I've gotten feedback from various users that they want the MobileSheetsPro user interfaces redesigned to use the material design found in Lollipop and later (5.0+). I wanted to get people's thoughts on this because in my mind, the design changes wouldn't actually provide any improved functionality or ease of use. Instead, many of them would hide features one level deeper, requiring more taps to get to them (a "hamburger" menu as found in apps like Google Drive that displays options on the side of the screen in a pullout tray). Others would be merely cosmetic, and would look nicer, but would consume a lot of my time for little gain. If there are UI changes that would be extremely beneficial, I'd definitely like to hear people's thoughts. I know material design calls for bold colors, and I certainly could make the app more colorful, but I'm thinking that may actually be a bad thing in dark venues where glare off the screen is not desired.
I should mention that these kinds of changes are separate from the redesign I'm working on for annotations. There are plenty of areas in the app to improve workflow, either with or without embracing the material design.
Thanks,
Mike
Personally, I like it as it is and if, in your view, the game isn't worth the candle, then you shouldn't do it.
I can't see any reason for having bold colours, they would not be welcome here - we need something that is the least intrusive on stage. I could be wrong, but I think most users of MSP have probably got a dedicated tablet for the app (I know I have) and the interface needs to be the slickest you can come up with for the intended purpose, not something dictated by Google.
I might be more accepting of the proposal if it wasn't for the fact that nearly all the suppliers of these devices tinker with the underlying OS to suit their own marketing angle.
I agree with Graeme. I personally don't like the side pull out menus that have become so popular. They require me to tap more than I should have to to get to functions I want. MSP is great the way it is. Frankly I'd much rather you spend your limited programming time on the Windows version of MSP rather than making UI design changes to the Android version. Just my 2 cents.
Harper
(05-14-2016, 07:51 AM)Zuberman Wrote: [ -> ]I've gotten feedback from various users that they want the MobileSheetsPro user interfaces redesigned to use the material design found in Lollipop and later (5.0+). I wanted to get people's thoughts on this because in my mind, the design changes wouldn't actually provide any improved functionality or ease of use. Instead, many of them would hide features one level deeper, requiring more taps to get to them (a "hamburger" menu as found in apps like Google Drive that displays options on the side of the screen in a pullout tray). Others would be merely cosmetic, and would look nicer, but would consume a lot of my time for little gain. If there are UI changes that would be extremely beneficial, I'd definitely like to hear people's thoughts. I know material design calls for bold colors, and I certainly could make the app more colorful, but I'm thinking that may actually be a bad thing in dark venues where glare off the screen is not desired.
I should mention that these kinds of changes are separate from the redesign I'm working on for annotations. There are plenty of areas in the app to improve workflow, either with or without embracing the material design.
Thanks,
Mike
I think the current interface is very functional and looks fine - I personally wouldn't bother spending the time to redesign it.
Thanks everyone. I'm glad you guys feel the same way I do
I've seen many apps move to MD and I cannot recall a single experience of "great, nice, improved". The bold colours feel like the apps suddenly started to talk louder, even yell, only to compensate for missing functional changes that were really necessary.
And there's also "If it ain't broken, don't fix it".
tl;dr: Don't.
Same here. I don't think MSP needs more bling. Your programming time is better spent on bugs and new features.
Like the others I'd opt to forgo the redesign. Although I would keep it in mind while making future enhancements. There maybe a time in the future when it may make sense to do it if/when material becomes more of an expected standard so keeping it in mind going forward might make sense.
New design? Bold colours? I see no need for things like that. When everything is functional and clear and intuitive, it seems even wrong to have this "advertising style".
I agree with above. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
(05-14-2016, 07:51 AM)Zuberman Wrote: [ -> ]I know material design calls for bold colors, and I certainly could make the app more colorful, ...
I see the future in displaying the sheet music on e-paper, E Ink type of device. Which has currently only two colours: black&white. Or 16 shades of grey.
I've no desire to stare during three hours gig to backlighted LCD screen and then to worry how much battery power is left for another gig.
I would rather love to see support for Bluetooth master and slave functionality (currently 2nd most viewed requested feature on this forum):
http://zubersoft.com/mobilesheets/forum/...p?tid=1776
I'm not aware that musicians prefer their printed sheet music on gaudy paper or surrounded by colorful silly stuff. MSP is a way to show sheet music without actual paper, so it should stick as close to that as possible to that proven format. MSP adds excellent organization and management tools, but colors, flash, and gimmicks would detract and possibly ruin it. Again, paper sheet music is very plain for a very good reason. Favoring style over substance would be a huge mistake. Spanning hundreds of years, no one has determined that piano keys should be anything but white and black.