New UI / UX of F-Droid app

system · December 9, 2018, 3:37pm

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oF2pks · December 22, 2018, 11:19pm

(Since New UI / UX of F-Droid app is closed I try here : )
@Bubu @Izzy @hans I’ve added basic Shortcut & Tile (7.1/api25 min) to F-Droid_client (1.5a2), I thought it may solve missing classic “feeling” with a straight “classic” access to Settings/ManageInstalledApps basic list (?).

jic, I’ve uploaded a (null)signed fdroid.apk edition with diff/commit here Tags · oF2pks / Fdroidclient · GitLab
EDIT added debug with large heap

screenshot : Support Android 7.1+ App Shortcuts (#1248) · Issues · F-Droid / Client · GitLab

(btw, If you have a GSI/Treble compatible device, latest phhusson’s Pie system.img, with full @ale5000 implementation of microG is available here [AOSP 9.0.0_r50][v121] microG ufOfficial (cve Nov ?, 2019) arm32/64 | XDA Forums Included is old UI upgradable&downgradable 0.102)

I also wonder if future editions of fdroidClient could take advantage of some “augmented” priv-app permission (and thus installed as /system/priv-app pre-signed apk when ro.control_privapp_permissions=enforce) ?

oF2pks · January 29, 2019, 4:48pm

(seems no one interested by shortcuts and notification fdroid tile ?!)

For the fun, also added longClick in general AppCardController and one icon/menu in AppDetailsActivity to launch browser straight to “Search results for '' - F-Droid Forum”+app.name

@Licaon_Kter , I was referring to these icon/menu in top/AppDetailsActivity (details2.xml) to add a [report] button, but that also suppose a link to 2 threads ( 1 for paid & 1 for other specifics: root, read_logs or foss trackers… ) which would be always open on fdroid forum, and with anonymous reply possibility (?). This way, it would create some dynamics between the client app and the forum.

Lawrence_Lim · January 31, 2019, 12:55pm

Thanks. These all make true sense now

oF2pks · February 26, 2019, 1:26pm

I’m still on demand with such classic client, any news ?

Bubu · February 27, 2019, 11:41am

I stll have a lot of ideas for this and want to continue there. Unfortunately I have had very little to no time for this project lately. :-/

oF2pks · February 27, 2019, 7:26pm

I first believed fdroid client could move to SharedUser Id (with privileged ext) which always break upgrading process; thx to @hans explanation it won’t:

F-Droid and Privileged Extension should be as isolated from each other
as possible to better enforce the security limitations. They should
always be signed by separate keys, with Privileged Extension signed by
the ROM and F-Droid signed by an app key. If you are shipping the
official F-Droid builds, then it must ship with the F-Droid signature.

, so 102.3 old signed version is still fine, for now, as a prebuilt in rom; will add privileged ext in my next microG Treble rom

hans · March 1, 2019, 10:13am

v0.102.3 still works but has known bugs and security issues that have
been fixed in more recent versions.

oF2pks · April 27, 2019, 11:36am

@hans , I noticed fdroid/client don’t check if privileged apk was disabled or not, by user (through general aosp/settings/apps ) app/src/main/java/org/fdroid/fdroid/installer/PrivilegedInstaller.java · master · F-Droid / Client · GitLab

this tiny patch could do the trick : https://gitlab.com/oF2pks/fdroidclient/commit/14cf8e3d879b4659530acd57281899030e6d6661

Bubu · April 27, 2019, 1:56pm

You should submit these things as a merge request in gitlab.

hans · April 29, 2019, 8:49am

looks good, can you submit that in a merge request?

developerfromjokela · May 2, 2019, 6:44am

On my device Nokia 6.1 Running Android 9.0 pie, Install button is not responsive, when I click it, there is no sign button is pushed, and there is some lags in UI, so UI needs some rework, I will join into development when I have free time.

Licaon_Kter · May 2, 2019, 11:14am

F-Droid 1.6 ? Did you wait for it to download?

shubhamtyagi · May 2, 2019, 4:38pm

whenever i use fdroid client app, i get same experience as i got in internet explorer .
if fdroid developer can’t make it is better than it will be go as IE.

developerfromjokela · May 2, 2019, 5:15pm

No, but in updates this happens very often, and the updater is often annoying and the UI is buggy.

Licaon_Kter · May 2, 2019, 9:17pm

What device? Android version? Issue?

Licaon_Kter · May 2, 2019, 9:18pm

You said “install” not “update”? There’s a known issue that was fixed in 1.6 if I recall correctly.

developerfromjokela · May 3, 2019, 4:32am

Ok, but I am having lags on updates UI, when I click update all, nothing happens, and then when clicking Show all, nothing happens, until you pause and resume the app.

webDev · June 5, 2019, 3:26pm

Well this is an informative, little treasure trove! Also a trip down memory lane, as I too remember the initial annoyances that I had with the “new” layout (it feels like so long ago and just yesterday at the same time, haha.

I agree with the person who said the text is too close to the icons in the bottom menu bar.
I also agree that the tiny two-line update summary is better suited to a space at the top of the Latest screen, rather than on the Updates tab.
Many of the icons, especially when large still are blurry due to low resolution, may I ask why, given that they seem to be sharp on other people’s screenshots.
May I ask that we move the settings button to the actual Settings button of the phone rather than taking up valueable realestate on the bottom bar. Right now the settings button of my phone does nothing!
If the above is done then the fifth menu item can be, “Installed” or “My Apps”, a menu item that I do admit I still yearn for from time to time.

Today however I feel the greatest UX priority is at the website stage.

An option to disable 'The Latest Tab now highlights good descriptions'

For me updating the quality of the website landing page takes top priority, I do feel that not enough people are getting on board with open source software and I believe it’s because it is perceived to offer a lower quality user experience. When I give someone a link to f-droid dot org, I kind of expect and want that person to get excited by the idea of open-source software without me having to explain why it’s so great. I think the actual website is failing to stimulate the interest of people that I talk to online. I could be wrong. Anyway I don’t want to hijack this thread with that discussion, if you are interested I recently opened a thread for this.

Secondary to my interest in improving the landing page is to improve the user experience of the app itself. One of the main gripes that I have is that you don’t know when you are at the top of the “Latest” page. I OFTEN find that I am accidentally triggering the repository update process. I have a plan to improve the “Latest” tab which involves a heading region at the top. I also want to have a small area of the interface dedicated to highlighting where in the world the app is downloading information/apps from, and how the files are verified in a decentralised way, with a link to possble information on how to setup a node/mirror(?). To me, these are more important right now than bringing in regulations. I also have ways to tweak the look and feel to present a more high quality product.

Please visit this thread (https://forum.f-droid.org/t/website-landing-page-proposal-1-and-2/) to have your say on OPTION 1 and 2 that I have sketched up, and am ready to implement as a web developer myself.