Scrolling
 

Seems to me that the primary type of scrolling in the n900 is kinetic scrolling, is that the general type on the default apps? (PDF viewer, RSS feed reader, etc..).

I wonder if there's any apps that would make use of the accelerometer to scroll (as an option). That way you wouldn't have to use your fingers, just tilt your device (noticed my cousin does this sometime on his iPhone). Good for long reads.

Re: Scrolling
 

hm, interesting thought...yeah, this option could be appreciated

Re: Scrolling
 

I haven't seen apps using the accelerometer for scrolling. It sounds like a nice idea but as I don't always read PDF files on my N810 in horizontal position this would be a bit annoying.

Anyway, feel free to post that idea in Maemo Brainstorm at http://maemo.org/community/brainstorm please!

Re: Scrolling
 

Yes, as the Bounce game for instance shows, the accelerometers on the N900 are quite good.

Just put your text as textures inside Bounce. ;)

Re: Scrolling
 

This would make reading eBooks a lot of fun. ;)

Re: Scrolling
 

laughing man,

as the person behind the onedotzero accelerometer based controller and liqflow accelerometer assisted particle field.

http://conversations.nokia.com/2009/...-scenes-video/

http://maemo.nokia.com/videos/


i can tell you that, yes, it would be nice in theory - however there are certain very very practical reasons to not do it either.

one of the interactions in the onedotzero application is "Tilt" this just visually shows a button on the screen and as the user adjusts the orientation of the device it slides around.
(on the big projected display much more flashy 'wow' effects happened ;)

i had to try really hard to come up with a mechanism whereby when the "Tilt" interaction was opened the nobble was stationary.
all adjustments to the tilt were based upon that angle.

So, you are holding device infront of you and you open your ebook.
you tilt it towards you a tiny bit to get a good flow motion going and you are reading your book wonderfully for the first 10 seconds. WOOT!

then you sneeze and move your hand.
the device tilts and you zoom forwards 10 pages. DAMN_IT!!

to get it right to read on the desk on a stand, you would have to first pickup the device at a certain orientation, then adjust it so it moves properly, then hope when you put it down the accelerometer isnt jolted. DAMN_IT!!

you are better in a book reader having a stable controllable speed autoscrolling feature (like original liqbase text reader included - will be returning asap..), and what was also included in many other book readers.

they are controllable without having to depend on direct environment.

Re: Scrolling
 

addendum:

pressing and holding a modifier which enables the kinetic accelerometer portion whilst you sort your speed would be reasonable..

Re: Scrolling
 

An autoscrolling feature would also be good. I was just thinking of this as an option that you could turn off and on whenever. But you make several good points as to why this wouldn't be the best method to scroll.

Re: Scrolling
 

Just throwing this out there:

Kinetic scrolling lists is cool. What's not cool is accidentally hitting an item when you accidentally touch the list without dragging it.

An easy solution to this, is to place the selection button/area to the far right of each list item. That way, you can scroll the list quite easily (even if you drag over the select button) without the risk of selecting an item. Selection is as easy as ever with a targeted press.

Often times this is a minor inconvenience, but it sucks (for example) if you're listening to a song, while building a playlist (for example), and you accidentally select a track you hadn't intended to select. Annoying.

The benefit with this implementation is that it makes list navigation and selection less error prone, and thus more comfortable. I find interfaces that you have to 'be careful' around are annoying to use.

}:^)~

Re: Scrolling
 

i meant accelerometer here.
as for list selection, yeah i agree - but you need to visually show the selectable area - in some of my lists I simply make the active areas the picture or the label itself the active item, so the hit target is not the entire width/heigh of the list item.

i've always tried to make clicks and strokes two different things tho and on n900 in fremantle it seems to be handled quite well and doesnt really happen that often..

on old screens with less sensitive displays it happens more tho..

Re: Scrolling
 

Pet peeve: all scrolling is kinetic (look it up). I wish people would come up for a more appropriate name for it ("inertial" comes to mind).

Runner up: "haptic touch".

Re: Scrolling
 

How about "natural scrolling behavior"? :)
That would be a term even non-geeks could use and understand.

Re: Scrolling
 

thats a perfect description :)