K-9: UI : with modern (tall) phones, the top bar is not the best place to put important elements

Created on 4 May 2020 · 4Comments · Source: k9mail/k-9

Expected behavior

When navigating between emails, taking actions on them (archive, delete...) on a mobile app, these actions should be easy to make one handed.

Actual behavior

The fact that in the new UI the bar has been moved to the top of the screen makes one handed operations very difficult to achieve.
The easy to access "zones" are at the lower third and middle of the phone, not on the top.
example : https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/02/comprehensive-guide-to-mobile-app-design/ taken from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2018/02/comprehensive-guide-to-mobile-app-design/
I personally think that the bottom bar was a better implementation, but there are probably some other possible solutions, maybe a floating button (that we can put wherever we want) that expands with all the needed buttons (delete, archive...) when we click on it could be more usable. It means 2 "clicks" instead of one, but they are easier to do).

Steps to reproduce

open K-mail with a >5" screen smartphone in one hand
open an email
try to click on the delete or archive button -> you can't

Environment

K-9 Mail version:
5.710

Android version:
8.0.0

Account type (IMAP, POP3, WebDAV/Exchange):
IMAP

Source

spfmoby

👍4

Most helpful comment

I agree that it depends on the use we have. If you are an "inbox zero" type of guy as I am, you are constantly using the buttons.
An option to switch between a top or bottom buttons bars could indeed be a nice addition.

spfmoby on 8 May 2020

👍4

All 4 comments

Personally I don't mind or have a problem with the buttons being at the top - I find they often get in the way of scrolling the message list or the message itself when at the bottom (I used FairMail for a while which has those buttons at the bottom, and I prefer K-9's layout). I rarely ever delete or archive messages though, but it's not hard to reach the top of the screen if you want to. It would be nice that if this were implemented, it was a selectable option.