New Interface

@cdugger 

Hi to all

1000% agree.

The separate multi windows interface, for my personal taste, feeling and habits, is awkward and uncomfortable.

Thanks for the feedback on this, Mabula is already trying to make options out of these.

I gave it (APP 2.0.0-beta 1) a try today......did not take too long to decide I liked the layout in the previous version much better. Even on the Image window - I could not get my image to sit in the centre of the window, no matter how I played around with the 3 windows. I have gone back and taken 2.0.0 off my computer. (Maybe the new version has more power under the bonnet - but it sure is not comfortable sitting in the driving seat. The old model will do fine for a while yet!)

Might be you have an issue that was reported already with the image viewer, in the next beta this should be solved and you'll have the option to attach windows into 1.

Thanks for the reply Vincent......  fingers crossed.

Hi All, some feedback on the new UI:

I understand that you can get a faster image display using a separate window but the usability of APP has gone down. The new UI is awkward to use because:

• It seems to be designed for a really wide screen or multiple monitors and I don't have either.
• You can't minimise/maximise APP as a whole anymore.
• The log pane can't be removed - if it's wide enough to ready then there is no space for the image. I preferred the previous arrangement of showing the log in the image pane during processing.
• To fit the controls and image on the screen the log pane has to be shrunk so that its unusable but still takes up too much precious screen.
• The way Intellj (java dev IDE) works is good - every pane is dockable but can also be split out into a separate window. 
• Will future betas have the ability to load and save a project? This is much more important to me than a fast display. Usability is more important than speed (although both are nice).

That being said, I really like APP and it gives good results.

One more suggestion: you don't usually use the controls on the left at the same time as those on the right. They could be overlaid in a tabbed arrangement to save screen width.

We might be able to be more flexible in the future, but that will take a redesign so will not be very soon. However, some of your points are already being addressed, like getting some of the panels attached into 1 window etc. This should be for you to try in the next beta. 🙂

Thanks for the suggestions!

Is there a way to put the interface back to how it was, TBH this new one is awful, really awful….to the point I hate using the software, whereas before I enjoyed it, having the great big space in the middle for the console or metadata is ridiculous, and then having to have a separate window for your image, and so each time you click in the main window on anything the image window just disappears….this is just not good at all…

Please tell me how to put it back to how it was, of show me where I can get a refund, as I don’t like this at all…..☹️

Posted by: @shedastro

Is there a way to put the interface back to how it was, TBH this new one is awful, really awful….to the point I hate using the software, whereas before I enjoyed it, having the great big space in the middle for the console or metadata is ridiculous, and then having to have a separate window for your image, and so each time you click in the main window on anything the image window just disappears….this is just not good at all…

Please tell me how to put it back to how it was, of show me where I can get a refund, as I don’t like this at all…..☹️

Dear BillyBoy @shedastro,

To start with, this 2.0.0-beta1 is just a BETA release of a very big update using a new development platform.It is not a stable release as is clearly advertised.

We are collecting issues and user feedback to make the 2.0.0 stable version 😉

The next beta release on which I am working will look the same as APP 1.083.2/4 in terms of windows, but then with the option with the CFG menu to choose if you want to detach/attach the image viewer and detach/attach the frame list. All will be remembered between restarts. Some like it detached, some don't. That is very valuable feedback that we received and we are working to make everyone happy in this regard.

Mabula

@mabula-admin 

well I do hope this next beta is out soon, as I can’t work with this layout at all….

thanks 👍🏼

I'd just use the stable version in that case as the beta is just for testing purposes, we'll notify everyone when the next beta is out.

@vincent-mod 

yes, I agree, I did not realise I could swap back to it….👍🏼
just wanted the speed increase as the calibration takes for ever on my older intel i5 with 16gb ram, hours and hours to complete…..☹️

@mabula-admin  Thank you for all the continued development work on APP.  I agree with a lot of the comments about the new interface.  The user interface has become very cludgy!  For now I have reverted to the previous stable version.  I look forward to the release of beta 2 to try again 😊.

For me, the new interface with multiple windows is actually much BETTER!

I am relieved to see that although you're considering to make the old way one of the options, this new UI is also an option!

I am working on a very small laptop, and I actually like the versatility of multiple screens. I can side-enlarge the image list when loading, full-screen the log-interface when pre-processing, and have a large preview pane when post processing. For me, this really is an improvement.

Besides of course the pre-processing speed. That's really remarkably fast. Keep up the good work guys!

--P

@richardejmbtinternet-com 

An excellent observation. I think we all knew this, but this is the first time I have seen it verbalized.

@richardejmbtinternet-com @jeffmorgan Thanks for the suggestion. I have discussed this with Mabula and this will become part of a future release. Not sure if it will be 2.0.0 though so stay tuned.

A thought occurred to me regarding windows that are not used at the same time and the GUI design. Here is a way to get to just 3 windows:

1) As mentioned above, the "Left" and "Right" windows could be combined into one window with a tab to control which is displayed or "on top". Exactly as the Header/Metadata and Tool Output window operates in 2.0.0 Beta 2. The becomes a single floating and resizable window.

2) When I am loading files, or examining various quality scores, the APP is not processing anything. Likewise, when APP is processing something, I can not add files, nor examine which files I have or their metrics. Thus the current Console and Frame Viewer windows could be combined and switchable via Tab control as in #1 above. This combo window also becomes a single floating and resizable window.

3) The third and final window is the image viewer, which I suspect most of us want to be the dominant window in APP. 

A couple of other thoughts - when APP is processing, there is no image viewing. Thus the image viewer and Console could be combined, leaving Frame Viewer as its own independent window.

In the Frame viewer, large amounts of horizontal space is required. This could be improved however as most of that information is minimally required, or required only in special circumstance and not needed 100% of the time. It would be a great improvement to have the displayed information columns user-configurable.

In my own case, I would almost never display ISO, Exposure Time, #Stars and Density. Registration RMS - #Stars, Instrument, Color Space, Dimensions, CFA (what is that?), Type, or Size. 

And while we are on the subject of Frame viewer, I do commonly re-arrange the columns and widths. Typically, while culling subs. Unfortunately, deleting a sub causes APP to reset the column order and width to default. This should not happen.