fanatics etc, or for this kind of users Pandora is perfect, Pandora can be like they want, and they often have skills to do it (I'm one one of this kind).

 

PNDmanager takes full advantage of the integrated controls and it's one of the software that makes the Pandora experience awesome.

 

XFCE desktop is too much desktop oriented and Minimenu feels too much like old GP2X time. No offence here, but Pandora is not a desktop computer neither a simple videogame handled.

 

Pandora is a unique device with a strong personality, I think it deserve to have a polished default UI that reflects that.

 

Feamon's openbox+warlockbar+tint2, is really, really nice and fits perfectly to the Pandora, it should be part of the firmware, PNDManager and Sysinfo also have there place in the firmware.

I agree with Danielo, it will be really sweet to have applications design for Pandora with a graphical UI unity like :

- Mail reader

- News reader

- File manager

- Picture viewer

( Or may be they exists ?! did I miss something ?)

 

[Null]

I'd be happy if things like the Xfce settings dialogs fit entirely on the screen, I know that they can be moved easily enough but it'd still be cool not to have to.

 

[_wb_]

Christoph.Krn's guihint effort is a good start to get nice-looking unified Pandora-oriented interfaces. I should probably add those to Sysinfo.

Anyway, the main problem is that redesigning interfaces for all existing software is a lot of effort, and it's unlikely that those efforts make it upstream to be included into the main branches of that software, so it would probably mean an actual fork is needed, so new upstream features will have to be integrated manually. Moreover, tweaking interfaces is mostly boring and time-consuming work, so I don't think it will be easy to find volunteer devs to do that.

Maybe if the goal is made a bit more general, some progress could be made. That more general goal would be to convince FOSS devs to make their interfaces more scalable to small screens / low resolutions, especially by reducing any vertical overhead. This is what happened successfully with Battle of Wesnoth, and I could imagine the same thing happening with other FOSS. The Pandora is a small niche device, but I expect that small-screen devices running some flavor of GNU/Linux will become more and more important. At some point, more and more FOSS enthusiasts will get tired of Android and will want to run full GNU/Linux on their smartphone/phablet. Even if these devices have full HD resolutions, an interface that is designed for a small screen will still be needed.

Of course we could still make a selection of "important" software that we want to tweak specifically to the Pandora, in the style of PNDManager. Dialogs that fit on the screen would be a good start.

 

[danielo515]

Don't talk to me about fine-tunning interfaces.

I know is the worst part, 99% of my scripts/programs has an horrible user interface.

 

But tweaking is what differences Windows (in the good way) from linux, what makes IOS to be preffered over android in many many cases.

While linux remains user-unfriendly, linux will be a pain to use, and this translates and gets bigger in a portable device.

If you have to use your nail, to take in and out the stylus, to move the window because it doesn't fit the screen the overall feeling is you're wasting a lot of time, instead of saving it because you can work on the go.

 

It's a lot of work, sure, but we can start wit little tweaks, modifications, and make it easy to implement, or at least, easy to install.

The main problem is most of developers doesn't actually use what they develop.

I've developed lot of tools for personal use, and after some time wasting, and frustrating use, you decide to improve it, because you know it will save you a lot of time.

 

As a developer, may you feel lazy about tweaking your interface, but, wont you feel even worst if nobody uses your app (with lot of hours of work behind) because it's unusable or 0% user friendly? And this happens even if your application is like wolverine (the best in his job)

 

[milkshake]

I think PNDmanager would benefit most from:
Being able to rate (and comment on) pnds, and to sort them by rating.
 

I'm pretty certain you can do most of this already with the repo api key, do a search for it in the forum. I'm on my phone at the moment otherwise I would have found it for you.

 

[_wb_]

As a developer, may you feel lazy about tweaking your interface, but, wont you feel even worst if nobody uses your app (with lot of hours of work behind) because it's unusable or 0% user friendly? And this happens even if your application is like wolverine (the best in his job)

It's one thing to tweak the interface of software you're making yourself, especially if you specifically make it for the Pandora. It's quite another thing to tweak interfaces of other people's software, knowing that the more changes you make, the more work it will be to keep your changes working whenever a new upstream version is released.

 

[danielo515]

As a developer, may you feel lazy about tweaking your interface, but, wont you feel even worst if nobody uses your app (with lot of hours of work behind) because it's unusable or 0% user friendly? And this happens even if your application is like wolverine (the best in his job)

It's one thing to tweak the interface of software you're making yourself, especially if you specifically make it for the Pandora. It's quite another thing to tweak interfaces of other people's software, knowing that the more changes you make, the more work it will be to keep your changes working whenever a new upstream version is released.

That is a very good point.

I was always thinking in "pandora development", not in ported software.

So, we need more exclusive software for pandora 

But some tweaks like bigger scroll bars, or bigger window buttons can be included in the SO itself and affect every software which uses window system

 

[skeezix]

When I see "we can do ..." I like to think "that means you, too"

So, feel free to start workign on ideas, and do some coding or petition people for help. It won't do it by itself..

I've often said.. we have a few oranges around, but you can only squeeze so much juice from them; we always need more bodies, .. more oranges! .. it has been perhaps our biggest long standing non-production-cost issue .. we don't have that many people with the skills and time and will to donate effort into many subprojects.

jeff

 

[MarioPandio]

I realise it's just an example but you don't need the stylus to drag Windows, just L + left click + left nub to drag.


More gui hint use would be great but I appreciate all the software as is and if devs tailor it all for the small screen, it may lose the full desktop feel via the mythical tv out cables.