✨ No Spotlight for a selected Side Menu Item

[Dml2023]

Skin section

Widgets

Feature description

I have a sidemenu item that I use for displaying audiobook widgets and I don't really need a spotlight for that sidemenu. I currently have the spotlight set to None (noop) and I have set fallback image folder to a folder of book related images, however when I navigate to the sidemenu icon for my audiobooks there is a spotlight displayed with the current temperature and a Play 'View' option and the rest of the options for a spotlight. The fallback images display as wanted, I just don't need the full spotlight being displayed.

Why is this feature needed? Please justify and explain.

It would be great to allow some sidemenu items to not have a spotlight if the grouping of widgets as part of that sidemenu item did not require it.

Screenshots and Additional Info

No response

Checklist

• I have made a separate issue for each feature I am requesting.
• I have searched the issues and this feature has not been requested.
• I am using the most recent skin version.

[Bindou01]

It would actually be really excellent to have a view without Spotlight, but designed around categories!

A bit like in Horizon 2 perhaps ?
Or maybe just remove the Spotlight buttons, and put categories there instead ?

Also, what would be good is to see the category that is to the left of the selected one, it would be easier to know if we are at the start of the list or not. But I know that the current choice corresponds to a certain aesthetic logic, and is intended to be minimalist. I adhere to the philosophy and at the same time I find that it would be more ergonomic to know if we are at the start of the list or not. We would have to find a trick, without compromising the logic and without overloading the display. Not easy. That said, this is just a detail.

Likewise, it would be great if we could have a visual reminder of the category we are currently browsing. Either at the top next to the Hub name (Hub -> current category), or another idea that I don't have. This would then be the perfect Skin in my opinion.

[jurialmunkey]

I find that it would be more ergonomic to know if we are at the start of the list or not

I did this in the past. Originally the list moved at the second position and only moved to first item if there were no more left. Everyone complained about that so it was removed.

The only way to properly show there are more items to the left is to peek the items but people constantly whinge about that despite it being way more user friendly for new users.

[ghost]

The only way to properly show there are more items to the left is to peek the items but people constantly whinge about that despite it being way more user friendly for new users.

Isn't this already available with touchmode turned off? 🤔

[L0bsang]

Isn't this already available with touchmode turned off? 🤔

If I'm not mistaken I think he's talking about category peeking, not content peeking.
That is, being able to see the category (and maybe submenu as well) to the left of the one you have highlighted.

[L0bsang]

The only way to properly show there are more items to the left is to peek the items but people constantly whinge about that despite it being way more user friendly for new users.

I personally always veer on the side of user-friendliness, just makes more sense.

I may not 'prefer' certain things but that doesn't/shouldn't matter, it is more important (and I believe it should be the priority of other users as well) to make this skin as intuitive, feature-rich and convenient to use (by the layperson) as possible. For example I have sacrificed widget footers for widget peek, I prefer the former but the latter is definitely more user friendly.

If it was me I would just ignore people who complain about user-friendly touches/functionality without some iron-clad reasoning, but of course that is MUCH easier said than done! 😅

[Bindou01]

I find that it would be more ergonomic to know if we are at the start of the list or not

I did this in the past. Originally the list moved at the second position and only moved to first item if there were no more left. Everyone complained about that so it was removed.

The only way to properly show there are more items to the left is to peek the items but people constantly whinge about that despite it being way more user friendly for new users.

Alright I understand. As for me, I didn't even realize this feature. Specifically, I remember actually seeing an option that talked about the cursor being in position two, but I didn't understand its meaning at the time, so I didn't notice its effect. I don't see why this would bother people. But maybe something is happening in use that I can't anticipate. In any case, for me, it is obvious that we need to find a solution to be able to better navigate the category bar. (Cursor in second position, small arrow, etc. I don't know which is better.) But once again this really comes down to the finishing detail.

[Bindou01]

@jurialmunkey And why not allow overhang on the left in the dark area like with Widgets?

[adamosborne83]

I find that it would be more ergonomic to know if we are at the start of the list or not

I did this in the past. Originally the list moved at the second position and only moved to first item if there were no more left. Everyone complained about that so it was removed.

The only way to properly show there are more items to the left is to peek the items but people constantly whinge about that despite it being way more user friendly for new users.

Sorry for my lack of understanding, is there where everything lands in 2nd place again,? Like at the very very start.

2nd category, 2nd complex widget etc.
If so please no haha

[jurialmunkey]

Yes. Ideally it would still start on 1st position even if the scrolling point is fixed at 2nd position -- and I would use it if it worked like that -- but there's some skin engine issue with fixedlist getting focus where it jumps immediately to the fixed scroll position.

The "peeking" can be done separately but people complained about that for a different reason (aesthetics of overlap with sidemenu).

[Bindou01]

Hello @jurialmunkey, is it at least possible to hide the Spotlight buttons as was the case at the beginning ? It seems to me that this is an interesting compromise for those who use this very rarely, who mainly use Categories and their Widgets. What do you think ?