[rider997]

I'm really not liking the new active frame arrangement in 10.3. The ability to move and pin active frames is fine, but the fact that the first four apps sit there forever (even if they're ghost apps after a phone restart) is annoying and requires micromanaging the open apps. I'm constantly having a recently used app fall off the bottom of the open apps, while something I haven't used all day sits open at the top of the active frames.

Surely app pinning can be implemented while bubbling the apps down from the top (through all 8 positions) as it was with 10.2 and earlier.

My opinion: put a little "lock" icon on pinned apps on the active frame screen and have all other open apps filter right around them. If one chooses not to pin any apps, then the behavior would be the same as 10.2.

I also have to say that the half size active frames on the passport are only half useful. You don't get the full active frame info from apps that support it, and it makes identifying an app more difficult at a glance.

I think a few simple improvements would significantly help productivity and reduce babysitting of open apps.

Posted via CB10

[diegonei]

Right. Because the random moving active frames were a lot easier to manage...

Get used to it, you may not like it now, but it makes a lot more sense to have them behave as they do in 10.3/10.3.1.

[Richard Buckley]

Right. Because the random moving active frames were a lot easier to manage...

Get used to it, you may not like it now, but it makes a lot more sense to have them behave as they do in 10.3/10.3.1.

There is a certain amount of sense and utility to have them sorted in order of most recently used as well. It happens to complement the way I use my phone very well. For me the OP's suggestion of handling pinned and un-pinned frames differently is a good one.

[mad_mdx]

What if unused and unpinned frames move to the bottom of the list?

I much prefer the 10..3 method but then again I don't look at active frames for anything. I really don't know what people leave them open for.

Posted via CB10

[diegonei]

We don't have a pin system for frames and that's where it all goes wrong...

Posted via CB10

[Richard Buckley]

We don't have a pin system for frames and that's where it all goes wrong...

Posted via CB10

I suppose it depends on what you mean by a pin system. But of the two, 10.3.1 on my DA-C and 10.2.1 on my Z10 I very much prefer 10.2.1. Active frames are ordered by the same logic as ALT TAB window selection on desktops which has survived the test of time probably because it is what most people expect.

Posted via CB10

[DenimAndLeather]

I wish there was a way to close an app with a simple gesture directly from when you are full screen in the app.

For example, a pinch gesture could close the app immediately. If I check my weather app I don't need it to always become an active frame afterwards.

Amazing how many different options they could build into BB10. I'm excited for the future of BlackBerry.

Posted via CB10

[rider997]

Right. Because the random moving active frames were a lot easier to manage...

Get used to it, you may not like it now, but it makes a lot more sense to have them behave as they do in 10.3/10.3.1.

Obviously I didn't clearly enough state the the problem.

At no time, in any version of BB10, has the active frame arrangement been random. Prior to 10.3, the most recently used app's Active frame was located at the upper left of a 2x4 matrix of frames. All older frames would logically and programmatically be pushed down the stack as a new application was opened.

In 10.3, the first four apps, regardless of how often you've used them - in fact, even if you've NEVER used them, and they're ghost frames - hog the four upper or primary active frame spots. As you continue to open new apps, only the last four spots continuously churn, meaning that commonly used apps get dropped off regularly if you use many apps.

As a consequence, one must continuously manually manage the open apps.

This is a half baked, illogical design. There's no possible reason for unused and unpinned apps to squat on the "priority" active frame locations.

Furthermore, the Passport's "half-frame" design for the 4 most recently used (MRU), but subordinate, frames, is silly. It's hard to identify the apps at a quick glance, and they only provide HALF as much information. You may rely on an app's active frame for updates, and you'll get it - as long as it's in the upper four positions. Once it drops into the subordinate position, the information it provides CHANGES automatically. Again, I believe this is a poor design decision, and goes against good UI design principles.

[rider997]

What if unused and unpinned frames move to the bottom of the list?

I much prefer the 10..3 method but then again I don't look at active frames for anything. I really don't know what people leave them open for.

Posted via CB10

I think the best method is to keep pinned frames at the top and let all other apps rotate in a FIFO queue below them. I guess if you decide to pin 6 apps, then only your last two opened apps will rotate, but that's a user choice. If one chooses not to pin any apps, then all 8 slots will rotate just as they did in 10.0-10.2.

I regularly multitask on my phone, and 8 slots isn't that much. Especially with the massive display and keyboard on the passport, I might have (as an example, earlier today), the following apps that are being used:
contacts
calendar
browser
Evernote
phone
music
BBM
BB Express
BB Travel
NY Times
Crackberry
Adobe Reader
Enpass (password manager)

There are more, but those get used every single day, most of the day. Now, if I don't happen to use Adobe Reader for a while and it falls off the active frame list, fine. The old behavior naturally acts to keep the most commonly and recently used apps open rather than finding that some app I opened the previous day (say I played a word game for a few minutes or opened the pictures app) is STILL sitting open, after being unused for many hours, while the PDF file I was copying and pasting into an email just closed itself because I brought up the contact app, even though I'm actively using those apps.

[nah.uhh]

There is a certain amount of sense and utility to have them sorted in order of most recently used as well. It happens to complement the way I use my phone very well. For me the OP's suggestion of handling pinned and un-pinned frames differently is a good one.

Amen.
I beg for the option to choose.
And the t options should be called "active frames" vs "task switcher"

Fact: The new method is nice. .. but really only good for viewing information in active frames.
You are required to use your eyes / pay attention in order to know where each app is, especially on z10 where they don't all fit on one screen and scroll (making placing them kind of pointless)

Fact: the old method meant that your most recent app was always in the exact same spot, top left.
Made task switching BLINDLY (meaning intuitively, you didn't have to use you eyes) amazingly simple. Switching between 2 apps felt like tapping alt tab on the computer.

With the new method, you have to remember where you placed the app... and apps don't open to their saved locations, so anytime you close an app, they reshuffle.

I rarely keep any active "frames" open. I'm usually only running 2-4 apps in rotation, and I close apps when I'm not using them.
Option ftw

[mithrazor]

Right. Because the random moving active frames were a lot easier to manage...

Get used to it, you may not like it now, but it makes a lot more sense to have them behave as they do in 10.3/10.3.1.

Random moving? I've got news for you buddy. It's in a most recently used order.

No need to manage unless if you want to keep an app open that you haven't used in awhile. Which is rare because if you're using an app, it'll stay open.

Posted via CB10

[Supa_Fly1]

I recall CrackBerry Kevin specifically mentioning this when he reviewed the Z10 initially. Looks like he got his wish.

? BlackBerry Z30 ? If it Don't Make Dollars, It don't Make Sense ?

[diegonei]

I suppose it depends on what you mean by a pin system. But of the two, 10.3.1 on my DA-C and 10.2.1 on my Z10 I very much prefer 10.2.1. Active frames are ordered by the same logic as ALT TAB window selection on desktops which has survived the test of time probably because it is what most people expect.

Posted via CB10

To truly pin an active frame would mean it not moving nor closing unless we tell it to. A pinned frame would have to be unpinned to be moved from the spot it occupies.

What most people expect you say. In a Windows PC. I remember the havoc it caused when BlackBerry 10 launched. People got used to it. As they will how it is on 10.3.1.

Posted via CB10

[Richard Buckley]

What most people expect you say. In a Windows PC. I remember the havoc it caused when BlackBerry 10 launched. People got used to it. As they will how it is on 10.3.1.

Posted via CB10

Like it or not Windows is still the leading desktop OS. But not just windows, Linux desktops do the same.

Don't make the mistake of assuming what is said on CB is representative of the majority of users.

Posted via CB10

[c_bryant34]

Kind of confused...

There's a been a handful of comments here about having to hand manage the top 4 spots which are pinned (ie. Moving apps into a pinned spot), but how would that really been any different than having to hand manage which app you want pinned anyways via some other method?

Also, why would an app remain pinned when you close it? You're explicitly telling it to go away, no?

Just trying to understand better how folks are expecting it to work a bit better.

Posted via CB10

[2cats1dog]

I regularly multitask on my phone, and 8 slots isn't that much. Especially with the massive display and keyboard on the passport, I might have (as an example, earlier today), the following apps that are being used:
contacts
calendar
browser
Evernote
phone
music
BBM
BB Express
BB Travel
NY Times
Crackberry
Adobe Reader
Enpass (password manager)

There are more, but those get used every single day, most of the day .

SERIOUSLY - You are able to keep these apps open for most of the day??? Do you leave it plugged in? If I did that, the Z10 battery would be done in an hour! I close apps as soon as I'm finished with it ... otherwise my battery won't last 8-5pm. (and that's with every power saving tip implemented).

Posted via CB10

[Andrew4life]

Right. Because the random moving active frames were a lot easier to manage...

Get used to it, you may not like it now, but it makes a lot more sense to have them behave as they do in 10.3/10.3.1.

It wasn't random. Last used goes to the top left. My brain actually got used to the shifting of the frames.



Posted via CB10

[Killjoyhere]

Obviously I didn't clearly enough state the the problem.

At no time, in any version of BB10, has the active frame arrangement been random. Prior to 10.3, the most recently used app's Active frame was located at the upper left of a 2x4 matrix of frames. All older frames would logically and programmatically be pushed down the stack as a new application was opened.

In 10.3, the first four apps, regardless of how often you've used them - in fact, even if you've NEVER used them, and they're ghost frames - hog the four upper or primary active frame spots. As you continue to open new apps, only the last four spots continuously churn, meaning that commonly used apps get dropped off regularly if you use many apps.

As a consequence, one must continuously manually manage the open apps.

This is a half baked, illogical design. There's no possible reason for unused and unpinned apps to squat on the "priority" active frame locations.

Furthermore, the Passport's "half-frame" design for the 4 most recently used (MRU), but subordinate, frames, is silly. It's hard to identify the apps at a quick glance, and they only provide HALF as much information. You may rely on an app's active frame for updates, and you'll get it - as long as it's in the upper four positions. Once it drops into the subordinate position, the information it provides CHANGES automatically. Again, I believe this is a poor design decision, and goes against good UI design principles.

I agree with this guy.

Posted via CB10

[olivopuccino]

+1

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