Looking to clean up what is displayed on a few of the screens, hiding what is not needed daily.
Primary Screen
• How do you hide Trash?
• Any way to customize icons for the Databases?
• Would be nice to hide the search bar, available on tug gesture like iOS mail.
(search is only valuable when searching, as such does not need to consume primary real estate…or at a minimum make it optional for those who may only use search)
Databases
• Tags are not being used, turned off in global settings BUT Tags still displayed?
• Any way to change the display order at will, like drag row 4 to row 2 even though their names are not alphabetically sorted? If not this would be a nice enhancement.
Global Navigation
• Help. Help only contains 3 links. Most apps put help inside settings these days.
• New Item. More iOS friendly way to select add would be appreciated…menus everywhere is desktop thinking pushed onto mobile. Example, touch or hold press on + icon and opens span out for slide selection…tap to show another menu…move to top of screen to make selection (that all seems like a shortcut…fine for beta testing but not polished for release.)
Inboxes
It would be nice if there were ways to avoid the inbox. Adding content to DTTG that just dumps the content to an inbox imposes yet another workflow to go move that content elsewhere. It would be helpful to have the option to arrange the preferred organization at the time content is being added to DTTG…let users select which database, folder name (yes, it would be helpful to have folders in addition to groups) and hierarchy AT THE TIME the content is being added.
Yes. And no. Some folks prefer just to dump things into an Inbox while collecting and then sort (process) the collection later. So whatever option is provided to avoid the inbox should not remove the current rapid collection directly to the inbox.
The global Trash group can’t be hidden. You can select Show hidden items in the View options for a database to show its Trash in the database. However, the Global Inbox also has a Trash and that is displayed on the databases screen.
No you can’t customize any of the icons in DEVONthink To Go.
The search field is not always shown on any view. Swiping downwards to reveal it is the current action, just like in Mail.
There will always be a Tags group in a database, whether shown in the global Tags group on the databases screen or in the database if Unify Tags is disabled. The Tags group is a core component of a database, just as the Global Inbox is a core component of the application.
No, manual sorting is not an option.
One of the “three options” is clearly Help.
DEVONthink To Go offers more options than many apps, therefore more interaction is required of the user.
This has been discussed at length on the forums. There would need to be much more in the way of UI to target specific groups in a database. Using the Inbox, which also follows its analog counterpart in the real world, is the logical option at this time.
There is no distinction between folders anf groups. Semantically, there are groups in DEVONthink and we refer to folders when discussing the Finder. For example, you index a folder in the Finder but deal with the indexed group in DEVONthink.
Core components of the software would not preclude devops from offering a way to not display on the home page…there are a million solutions that are not challenging to implement and require zero changes to the structure of the app. Hiding tags, trash, global inbox - all very doable. This is not a matter of technical challenges, it is about leadership perspectives on offering the option in the app.
Consider letting the customer decide the level of interactions required. If some want to simplify, not seeing why the word simplify would be seen as a stark contrast to all the functions and features offered within the software. DevonThink does more than most, sure. Why force it all at one shot? Even the YouTube reviews highlight the overwhelming and confusing nature of software. Would anyone think the Mac or MacOS are not powerful solutions? They are as powerful as as complex as you want them to be, and they are as simple and minimal as well (the default state.)
All due respect, the interface ui/UX would never stand in the way of functionality. To say the interface would be too much is a cop out. To say much more would be required in the interface is saying decisions were made that the squeeze was not worth the juice. While some are happy going to inbox later to the reorganize (which is how it has always been) is fine for some, and for others it is considered twice the everything…twice the attention, twice the time, twice the effort. Tasks would be smoother and faster to put the content in its rightful spot the first time around rather than force a refinement to relocate again from the inbox.
It is clear that DTTG wasn’t mobile first or iOS centric in its UI/UX approach…it is mostly desktop UI/UX made to work on the iPhone. There is a hint or two of gestures on a slide and that is about all. Majority is layout like a desktop app and functions are from menu lists. Think the company and the customers would have benefitted by having an iOS UX/UI specialist leading the charge on the iOS platform…and does not appear to have been the case (or if so, leadership overruled recommendations or not the best hire.)
That’s alright, everyone will get defensive and support the hard work and not see the bigger picture.)
btw - DTTG is a huge leap from the previous version so kudos. If I had to guess the same development and leadership team made both desktop and iOS versions.
Actually, you are incorrect in your assumptions, not only on what specialists were employed, but also on your assumption of the requests of our client base. We have had more and more people want DEVONthink To Go to look and behave more like DEVONthink on the Mac, not less.
btw - DTTG is a huge leap from the previous version so kudos.
I’m sure Development will appreciate the kind comment.
If I had to guess the same development and leadership team made both desktop and iOS versions.
While there is discussion between the two teams as they have underlying technological requirements that must work in concert, they actually are independent teams.
Do iOS Pages and Number apps compliment the desktop versions of their apps? The iOS and desktop versions are quiet different from one another if one were to do an audit, and yet they look and feel the same, even though the iOS content parts embrace iOS and the desktop versions embrace MacOS.
It can be done.
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If UX iOS specialists were employed, they were either the wrong hire, were overridden my leadership on the choices made (this is often the case in other companies) and/or not at a high enough position with in the company to have made much of a difference (very common scenario where UX is only there to make screens look better but not allowed to actually influence the experiences he selves.
Expect to hear my assumptions are wrong, defend the choices made. From where I sit UX had a back seat and/or lack of user research (if it existed beyond consulting feature enhancement logs of chatting with a current customer or two,)
As much as you may find the UI glaringly different from what you want, you do no justice to anyone with how you vehemently vent your frustrations. Indeed, you are reaching the point where, would this be USENET, you would be relegated to a killfile.
Propose ideas in a constructive manner, perhaps at most a few ideas at a time. You may find more support than you believe in ways that are substantive to your cause. And keep the back seat observations about your reasons why things are as they are to yourself.