The big scope question

ratte

Hi,

starting this thread as a result of the last q&a session where the community were asked to tell its opinion on scopes.

First of all I'm not a developer, this is just the point of view of a regular john doe.

In general I welcome the scope idea. I didn't like the implementation (speaking past tense because I used Ubuntu Touch as daily driver before it was burried by canonical).

I'd like to see scopes as content collecter and to take direct control of actions like in Sailfish OS.
For instance when I clicked a song (music scope) the music app was opened. Wish the scopes showed the content straight inside the scope being more like an independent entity instead of opening apps. This reduced the scope idea or feeling a little imho.

BR
Michael

Stefano

@ratte Agreed. I like RSS reader scope. Great for news, customizable, once pull down the screen and I see all news articles, then upon click on it opens a browser with the story. I think that the Scopes should stay. Make it optional, that way would benefit both groups, for and against scopes.

ThePossessor

@ratte - content collector is a good way to say it. That is why I liked the idea of the aggregate scopes in UT. (as today or nearby scopes do) Strictly speaking they implement a simple form of what android does by allowing placement of widgets on their screen(s) . (e.g. weather or music player widgets)

Even though the UT implementation was quite basic in the way the user could influence how or where content snipplets are displayed, I think the general idea was good. Even the simple "one below the other" display design has it's good for a consistent look.

So yes - I want aggregate scopes. And yes - please make them optional so everyone is happy.

Aurze

Personnally, I'm not against scope, I just don't get theme. I don't see any advantage vs an app. Let's say for the RSS scope, if I select an article, I can't get back to another scope. I have to get back to the list, then I can change scope. Which to me feel like a huge down side of scope.

Like why not just an RSS app? I know conanical was not over with the desing of scope, maybe it was going somewhere nice. But right now, as they are, I don't get what's great about theme vs an app.

Marathon2422

how about,having a way to disable the scopes,as a choice,when setting up a device,=. problem solved

kazord

hi,
I'm the developer of RSSreader scope, and as i scope user and developer, let's share my though :

Current scope splits content in a tree ( scope page /section / sub section and so one)
It's hard to develop scope and to share content / trigger actions with an app (bad manuals from ubuntu) but it's look possible in the actual scope code.

As some user, i had a nokia N9 in my hand and meego today view was really cool (my app tried to achieve similar view with rss)

What's my view for future :

Easier / documented way to share content / action
maybe a way to have personal qml item inside the scope
Improved scope aggregation content example, sorted by date instead of brain dead aggregation with sections

Also, i'm sad to have miss this QA

Regards
Kazord

ratte

@kazord said in The big scope question:

...
Also, i'm sad to have miss this QA

Regards
Kazord

You can an least watch it on the youtube channel of ubports. Live event feeling's gone but anyway good 'infotainment'.

kazord

I'm back with a little schema : what's scope should be

the main points are :

datas are generate by apps
only 1 scope code that handle drawing all kind of data (from currents handle datatype)
data are sort by date, not by 'source scope' as it's now
we can have different instance/view of scopes with one filter on each.

Example of types (maybe they can be mixed in a view, type are fixe in scope 'API') :
Text, pictures, actions ....

Example of categories : (developper wishes)
News, Shortcut, Social ....

safriddle

Right now, scopes is nothing but glorified Google Now cards. They collect information. But if you have to view it, you need to open an app or browser. There is a feature called instant view in telegram that actually does this, only, its better.

I'll state right now that i am NOT a developer. So i do not know if my ideas are even feasible. This is just my 2 cents on the issue

It would be better if we managed the following for scopes:

Separate category for scopes in the openstore for installation(obvious)
A separate homescreen for scopes with a search function apart from the default app screen. This could also eliminate the desire to pin every scope we need and create a zillion home screens. Perhaps by making a scope drawer when the bottom edge is invoked on the home screen. In 16.04, this can be made part of the dash as a separate lens(if that functionality is still used)
Scopes to be made actionable. I.e., incorporate basic functionality or THE MOST USED and REPETITIVE features of an app. We could also ask app developers to make scopes for the time being that could one day evolve into apps while still retaining the basic functions in a scope... maybe adding a function or two extra ;). The advantage being that these can be used when the phone is docked to a larger screen without causing massive overheating like legacy applications will do(been there and done that with the canonical builds). Obviously to do so, we may need an sdk like tool. Since i do not code, i dont know if this is possible with the present ubunntu sdk. If it is, this would be cool. Also, i would say, replace webapps with this solution if it can be done.
A visual overhaul of the current scope system. I cant think of an ideal solution to this, so i'll just leave it here

hans1977se

It's not unlikely that i have misunderstood scopes, but isn't the whole point to display as little information as possible but enough for the user to know it will be worth while to open specific application(s)? Just that + some simple things like time, date etc.