Official moOde 6.5.0 support thread

[swizzle]

Second, the not-so-good-news: Now the option so update the thumbnail cache is gone. I can only regenerate? Why?

The thumbnail cache now updates automatically when you update the mpd library.

Introducing the "adaptive UI" with the playlist "rising up" from the reduced version at the bottom has been difficult to digest, because it increases the number of steps to go from playlist to file browser or library browser from one to two: first collapse the view, then choose the type of library view. This was bad and until 6.4 I found it painful.

The file browser is a library view and how often do you actually switch between them? Most people stick to one (with the exception of maybe the radio browser). Moode since 6.x remembers where you last left off so you can toggle between the full screen playback and the library view you use with one click without wasting space on a navbar a la moode 3.x. 

Now there is no visual cue. I have to guess that clicking on the cover art will lead me to library view – this absolutely makes not sense, it is not intuitive

There was some debate about this but this is the kind of thing you learn once and then you know it. It’s like the little text on your side mirrors about objects being closer than they appear, useful the first time but forever after just in the way.

AND, to add more lack of intuitiveness, one must choose the view from a button.

It’s a menu actually.

The approach that was there in 3.x (4.x as well IIRC) was: there is a series of "tabs" and one chooses the right one. File browser / library browser / cover view / playlist. Like it is now for the configuration mode. This is the right way to do it.

It may be the right way for you, but this isn’t moodenigo 6.5.

As Tim said the move to the menu was needed because 1) screen space is precious and there isn’t enough room to do it like before if we add any new views ), 2) this lets us declutter the ui by moving some things to the menu (e.g. recently added).

At the moment I am sticking with moOde only because I do not have to pay for an equaliser (and the parametric one should really have more than 4 bands, since this makes the use with, say, REW, impossible).

Moode is a passion project for Tim and we’re lucky that he’s demented enough to put as much time into it as he does, but reminding him that the only reason you use it is because you don’t have to contribute anything back to the project probably isn’t the right way to win him over with regard to any requests you may have.

Please reconsider very seriously the insertion of a navigation bar, and restore the ability to go to a "large cover" view of the playlist by clicking on the cover art.

We got rid of the navigation bar on purpose. Most modern music software (e.g. Spotify, Tidal, Roon, etc.) has adopted a similar interface design language and that makes interoperability easier. You’d have to explain what a “large cover” view of the playlist is. 

UX is not about changing the UI to make it "cleaner" and new fonts. It is about the actual useability of the UI.

The only font difference is the use of monospace in the dials now iirc. A less cluttered UI is inherently easier to use though it isn’t necessarily easier to do what you want if you get the distinction. You could say moode lacks discoverability in some areas and I’d agree with you but any software has a learning curve and after the first time insisting on having a separate button to press instead of using the much larger cover seems pedantic. 

(also configuration should NOT need an extra click either, you just go to the last used higher level pane, without the intermediate selection of Audio/Library/Network/System).

The problem with that are the quick link buttons to e.g. mpd configuration or eq settings. While I personally don’t use them and have contemplated removing the dialog as well but ultimately this isn’t swizzle 6.5 either.

As an aside: elements overlaying the album cover on the playbar was a mobile only thing at first because there I wanted to improve the spacing of the playbar and make the text bigger and there isn’t enough room otherwise (so this is unlikely to change there unless we just get rid of the cover) but it migrated to the larger screen version (and the controls flip-flopped) because around the same time Tim got into Amazon HD and liked how the setup worked there (though iirc they use hover to show the controls which we can’t really do because of touch devices).