Quick map switch centering requester... please kill it!

[joeloc]

[attachment=0:zk31e1v7]SC20120330-093723.jpg[/attachment:zk31e1v7]

Hello User... this is your friend Locus speaking. I know you wanted a QUICK map switch. And I gave you a nice list of maps that are very easy to hit with your finger. And I know that the map you just clicked on is perfectly covering the current gps position. After all, that is probably why you clicked it isnt it?

But hey... you know... I am having a funny day today. "Centering" a map is such a majorly important operation, all maps have a golden treasure hidden right in their center. So I will simply throw another requester in your face before I really switch maps. Maybe 0.1% of you want to really center the map instead of simply displaying it at the current position. So lets just annoy the other 99.9% as well... why not. Its just another click isnt it?

[joeloc]

To make things clearer... now I am speaking, not Locus... :-).

When I click a map, I want to see the map. I do not want to be asked more questions. And it should never matter if I click the map in the QuickMapSwitch or in the MapManager or even a .rmap in a file explorer (one may dream). It is important for user interface consistency that Locus always acts immediately and predictably.

Click the map -> Display the map.
No more extra questions, no extra requesters, no nothing.

This is obviously true if the clicked map covers the current position. But even if it is somewhere far away, you should NOT ask that annoying extra question (be predictable!). Just display the map right away at the position that is closest to the current one.

I can not think of a single reason why I ever want to center a map. There is nothing magic hidden in a maps center. If the map does not cover the current position, I probably want to see the are that is closest, not the center. And if I really really want to do see the middle point, there is always that button in Locus that I can use afterwards.

The important thing here really is:

Act first and immediately and predictably by simply doing the thing the user most likely wants. Do NOT ask any additional questions before.

Locus suffers from this excessive question asking in many other places too btw. Gpx import is one, search is another. But it is probably most annoying in QuickMapSwitch because thats really supposed to be QUICK!

I ll get to QuickMapSwitch sorting problems in a different thread. It shows all the wrong maps mostly :-). I know most of you only use OSM and dont switch maps that often so this probably doesnt matter a lot. But when you re out there in less travelled areas, believe me, you will be switching maps constantly.

[Menion]

Hi Joe,
  quick workaround is to long click on map you want to display. This screen will, as well as many others, need improvements and I'll want to use completely same system on all screens (how unexpected), so tap will select map, if you'll want some other tasks, it will be in button on right. So thanks you for you nice Locus looks story (and also for explanation later) .

  about sorting. It's a problem because bounding boxes and centers of map are not always well known, but as you wrote ... it's another story. Maybe wait with it till I'll be rewritting this screen

[gynta]

Click the map -> Display the map.
No more extra questions, no extra requesters, no nothing.

:?:
i use "center map" very often for "little" personal maps.
if i want to quick display -> so i check the box.

[Henk van der Spek]

I suggest you give Joe his "never ask me again button" because I want to keep the Centering requester. When I want to check my trip for tomorrow, which is actually on another vector map I have to scroll five minutes in Western direction before I see any map at all (instead of an empty screen). That's why I prefer to start from the center of that map (i.e. the province).

Sidenote: I love the :"nearest map" info through the Quick Map Switch. It is a bit confusing that it has the same Icon as the Map Manager but the functionality is quite different (and very usefull for my small country with 14 small vectormaps).

[joeloc]

i could obviously live with "never show me the thing again" checkmark, but why make things more complex than they need be? i want locus simpler, not more complicated.

single tap should ALWAYS be the most likely immediate action, without extra questions asked. that is not just true for maps but for every other part of the user interface imho. anyway, in case of a map click, the most likely thing is to display it. make a smart (but automatic!) choice about where to display it, like
1) at the current position: when current position is visible in the new map
2) nearest: when current position is not visible but moving map is on
3) centered: otherwise
something like this. but do not force this choice onto the user each and every time.

i dont mind flexibility at all. you can ask a million questions and offer a hundred options on long tap and in popup menus and so on. just not by default and every single time. i didnt even know about the long tapping thing in quickmap btw. maybe because long tapping something and doing something quick doesnt match up in my brain :-). all other android apps that i know use single tap -> immediate action and long tap -> popup menu.

[gynta]

Solution could be:
1. short tap: for load to the actual cursorpos  - and -  long tap for choise: center map / load map
2. a checkbox on the right side (like mapmanager) for a quick set
3. nothig to exchange
4. ?

the funktion is called "QUICK map switch"
So u are right joe :roll:

[Menion]

as I wrote before - point 2. will be solution if there will be no problems with this. As I also mentioned, I would like to united system in whole application (because I know that not every screen works in same way) and starting place is Online tab in Map manager