visual refresh

[ghost]

@chrismorast @nilnilnil

I might also be worthwhile having a think about how you want to update the following screens, since they're not included in any of the above.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

I've re-implemented delete for the menu history items, using the asset you provided. Please check out the latest build from Hockey.

Do you think there should be some visual feedback for the user when they tap the button? At the moment it feels a little too static.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

Something else I need is the PTR arrow icon.

If you could provide in the same way as you have with the others; grayscale, transparent background etc. Cheers!

[nilnilnil]

@micpringle this is coming along great. Nice work!

[ghost]

Cheers @nilnilnil - it's been fun to work on :thumbsup:

[chrismorast]

@micpringle - Putting these assets together now. Should have them over to you sometime tomorrow mid to late morning (PDT). One quick note, there should be a 1pt drop shadow on the title frames with no spread, color #000 at .2 (or .25) opacity.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

One quick note, there should be a 1pt drop shadow on the title frames with no spread, color #000 at .2 (or .25) opacity.

Aha! I missed that, cheers. It's just been added; please check out the latest build on Hockey.

[chrismorast]

@micpringle here's the ptr assets

[chrismorast]

@micpringle , here's the bang screenshot update

[chrismorast]

Here are the assets. The "+" icon should be the same as what we've used in the menu.

[chrismorast]

Here's the load bar assets. May have to explore colors here. Let's start with #bfdfff.

[chrismorast]

…and the other bang screen. I'd like to remove the borders from the icons if that's possible.

[chrismorast]

tool tip:

[chrismorast]

Here's the back button asset...

[chrismorast]

Here's the share button asset.

[chrismorast]

Here are the swipe to share assets.

[ghost]

Cheers @chrismorast :thumbsup:

[ghost]

@chrismorast

It might be worth providing new assets as zip files, rather than pasting them onto this thread. I'm not sure whether or not GitHub does any sort of compression etc. on the images you upload, and if so then the ones I end up using won't be of the same quality as the ones you provide.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

Should I be using a different home icon for the search bar? I'm currently using the same one used in the over menu, but it doesn't look quite right now I've added the new share icon.

It feels as though it should be both thinner, and bigger.

Edit:

Here's a comparison of all the new search bar icons you've provided. The Share icon is definitely the odd one out.

[ghost]

@chrismorast @nilnilnil

Here's a breakdown on things I'm still waiting on:

• Feedback on the issue raised above re: the icons
• A comprehensive breakdown on the fonts and colours that have been used throughout
• Empty states for the following screens ...

• The new visuals for the following screens ...

I think once I have all this I should be able to wrap up the visual refresh.

-Mic

[chrismorast]

@micpringle you're right, share doesn't fit. Let's go back to the older style for now.

[chrismorast]

[chrismorast]

Here's the new "favorites" (formerly "Saved") comp. Assets to follow.

[chrismorast]

[chrismorast]

Here's how the settings pages should be styled.

[chrismorast]

@micpringle let me know if I've missed anything else.

[chrismorast]

Forgot this one - when stories are turned off.

[chrismorast]

Here's that logo asset.

[chrismorast]

@micpringle, can you please change the menu so that it slides up from the bottom?

[nilnilnil]

@chrismorast if it's an easy change, I think it's a good thing; otherwise, it might be too much for this. I know that @micpringle spent a few days on this slide out implementation.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

We can quite easily change the menu so it slides up from the bottom, but I'd err on the side of caution.

iOS' Control Center slides up from the bottom using a system-wide gesture which takes priority over all local gestures; there's a high chance DDG users will end up frustrated, wanting to bring up the menu but instead being presented with the Control Center; it's why it's not a common paradigm found in iOS outside of the OS itself.

Having the menu slide on from the right feels much more natural; swiping left-to-right to go back through the web pages or views, and when there are no more it brings the menu into view. Having the menu slide up from the bottom would break that fluidity.

However, the choice is yours so please let me know if you'd like to proceed.

/cc @nilnilnil @sreilly

[chrismorast]

@micpringle let's have it slide up and turn off the swipe-to-open option on the menu. I'm hoping this would be easy to revert back if we decide we don't care for it after a hands on experience with it.

[ghost]

@chrismorast There's now a build available that has the menu sliding up from the bottom. If you decide you want to keep this implementation then I'd recommend designing a new menu icon since the hamburger icon has become synonymous with the menu coming in from the left.

[ghost]

@chrismorast Another screen that appears to have been missed:

This is the screen you get when setting your Home screen to Recent.

[ghost]

@chrismorast I also need to know how the highlighted state of the menu items should look:

[chrismorast]

Hi @micpringle , the app is coming along nicely!

I've made some new swipe option assets and would like you to match this attached screen. Please note that the drop shadow that was under the title bar that overlays the story thumbnail is now an inner shadow on the orange background. Let me know if you have any questions. I'll be posting some menu updates as well.

[chrismorast]

Here's the updated menu comp

Please note that the X should be positioned at center with the menu icon. In addition, we'll have to align the menu items to that, adjust the margins on the right to match, and add some more padding between the main menu items and the X. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks!

[chrismorast]

One more thing @micpringle The text in the menu should left align with the text in the recent searches. In addition, recent search icons/favicons should be left aligned with the left of the menu item icons.

[sreilly]

Hi @chrismorast, would you mind if we returned the swipe-sideways gesture to show and hide the menu? I find having that menu accessible via a swipe gesture really handy. Without it, it feels like a regression from the currently released version of the app. It does mean making the menu come in from the side instead of the bottom, but I think that's expected since many apps work in that way with this kind of menu.

I think the gestures are important to make the app feel natural. This blog post from a well known iOS dev talks a bit about it: http://blog.jaredsinclair.com/post/83544603052/sloppy-swiping-how-to-make-an-app-feel-comfortable

I think of gestures kind-of like keyboard shortcuts. They aren't always obvious (which is why there's the button) but power users will benefit greatly from them.

[ghost]

@chrismorast

For the new swipe assets, we need a favourite icon with a minus sign for when someone has already saved the article.

This is what's used now:

[ghost]

@chrismorast

I've just pushed a build that contains all the changes to the menu that you've requested above.

[nilnilnil]

I have a side question @micpringle @sreilly what's entailed in replacing our custom 'layers' idea with the native implementation?

[ghost]

@nilnilnil

It would basically mean we'd have to re-architect the entire app. The current implementation is far from ideal, and there's a lot of inter-dependencies between view controllers (what I think you're referring to as layers) so whilst we'd be able to recycle some of the legacy code, a lot of new code would also need to written.

It would be a significant investment on your part, and the benefits would mainly be non-visual. It would however set you up well for future revisions or additions, as well as put you in good stead should you wish to pursue an iPad version. It would also make it much easier to adopt the latest UI-related APIs in iOS 7 or the imminent iOS 8 release.

We'd obviously be happy to undertake the work, but we want to be clear about what's involved so you can make an informed decision.

[nilnilnil]

@micpringle well then bail on that until we fully redesign instead of just visual. Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Side note, why is there any legacy code? Is some of it dead or unsupported? Or you're just referring to legacy as old?

[ghost]

@nilnilnil No problem.

Yeah legacy == old

[chrismorast]

Yeah @sreilly , I'm not digging the slide up menu either. I'd love to get away from the side slide-in menu but it may require more time for exploration than we have. So we can push that off until the full redesign. Let me discuss our options with the rest of the team and get back to you on how to proceed with the menu.

[chrismorast]

OK, so we all agree that we'd prefer the menu to slide in from the left (as @sreilly is recommending).

In addition we have a few more updates;

1. Change all orange throughout the app to match the background of the swipe options (I believe it's #cc6956 but love what ever it is you have in there). This includes the PTR background, the icons, the saved tabs (at the bottom)
2. In DuckMode you can remove the "Stories" option from the menu
3. Can we try this attached icon - we've changed the color to be more analogous to the orange in listed above.

[chrismorast]

@micpringle here's the remove-from-favorites icon

[nilnilnil]

I don't agree with #2.  What's the rationale there?( phone )

On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 5:14 PM, chrismorast notifications@github.com wrote:

OK, so we all agree that we'd prefer the menu to slide in from the left (as @sreilly is recommending). In addition we have a few more updates;

1. Change all orange throughout the app to match the background of the swipe options (I believe it's #cc6956 but love what ever it is you have in there). This includes the PTR background, the icons, the saved tabs (at the bottom)
2. In DuckMode you can remove the "Stories" option from the menu
3. Can we try this attached icon - we've changed the color to be more analogous to the orange in listed above.

---

Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub: https://github.com/duckduckgo/ios/issues/8#issuecomment-41333117

[chrismorast]

it wasn't the intent... I'm okay with leaving it but I'll have to make a new icon for it