HOME | DD
DanRabbit — Indicator Audio
Published: 2012-05-11 23:03:10 +0000 UTC; Views: 21705; Favourites: 88; Downloads: 220
Redirect to original
Description
Playing with ideas for Indicator Audio.Todo:
Network Audio (Pulse/Airplay)
Related content
Comments: 80
neat! but how about app specific volume? BassUltra did some mockup with more sliders, in which every slider has a icon next to it. seems like a good idea.
ahh, this all talk made me want luna even more. just hate windows 7 i am currently on. almost as much as unity..
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Hey Dan, do you guys plan to ditch the message indicator?
(This looks stunning, btw. Can't wait for those popover style indicators!)
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Yes, I think we largely have come to the conclusion that badges on app icons are usually better than a messaging menu
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
But what if the app is not on Plank? Will we only be able to see them in Slingshot?
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
That's a good question. I think if there's an app with a badge it should probably show on the dock until that notification is dealt with (whether or not it's pinned or running), but nothing has been decided.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Oh, I see. Thanks for the answer!
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Todo: make it more clear that the slider on the bottom is the volume slider
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Especially if you plan to add a microphone slider.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
That is a volume slider, lol.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Oh, I thought it was progress bar xD
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Square transient-style symbolic media control buttons, you say? Yes please!
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
haha, yea I was thinking about doing them in a segmented button, but I wasn't 100 sure. I'll have to try it.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
Look at the Todo
This initial mockup only shows now playing and system volume. Gotta add more stuff.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hey Dan, I've been watching your concepts for a while now and I decided to sign up for DeviantArt just so that I could say that you are doing an amazing job. Your mock-ups are really great, both design-wise as well as from an UX perspective. When people compare elementaryOS to Apple then that's something to be proud of.
I do have some feedback on your audio indicator window though. I was thinking: if Noise looks somewhat like iTunes, then wouldn't it be neat to give the audio indicator the same feel as the iPod in your pocket? In the sense that the indicator shows a track list of the current playing album? And wouldn't it be great if you were able to rate songs directly from the indicator?
I think this would feel very familiar for a lot of people. It also simplifies the user experience by summarizing Noise, the big bad-ass music library, in the indicator window. Which would of course also be really helpful if you were to decide that music should continue to play upon closing Noise.
I am also aware of the "indicators do not launch apps" policy but if you were to implement the track list in the indicator window, a button that leads back to the Noise window would be really helpful and productive. We would have a solid "small player / full-feature" balance that caters for the user's needs and I believe that's what it is all about.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hey, wow thanks for the lengthy response! I'm glad you're enjoying the work I've been doing
Yes, I was thinking about how far I want to take the "mini player" aspect of it. I'm unsure if I want to really go much farther than dealing with the currently playing track.
There are some other things I want to include in this indicator such as dealing with external audio devices, both wired and networked, input and output. So I'm afraid if the mini player goes too far it might make the menu far to crowded for it to operate as it's intended purpose: dealing with system audio.
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
You've got a fair point there. Actually I've been brainstorming a bit about the miniplayer idea (even before I ran into your new posting today) and I pretty much came to that same conclusion.
There are probably two solutions:
- Have two individual indicators for "Noise" and "Sound Settings"
- Add two tabs to the bottom of the indicator window ("Music" and "Audio devices")
Personally I'm all for having two indicators. One can be the Noise logo, the other the speaker icon. The Noise indicator can then be MP3-style with a drag-able timeline, displayed only when Noise is playing. The other indicator would focus more on the system settings (volume control) and devices and has a permanent place in Wingpanel. I am not familiar with Airplay or Pulse so I don't know if that would be something that can be accessed through Noise and hence through the Noise indicator.
The only thing that's tricky is the volume control, since it pretty much belongs to both indicators. Also tricky is having multiple sliding scales within the same window; on your iPod the volume controls are on the side while the scale is a timeline. Which I now realize is something that can be done for the desktop as well...
Have you ever considered having a vertical volume scale, with a + at the top, a - at the bottom and the ability to scroll?
The audio indicator is definitely not the easiest indicator to design.
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
I think we'll avoid having apps in the indicator area. This area should be reserved for things that indicate the state of the system. You'll notice that in my mockup it's not stated anywhere that Noise is playing music, only that music is being played. This indicates the state of the system, that a service is running.
I don't think I want to really expand the mini-player beyond the bare minimum. Pausing and skipping is plenty for this indicators purpose. If you really want to manager your music, your music player is the best place to do this not in the shell.
I don't think a vertical slider would scale well to the needs of this menu, but you should be able to scroll across a horizontal slider as well
👍: 0 ⏩: 1
Hey Daniel, thanks for the nice feedback here! I'm sorry I hadn't replied yet but I agree with the points you raised. I see your mock-up has improved, too. Nice job!
Anyway, I wanted to draw your attention to a quick mock-up I did for Noise a few minutes ago. I'm not entirely sure how the messaging system on DeviantArt works so I figured I'd reply here, though I realize it's off topic.
Summary: add some handy filters to the album view, add a thumb-resizer, add a layer for albums per artist, button to hide the left sidebar.
You can see the base idea through the following link; be sure to follow the other two links in the description for further details and a "Artist albums" view which I think is pretty cool.
[link]
I would be really interested in reading your thoughts on this.
Have a good day and keep up the good work! Linux for the mainstream is a very noble cause.
Cheers,
Kevin
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
'And wouldn't it be great if you were able to rate songs directly from the indicator?' I like this suggestion very much
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
beautiful.
but is it possible to make indicators look like this?
👍: 0 ⏩: 2
Maybe by replacing the actual indicator manager by a custom one using popovers instead of menus ? I think it would be great because it could use the same API as the actual indicator manager (I don't know its name) an make an indicator of Slingshot.
👍: 0 ⏩: 0
<= Prev |