Hi,
I just installed the Windows 8 version of the app. First I have to tell you, this is the best audio player for Windows 8 so far. The fact that it has the familiar concepts of the desktop version of the app, is awesome. The app is library-oriented which is awesome. The support for lyrics is fantastic.
However, I have some feedback for you guys. I know this is the first release and many features are going to be available soon, but I want to do my part.
Design:
I have watched all the conferences related to the Modern apps' designs. Also, I've read the journal papers which led to Metro interface. I know all about it. I think some parts of the design is against the Metro design and I want to share them with you.
-The MediaMonkey logo is too close to the top-left corner. There should be some margin there. All the Metro apps should have the exact margin to feel consistent with other apps.
-The gradient is not good. The Metro design is against using gradients. Also, the Metro interface usually uses sharp colors and apps feel live. There should be no difference in the background of app and the logo. Just put the logo on the background.
-Fonts in the app are a little small.
-The black background feels too lonely! I think putting faded album covers for the background with some animation would extremely improve the app's looks. (like the official MS apps).
Zoom in lyrics pane:
Just wrap the lyrics TextBlock with a ScrollViewer. Using Ctrl+Scroll or Ctrl+Plus would then help the user read the lyrics more easily.
Here's a sample:
Code: Select all
<ScrollViewer Foreground="#FF777777" IsTabStop="True" HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Auto" VerticalScrollBarVisibility="Auto">
<TextBlock HorizontalAlignment="Center" TextWrapping="Wrap" Text="Lyrics..." VerticalAlignment="Top" x:Name="txtLyrics" FontSize="30" ScrollViewer.HorizontalScrollBarVisibility="Visible" TextAlignment="Center" Foreground="#FF888888" />
</ScrollViewer>
Sync with desktop:
I'd love this feature. Imagine adding some media to the desktop version and they would automatically sync with the Modern version.
Move commands to bottom app-bar:
The top app-bar is for navigation. The commands should be in the bottom app-bar. Also, the global commands should be on the right and the content-specific ones should be on the left.
The "Home" button for example is exactly where it should be.
Semantic Zoom (for Artists, etc.):
For large libraries scrolling all the contents would be boring. I'd like to have a semantic zoom in all the views of the libraries (Artists, Albums, Tracks, etc.). Then I would Ctrl+Scroll up, select the first letter of the artist, then select the one I like.
Group albums by artists (Just like the desktop version):
The Artists view only shows the artists name. I'd like a feature to see the albums as well but grouped with the artist's name. The desktop version has this.
Immediate search for items in the list as the user types. (Just like Start Screen)
This is so crucial. In Start Screen of Windows 8, when you type "b", you see the apps starting with "b" such as "bing" immediately. This makes using the app a bliss.
Sometimes the back and home buttons don't work!!!
So far I encountered this once. I had to run task manager and close the app.
App takes too much memory:
The app is a bit slow to load my library and I'm seeing 1GB memory usage right now! Usually it's around 200MB. That's fine but there are GB picks.
Artists, Albums, etc. need more info:
Icons are static. Please use bigger
live tiles for views. Also, the app's home feels so empty. There should be more content there.
Too much crash during scan:
During scanning my library, the app crashed couple of times. I had to run it again.
Great job.
Sincerely,
Alireza Noori