Document opening patterns
We discussed this at the GNOME Mobile hackfest today, we don't have standardized patterns/guidance for how to handle opening new files.
Current behavior in some apps:
Evince (PDF)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | recent files grid |
| First file | new window |
| Other file | new window |
| Open the same file a second time | brings existing file to foreground |
EOG (images)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | weird broken empty viewer |
| First file | replaces empty window |
| Other file | new window |
| Open the same file a second time | brings existing file to foreground |
Loupe (images)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | status page |
| First file | new window |
| Other file | new window |
| Open the same file a second time | new window |
App Icon Preview (SVG)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | status page |
| First file | new window |
| Other file | new window |
| Open the same file a second time | new window |
Text Editor (text)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | restore all previously opened windows |
| First file | replaces existing file (if emtpy/no file) |
| Other file | new tab in most recently focused window |
| Open the same file a second time | focuses the tab |
Amberol (music)
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | status page |
| First file | opens in existing window |
| Other file | adds track to the end of the playlist |
| Open the same file a second time | focuses window, opens sidebar |
| Action | What you get |
|---|---|
| Startup | status page |
| First file | opens in existing window |
| Other file | opens |
| Open the same file a second time | focuses window, opens sidebar |
Welcome state
- show recent files?
- open files/folders
- drag and drop
- button labels/
Open from other app (probably Files)
- already opened files
- open 2nd window
- show notification
- switch to it? related to focus stealing?
- new files
- open in new window
- open as tab in existing window
- replace current file
App opening
- show previous state / open blank
- read only or editable?
- can new files be created?
Different groups of use cases?
- Concurrent use? images make more sense than music
- Editing vs viewing? opening a spreadsheet twice and editing is weird
- Opening twice: Should the other one update?
Takeaways from the hackfest discussion:
- Multi-window almost always makes sense to have
- Tabs only makes sense in specific cases, e.g. when very frequent switching in important
- When opening a file twice, it should probably jump to the existing document by default
- Opening the file a second time should be possible though
- Having two different views onto the same file at the same time (e.g. editing different sections) seems to be the main reason why people open the same file twice. Maybe we could address this some other way (e.g. in-app split window)?
Potentially related to #208